Joachim Gotsche Giaver Champion of Structural Registration Laws by Richard G
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notable structural engineers Great achievements Joachim Gotsche Giaver Champion of Structural Registration Laws By Richard G. Weingardt, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, F.ACEC, D.Sc.h.c. oachim G. Giaver always seemed to be By the time Giaver began thinking of open- and the movies, and the right person, in the right place, at ing his own consulting engineering firm in finally in the con- the right time, beginning with his immi- 1915, commerce through the newly opened struction industry. Jgration to the U.S. in 1882, one year Panama Canal was having an major impact Around the time of Joachim G. Giaver. after graduating from one of Norway’s most on the U.S. economy overall. Foreign trade his marriage, Giaver Courtesy of Library of renowned civil engineering colleges. Upon soared to a record high, much of it also was named chief engi- Congress Prints and Photographs LC-B22- arriving in America, he was immediately sparked by the multi-nation war develop- neer of Shiffler.® In his 206-2. employed by the Pacific Railroad Company ing in Europe. One year later, when Giaver five years in that posi- in St. Paul, Minnesota. A year later, he moved formed a partnership with former Burnham tion, he was in charge to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to work for the associate Fred Dinkelberg to provide archi- of the design and construction of several large Shiffler Bridge Company, a J.P. Morgan ven- tectural and engineering services, the future bridges, including two in Pittsburgh – one ture newly founded to build bridges and looked promising indeed. over the Allegheny River and the other cross- furnish structural steel for all types of complex Joachim wasCopyright born on August 15, 1856, ing the Monongahela River – and numerous structures and buildings. The company had just in the tiny hamlet of Jovik, near Tromso, multi-story structures. By far, Giaver’s most secured the contract to furnish the structural Norway, the ninth child of 13, four of whom noteworthy Shiffler assignment was produc- steel for the framework of the Statue of Liberty. would not make it to adulthood. He was ing the structural framework for the Statue of After his stint with Shiffler, Giaver moved to only two when his newborn brother Jens, Liberty. His work involved design computa- Chicago to design state-of-the-art structures Jr. died in 1858, and was barely eight when tions, detailed fabrication and construction for the 1893 Columbian World’s Exposition. his 16-year-old sister Anna and three-year- drawings, and oversight of construction. There he met and befriended the Fair’s lead old brother Carl both died in the same year, In completing his engineering for the statue’s architect, Daniel Burnham (1846-1912), who 1864. Those experiences tempered him for frame, Giaver worked from drawings and along with his colleagues shortly thereafter similar tragedies that he and his wife would sketches produced by the famous French embarked on a long and impressive run as experience with their own offspring years later structural engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832- designers of landmark buildings and skyscrap- in America.magazine1923). Not only would Eiffel be remembered ers nationwide. S T RJoachim’s U father JensC H. Giaver, T who wasU for theR statue’s Eframework, he would, soon from a prominent Norwegian family, was a after it debuted, design and build the monu- major landholder in northern Norway and mental Tower that still bears his name for the a leading figure in its fishing industry. His extravagant 1889 Paris Centennial Exposition. mother Hanna Brigitte (Holmboe) Giaver was Three-and-a-half years after President Grover in charge of the home-schooling of Joachim Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue and his siblings in preparation for college. on October 28, 1886, President Benjamin Joachim’s university choice was Trondhjem Harrison signed into law confirmation of Technical College at Trondheim, Norway, Chicago as the location for the Columbian nearly 500 miles (as the crow flies) southwest Exposition, in celebration of the 400th anni- of his hometown. It was next to a sizeable versary of Columbus discovering America. body of water connected to the Norwegian Engineers, architects, contractors and build- Sea and surrounded by high mountains, offer- ing suppliers from around the country took ing many opportunities for outdoor activities notice. A considerable amount of innova- like boating, hiking and climbing. tion, design and new construction would On September 3, 1885, Giaver married be required – and fast. Almost immediately, Louise Caroline Schmedling, a native of companies from all over the country began Trondheim then living in New York. He was setting up operations in Chicago to get in on 29 and she was 21. They would have eight the action. With them came many leading children, three of whom died as infants. Their structural engineers, including two daring five surviving offspring were two daughters, ones from Pittsburgh, both still in their early Astrid (Mrs. Ralph Holmboe) and Brigit thirties, Joachim Giaver and George Ferris (Mrs. Amasa Bull), and three sons, Erling, (1859-1896). Of course, Ferris would erect Finn, and Einar William “Bill.” Erling went for the 1893 Exposition the greatest observa- into the construction supply business, Finn tion wheel the world had ever seen. became a civil engineer like his father, and Bill In addition to the frantic and massive studied engineering at Georgia Tech prior to construction frenzy that the Fair generated, Statue of Liberty, New York, NY. Courtesy of a varied career first in professional football Chicago in the late 1880s and early 1890s Wikimedia Commons-Misterweiss. STRUCTURE magazine47 June 2012 received his final papers as a citizen of the United States in 1896. In 1898, Giaver rejoined Burnham’s company as its chief engineer, a position he held for 18 years. During that time, Giaver helped hone modern skyscraper design into a fine art, moving engi- neering solutions away from cast iron and wrought iron frameworks on spread footings to more cost- effective structural steel bearing on caisson foundations. Among his Museum of Science and Industry (Columbian Exposition’s Palace more popular inventions was the of Fine Arts), Chicago, IL. Courtesy of Robert B. Johnson. “Giaver Belled-Caisson” footing. While with Burnham, Giaver was ® was experiencing a commercial construc- in charge of over 400 of the largest build- tion boom with longer-term ramifications. ings in the U.S., among them the Flatiron, Although the 1885 Home Insurance Building Gimbel, Maiden Lane and Equitable in New stood less than 150 feet tall, its load-carrying, York City; the Field Museum, Continental iron-steel framework earned it the label of National Bank, Railway Exchange and Jewelers’ Building (35 Wacker Building), Chicago, the world’s first skyscraper. Other notable Conway FieldCopyright in Chicago; the Union Station IL. Courtesy of Robert B. Johnson. buildings with steel skeletons instead of the and Post Office in Washington D.C.; the traditional masonry bearing wall construc- Frick, Oliver, Smithfield and First National In 1920, Giaver was decorated with the tion that were built or being completed Bank in Pittsburgh; the May Company in Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf, 1st Class, when Giaver arrived in Chicago included Cleveland; the Wanamaker and Land Title by His Majesty King Haakon VII of Norway, the Rookery, Tacoma, Rand McNally, Old in Philadelphia; and the dome of the Mount in recognition of his prominence as a struc- Colony, Reliance, Marquette and Republic, Wilson Observatory in California. tural engineer and his activities on behalf of each with its own legitimate claim to being Prior to resigning from Burhnam’s firm Norwegians worldwide. the nation’s firsttrue steel-framed “skyscraper.” and opening his own consulting engineering For leisure, Giaver was an enthusiastic Shortly after moving to Chicago in 1891, business, Giaver began questioning the laws yachtsman, winning numerous prizes racing Giaver became the assistant chief engineer licensing structural engineers in the State of his boats on Lake Michigan. His favorite yacht for the Fair, for which Burnham was the lead Illinois.magazine Up until that time, only architects was named “Mavourneen” – Irish Gaelic for architect in charge of all construction.S ServingT Rcould stampU and seal Cdrawings forT obtaining U “marvelous R beauty”E or “my sweet one.” Giaver well in this position with Burnham’s building permits. Giaver was the leader of the Giaver was a trustee of the Norwegian group was his experience in designing com- engineers who got this changed, securing the American Hospital in Chicago, president plicated foundation systems for difficult soils, passage of a bill by the Illinois State Legislature of the Structural Engineers Association, a such as the mostly unstable swampland of the in 1915 that allowed structural engineers to director of the Western Society of Engineers, Exposition’s site. Also coming into play was practice their profession on equal terms with president of the Norwegian Engineers his extensive experience with state-of-the-art architects in Illinois. This new licensing law Association, president of the Chicago Norske wind bracing systems for complicated struc- made it possible for building plans to be law- Klub and vice-commodore of the Columbia tural frameworks, which the bulk of the Fair’s fully approved if bearing the signature of a Yacht Club. He was also an active member buildings also required. professionally registered structural engineer. in Svenska Klubben, Chicago Athletic Club, Among Giaver’s most noteworthy A year later, Giaver formed his partnership and Chicago Yacht Club. “White City” buildings for the Fair were with Dinkelberg to provide architecture and Giaver passed away on May 29, 1925, two- its Administrative Building and the Palace engineering services. The most notable work and-a half months shy of his 69th birthday.▪ of Fine Arts.