David Staiman

David Barnard Steinman was an outstanding American bridge engineer.

According to one version, he was born on June 11, 1886 in Chomsk, Drohiczyn district, in a Jewish family. At the age of 4 he emigrated to the United States with his family. According to another version, David was already born in New York after the family had moved there.

The Steinman family lived in Chomsk, Drohiczyn uyezd, Grodno province. Little is known about David’s early childhood, but it is mentioned that he had a large family — 6 siblings.

He graduated from Columbia College. His professional career includes:

• 1910–1914 — Taught at the University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho).
• 1911 — Received a doctorate from the University of Idaho.
• 1914 — Worked on the Ciotoville Bridge under Gustav Lindenthal.
• 1917–1920 — Professor of Civil Engineering; later founded his own design firm with Holton D. Robinson.
• 1920–1940 — Designed bridges in the USA, Thailand, England, Italy, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Canada, Korea, Iraq and other countries.
• 1931 — Designed the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and participated in the design of the George Washington Bridge.
• 1948 — Began reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
• 1953 — Received a proposal for the design of the Messina Bridge (span 1524 meters). Developed a new method of stereophotography.

On August 21, 1960, David Steinman died in New York.

During his lifetime he participated in the construction and reconstruction of more than 26 major bridges. Information about his projects can be found here:

• Robinson & Steinman
• Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist & Birdsall
• Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist & London

At the age of 63, David Steinman became interested in poetry. Many people wrote to him that his bridges were like poetry. This inspired him to start writing. His love for bridge building is reflected in the titles of two of his poems: “The Bridge” and “I Built a Bridge”. In 1955 he published the book I Built a Bridge and Other Poems. He became a leader in several poetry organizations, including president of the Wisconsin Poetry Foundation and director of the Poetry Institute in New York.