Venerable Bridge Engineer Herbert Rothman Dies in NY Car Crash at 91

Engineer was a key designer of iconic bridges on both coasts. Photo courtesy of Weidlinger Associates.

Herbert Rothman, 91, a bridge engineer who worked on historic structures throughout the nation and was a colleague of legendary bridge designer O.H. Ammann, died on July 25 in Long Island, N.Y. The cause was injuries sustained in an automobile accident, according to Betty Cordellos, Rothman’s daughter.

A principal and partner of Weidlinger Associates, 36-year employee and founder of its Transportation Group, Rothman led major rehab projects on the Manhattan and George Washington Bridges in New York City, and was a key contributor to the design of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s east span—the world’s longest self-anchored suspension span.

His many industry accolades included the John A. Roebling Medal from the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania and being named “Bridge Engineer of the Year” by the Institute for Bridge Integrity and Safety. In 1990, Rothman was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for “outstanding contributions to the design and rehabilitation of hundreds of bridges of all types and for exceptional contributions to the understanding of wind effects of complex structures.”

Ray Daddazio, Weidlinger president and CEO said that “It goes without saying that Herb’s accomplishments rank him as one of the greatest bridge designers of his era.”

“When you look as his accomplishments—especially reflecting upon his last work, which was the new design of the replacement for the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge—it conjures up images of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment or Verdi’s Othello—that is, masterpieces accomplished when most people would be retired," added Daddazio. "Perhaps more importantly is the mentorship that he provided to a generation of engineers, inspiring them in what it takes to be a good engineer and honorable person.”

Aileen Cho, ENR's senior transportation editor, is a native of Los Angeles and recovering New Yorker. She studied English and theater at Occidental College, where a reporter teaching the one existing journalism course encouraged her to apply for the LA Times Minority Editing Training Program. Her journalism training led to her first stories about transportation, working as a cub reporter with the Greenwich Time. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. Many of her experiences with engineers and contractors have inspired material for her alternative theater productions way, way off Broadway. For ENR, Aileen has traveled the world, clambering over bridges in China, touring an airport in Abu Dhabi and descending into dark subway tunnels in New York City. She is a regular at transportation conferences, where she finds that airport and mass transit engineers really know how to have fun. Aileen is always eager to hop on another flight because there are so many interesting projects and people, and she gets tired of throwing her cats off her computer in her home office in Long Beach, California. She is a very conflicted Mets/Dodgers fan.

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