Charles Henry Purcell (27 January 1883 – 7 September 1951) was one of the most distinguished civil engineers in the United States during the 20th century. He was the chief engineer of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, which was his most notable design. The American Society of Civil Engineers selected the Bay Bridge as one of the seven modern civil engineering wonders of the United States in 1955. As California Director of Public Works, he oversaw construction of the first freeway in the American West. He also oversaw design of the first stack interchange in the world, the Four Level Interchange just north of downtown Los Angeles. He played an instrumental role on the National Interregional Highway Committee which persuaded Congress to authorize the Interstate Highway System. He worked primarily in the public sector on the United States west coast throughout his life.
Biography
Personal life and education
Purcell was born in North Bend, Nebraska, one of two children of John and Mary Gillis Purcell. His father died when he was 3, and as he grew up, Purcell developed a fascination with bridges. He was educated in civil engineering at Stanford University (for one semester) and at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he specialized in bridge design. He married Minnie Pullen in 1914, the daughter of a Portland, Oregon farmer. They had no children.
Early work
After graduating in 1906, he worked at a variety of jobs in ten different locations. His first full-time position was with the Union Pacific Railroad, during which he built a steel girder span in Wyoming, his first bridge. He then went to Peru for two years as an engineer for mines in the Cerro de Pasco area. He returned to the United States as chief engineer for a logging railroad in Oregon. He then supervised the construction of bridges and highways in several states, mostly in the Pacific Northwest.
When he was hired as Oregon's first state bridge engineer in 1913, he was an advocate for concrete bridges, but had to overcome considerable opposition from companies who built steel bridges, which had been the principle bridge construction method for many years. In 1914 he completed Oregon's first paved highway, and three years later he designed and built the innovative -long concrete arch Center Street Bridge in Salem, Oregon over the Willamette River. During his tenure, he supervised bridge projects along the Historic Columbia River Highway and a number of smaller bridges throughout the state. He established Oregon's first statewide bridge design department. After he left employment with the state of Oregon in 1918, he became a District Engineer for U.S. Bureau of Public Roads.
Professional accomplishments
Built San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge
In 1928, Purcell was appointed by Governor C. C. Young as the California State Highway Engineer. In 1929, he was appointed technical adviser to the 1929 Hoover-Young San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Commission, which commissioned construction of the -long San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. When the commission finished its work, Purcell was appointed by Governor Jim Rolph as the Chief Engineer responsible for the design and construction of the bridge. During construction, the project was held up by the maritime strikes of 1934. Despite these and many other challenges, the bridge was completed several months ahead of schedule. The western portion of the bridge relied on a central -tall anchorage, of which is beneath the surface of the water. It is the world's largest pier. The tunnel through Yerba Buena Island was at the time the largest bore tunnel in the world. Its completion was the realization of dreams first conceived by local citizens in 1850. Upon its completion, it was the longest and at $77,600,000, the most expensive bridge ever built. More than 6,500 employees worked on the project.