This engineer worked on projects ranging from building
thousands of miles of railroad to putting in place the infrastructure needed to
complete the Panama Canal. Although John
Frank Stevens did not actually dig the canal and locks, he helped set the stage
for George Washington Goethals, who worked on those parts of the project.
Railroad Work
Stevens was born in Maine and completed his education in
civil engineering in 1873. He moved to
Minneapolis, MN and began surveying and building railroads. In 1886 Stevens worked for the Duluth, South
Shore and Atlantic Railroad and built the line across the upper peninsula of
Michigan.
He later worked for the Great Northern Railway and built
over a thousand miles of railroad. Stevens
helped discover a way through Marias Pass over the Continental Divide - a means
of expanding the railroad through the Rocky Mountains without a tunnel. He
made another discovery farther west; Stevens Pass, east of Everett, WA, was named
for him.
Stevens built the original Cascade Tunnel at Stevens
Pass. Construction of the Cascade Tunnel
was completed in 1900. It was a single
track railroad 2.63 miles long. The
tunnel was electrified in 1909 to eliminate a smoke problem. A 1910 avalanche, the deadliest in U.S.
history, killed 96 people. A longer and
lower tunnel was built; the original Cascade Tunnel was abandoned in 1929.
Panama Canal
Stevens was appointed chief engineer to the Panama Canal
project in 1905. Morale was low and
successes were few when he entered the project.
Stevens helped lay the groundwork that would help the project get
started:
- Insisted workers be immunized against yellow
fever (along with malaria it killed hundreds of workers per week).
- Introduced a food car to boost morale.
- Pushed to build a lock canal rather than one at
sea-level.
- Built transportation infrastructure (railroads,
warehouses, machine shops, and piers) and new communities.
Stevens' original agreement with President Theodore
Roosevelt had been to "stick to the job until he could predict success or
failure according to his own judgment".
He resigned from the project in 1907, having turned it around from the
"devil of a mess" left behind after the resignation of John F. Wallace, his
predecessor. George Washington Goethals
was appointed to complete the Panama Canal, including its actual construction.
Resources:
Balboa
Circle Renamed to Honor Canal Engineer
PBS
- American Experience - Biography: John Stevens
Wikipedia
- Cascade Tunnel
Wikipedia
- John Frank Stevens [image]
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Re: John Frank Stevens: Engineer of the Great Northern Railway and the Panama Canal (1853-1943)
