APPENDIX
THE AMERICAN BRIDGE COMPANY OF 1900
After more than a year of rumors and s p e c u l a t i v e a r t i c l e s the American
Bridge Company was formally organized by J.P. Morgan and Company and
incorporated i n New J e r s e y on 14 April 1900. I t was an independent company
f o r l e s s than a y e a r as most of i t s s t o c k was acquired by United S t a t e s
S t e e l Corporation, of which it became a s u b s i d i a r y on 1 April 1901. However,
t h i s development d i d not a f f e c t i t s corporate organization. S t a t u t o r y
o f f i c e s were maintained i n New J e r s e y , and the headquarters were i n New York
C i t y u n t i l 16 May 1901, then i n Philadelphia u n t i l 1 April 1904, and f i n a l l y
i n Pittsburgh,
Twenty-four companies, f i f t y p e r c e n t of the n a t i o n ' s f a b r i c a t i n g c a p a c i t y ,
were purchased the f i r s t year. Those i n New York S t a t e became p a r t of a
s u b s i d i a r y , Empire Bridge Company, which s t a r t e d a t the same time a s i t s
p a r e n t and e x i s t e d u n t i l 2 J u l y 1914. The o t h e r s apparently r e p o r t e d
d i r e c t l y t o the main headquarters except, perhaps, f o r A. and P. Roberts
Company (Pencoyd I r o n Works) which had i t s own company o f f i c e r s , and the
p r e c i s e r e l a t i o n s h i p here i s not known. I n a d d i t i o n t o Empire Bridge t h e r e
was another s u b s i d i a r y , American Bridge Company of New York, which was
responsible f o r a l l s a l e s , c o n t r a c t s , and e r e c t i o n from 10 January 1901
u n t i l 31 December 1913. It i s not known how the a c t i v i t i e s a t each p l a n t
were f i t t e d i n t o t h i s corporate s t r u c t u r e , e s p e c i a l l y with A. and P. Roberts
and Empire Bridge, b u t t h e r e was some degree of c e n t r a l c o n t r o l as shop
drawings sometimes were made a t one o f f i c e and d i s t r i b u t e d t o s e v e r a l
d i f f e r e n t shops f o r f a b r i c a t i o n .
A s American Bridge's o r g a n i z a t i o n matured some shops were expanded, o t h e r s
closed, and the huge p l a n t a t Ambridge (formerly Economy), Pennsylvania
constructed. When completed i n 1903 i t s c a p a c i t y was t r i p l e t h a t of the
previous record h o l d e r and was roughly equal t o the combined c a p a c i t y of the
f i v e l a r g e s t companies bought by American Bridge. P a r t of the s i t e had been
purchased by B e r l i n I r o n Bridge Company i n 1899 f o r a western d i v i s i o n , b u t
the f i n a l p l a n s were so much expanded t h a t more land was acquired.
The twenty-four companies acquired i n 1900 were:
American Bridge Works, Chicago, I l l i n o i s
B e r l i n I r o n Bridge Company, B e r l i n , Connecticut
Buffalo Bridge and I r o n Works, Buffalo, New York
Edge Moor Bridge Works, Wilmington, Delaware
Elmira Bridge Company Ltd., Elmira, New York
Gillette-Herzog Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company, Groton, New York
H i l t o n Bridge Construction Company, Albany, New York
Horseheads Bridge Company, Hor seheads , New York
Keystone Bridge Works, P i t t s b u r g h , Pennsylvania
(from Carnegie S t e e l Company, Limited)
Lafayette Bridge Company, Lafayette, Indiana
Lassig Bridge and I r o n Works, Chicago, I l l i n o i s
Milwaukee Bridge and I r o n Works, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
(from J.G. Wagner Company)
APPENDIX C
New Columbus Bridge Company, Columbus, Ohio
Pencoyd I r o n Works, P h i l a d e l p h i a , Pennsylvania
(A. and P. Roberts Company)
P i t t s b u r g h Bridge Company, P i t t s b u r g h , Pennsylvania
Post and McCord, New York, New York
Rochester Bridge and I r o n Works, Rochester, New York
Schultz Bridge I r o n Company, McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
S h i f f l e r Bridge Company, P i t t s b u r g h , Pennsylvania
Trenton I r o n Works, Trenton, New J e r s e y
(New J e r s e y S t e e l and I r o n Company)
Union Bridge Company, New York, New York
( p l a n t a t Athens, Pennsylvania)
Wrought I r o n Bridge Company, Canton, Ohio
Youngs town Bridge Company, Youngs town, Ohio
Several o t h e r l a r g e f a b r i c a t o r s - P a s s a i c
Phoenix Bridge-had been l i n k e d t o the
a r t i c l e s , b u t they remained independent.
R o l l i n g M i l l , King Bridge, and
new company i n the s p e c u l a t i v e
To complete the h i s t o r y of American Bridge's expansion i t i s necessary t o go
i n t o the twentieth century. The l a t e r a d d i t i o n s were:
Toledo Bridge Company, Toledo Ohio (1901)
D e t r o i t Bridge and I r o n Works, D e t r o i t , Michigan (1902)
Koken I r o n Works, St. Louis, Missouri (between 1912 and 1916)
Virginia Bridge and I r o n Company, Roanoke, V i r g i n i a (1936)
I n 1955 United S t a t e s S t e e l t r a n s f e r r e d t h r e e shops from i t s Consolidated
Western S t e e l Division t o American Bridge. A l l i n Los Angeles, C a l i f o r n i a ,
they o r i g i n a l l y were Baker I r o n Works (founded 1872), Llwellyn I r o n Works
(1884), and Union I r o n Works (1884). They had joined t o form Consolidated
S t e e l i n 1928. This l a t e r became p a r t of Consolidated Western S t e e l
Corporation which United S t a t e s S t e e l bought i n 1948.
Alabama Bridge and I r o n Company i s l i s t e d a s one of American Bridge's
a c q u i s i t i o n s i n T a l b o t ' s American Bridge Company History and Organization.
Although i t s d a t e of i n c o r p o r a t i o n i s given a s 4 August 1900, i t was not
l i s t e d i n the American I r o n and S t e e l Association d i r e c t o r i e s of 1903, 1908,
or 1916 as e i t h e r an independent company or a p a r t of American Bridge. For
t h i s reason, and a l s o because a l o c a t i o n i s not given, the company i s not
included i n the d i r e c t o r y p o r t i o n of t h i s work or the l i s t of a c q u i s i t i o n s .
The AISA d i r e c t o r i e s of 1903 and 1906 o f f e r a puzzle concerning one of
American Bridge's shops a s they include 'Walker P l a n t , West Homestead,
Pennsylvania, Annual c a p a c i t y 16,000 tons. (Formerly operated by the
S h i f f l e r Bridge Company.)' E a r l i e r d i r e c t o r i e s : 1894, 1896, and 1898, do not
include any such p l a n t , and i t would appear t h a t S h i f f l e r had s t a r t e d an
expansion between 1898 and the formation of American Bridge. Perhaps t h i s
shop, which doubled S h i f t i e r ' s capacity, and B e r l i n I r o n Bridge's s t a r t of a
second p l a n t provided the impetus f o r the formation of the b r i d g e combine.