Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Eads, James Buchanan

EADS, JAMES BUCHANAN, an American engineer; born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., May 23, 1820. He early designed some useful boats for raising sunken steamers, and in 1861, when called to advise the National Government, constructed within 100 days eight ironclad steamers for use on the Mississippi and its tributaries. He afterward built a number of other ironclads and mortar-boats. His steel arch bridge (1867-1874) across the Mississippi at St. Louis, with its central arch embracing a clear span of 520 feet, ranks deservedly among the notable bridges of the world; his works for improving the South Pass of the Mississippi delta were successfully completed in 1875-1879; and his great plan for deepening the river as far as the mouth of the Ohio by means of jetties, has been demonstrated to be entirely practicable. In 1884 he received the Albert Medal of the Society of Arts, being the first American citizen so honored. He died in Nassau, New Providence, March 8, 1887.