# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-alexander-low-waddell
# Generated: 2026-08-15T04:41:43.916Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-alexander-low-waddell"
name: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
slug: "john-alexander-low-waddell"
description: "Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thousand structures to his credit. Most of these were in the United States and Canada, with some in Mexico, Russia, China, Japan, and New Zealand. Waddell’s work set standards for elevated railroad systems and helped develop materials suitable for large span bridges. His most important contribution was the development of the steam-powered high-lift bridge. Waddell was a widely respected writer on bridge design and engineering theory, as well as an advocate for quality in higher education engineering programs. The company he founded in 1887, 'J.A.L. Waddell, Consulting Engineer,' would eventually become the modern day Hardesty & Hanover, a leading moveable bridge engineering firm. Many of Waddell's surviving bridges are now considered historic landmarks."
tagline: "Civil engineer (1854–1938)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Canada"
  isoCode: "CA"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1854-01-15"
deathDate: "1938-03-03"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           38.91
  momentum:             0
  historical:           5.674334666666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     35
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell"
    title: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell"
    title: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell"
    title: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell"
    title: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AF%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB"
    title: "ジョン・ワデル"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_Low_Waddell"
    title: "John Alexander Low Waddell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3180888"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump