James P. Kirkwood

James Pugh Kirkwood (27 March 1807 – 22 April 1877) was a 19th-century American civil engineer, and general superintendent of the Erie Railroad in the year 1849–1850.

[2] Kirkwood had come to the United States in 1832 with letters to McNeill, who arranged work for him on the Norwich Worcester Railroad.

In that same year he surveyed the route for the Long Island Rail Road, which was opened from the foot of Atlantic street to Hicksville in 1837.

[6] This success led to his appointment as General Superintendent of the Erie Railroad on 1 April 1849, where he succeeded Hezekiah C.

[8][9] The Starrucca Viaduct was designed by Julius W. Adams and James P. Kirkwood and built in 1847–1848 by New York and Erie Railroad, of locally quarried random ashlar bluestone, except for three brick interior longitudinal spandrel walls and the concrete base portions of the piers and deck covering.

The viaduct was built to solve an engineering problem posed by the wide valley of Starrucca Creek.

The Erie Railroad was well-financed by British investors, but even with money available, most American contractors at the time were incapable of the task.

It is highly probable, though, that S.S. Post's long connection with the Railroad Company, and his popularity, would have secured him the place; if he had not shown an inclination to answer, in a non-committal way, queries put to him by the Directors, and a disposition to respond to them by asking questions himself.

[10] This article incorporates public domain material from Edward Harold Mott Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie.