Llewellyn N. Edwards Papers

The collection contains the papers of Llewellyn Nathaniel Edwards, a graduate of the University of Maine and an expert on bridges and on concrete.

Llewellyn Nathaniel Edwards was born in Otisfield, Maine in 1873. He received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1898, his C.E. in 1901, and Doctor of Engineering degree in 1927, all from the University of Maine. After graduation he began work as a draftsman for the Boston Bridge Works Company. Between 1905 and 1912, he worked as a bridge designer for various railroad companies, including the Boston and Maine, the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. While with the Grand Trunk he was in charge of the reconstruction of five bridges for the city of Toronto, where he began his research in the study of concrete. He was then briefly employed by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads assigned to the district which included Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, before becoming bridge engineer for the Maine State Highway Commission in 1921. In 1928, he again was employed by the Bureau of Public Roads as a structural engineer, retiring in 1943

Dr. Edwards served as a captain in the Corps of Engineers in World War I. He became an authority on concrete and was author of A Record of History and Evolution of Early American Bridges as well as numerous articles in professional and scientific journals. Dr. Edwards died in 1952.

Dr. Edwards is represented on the campus of the University of Maine in several ways. In 1932 he donated two sets of cannons to the University; one set had been used for display on the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), the other had been used in the Civil War. Both sets are now located on the lawns of the campus. In addition, the Dr. L.N. Edwards Wing of Boardman Hall, a building which houses the civil and mechanical engineering departments of the University, is named in honor of Dr. Edwards