CCEE Hall of Fame

One of the great bridge designers known for their architectural beauty and international leadership, and instrumental in developing standard bridge and culvert plans for highway projects

Inducted 2021

Conde McCullough graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1910. Upon graduation, he was employed by the Marsh Bridge Company in Des Moines, Iowa and he soon realized that designing bridges was his interest. He was the design engineer at the Iowa State Highway Commission from 1911 to 1916. After that, McCullough relocated to Oregon to teach as an assistant professor at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in the civil engineering department.

He left the college to be the head of the bridge division of the Oregon Department of Transportation for 15 years. While he was there, he designed and supervised approximately 600 bridges and became considered one of the most important bridge designers in U.S. history. Before his retirement, McCullough was the assistant state engineer for eight years. Oregon State University inducted him into their Engineering Hall of Fame in 1998. In addition, he was honored after his death as a distinguished alumnus from Iowa State, and a bridge in North Bend, Oregon, was renamed the Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge in his honor.

McCullough has authored many books and articles on bridge engineering. His bridge designs had a mix of beautiful architecture and strong structure—many of his designs incorporated art deco, gothic spires and Romanesque arches.