Engineers behind the Building of the University of Texas at Austin Tower
Author: Melinda Luna, PE, CFM, F. ASCE
October 2024
The University of Texas (UT) at Austin Tower is a symbol of the University and the City of Austin. It is used to convey sports wins and other occasions. Close enough to IH 35, the 307 ft tower can be seen from a distance. If you get close to the Tower, it is very detailed in its façade having alphabets, and symbols of other universities to convey the message “Change starts here”. At the time of construction of the Tower, the Texas Capitol building was the tallest building in Austin at 302.6 ft. Construction of the Tower started in 1934 and was completed in 1937. The University of Texas applied for a grant from the New Deal for 1.6 million dollars (36 million in 2024). The logic for securing the grant was that the project’s large scale would create many jobs. Eventually, the construction cost was 2.8 million dollars (64.4 million in 2024). Much has been written about the architect Paul Phillip Cret, but what about the engineers who participated in its building? During the time of construction, an engineer was needed to successfully build the tower and create the landmark. Amongst the engineers, the two notable ones were Warren S. Bellows and Carl J. Eckhardt, Jr.
Warren Sylvanus Bellows headed the W.S. Bellows Construction Company and built the Tower. Warren S. Bellows attended the University of Kansas and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1911. He headed to Canada to work on hospitals and other buildings while setting up his own business in 1914. In 1921, he set up his construction company in Houston, Texas. He went on to build several projects which included the San Jacinto monument, the Humble Headquarters Building, the American General Insurance Company, Prudential Insurance Regional Headquarters buildings, the First City National Bank, and the Bank of the Southwest. He built many buildings on the Campuses of Texas A&M University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Houston. The W S Bellows Construction company was also involved with the South Texas Naval Air Base. While the Tower was being built, Warren S. Bellows’s son, Warren S. Bellows Jr., was attending the University of Texas, where he graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1939. Both father and son worked for W.S. Bellows Construction Company and were members of ASCE
Carl J. Eckhardt Jr., head of the Physical Plant in 1931 and a mechanical engineer, supervised the construction of the Main Building Tower. His tenure at UT spanned 50 years. Eckhardt devised a lighting system to take advantage of its architecture to serve to announce university achievements. Starting in 1937, orange lights were used to symbolize important events at the university; by 1947, standard guidelines for using orange lights were created, and these have been updated since. Today there are many different options for lighting, including a darkened tower to signify solemn occasions.
Certainly, the efforts of these two engineers created the landmark that the UT tower is today. The Alexander Architectural Archive houses documentation for the building including construction drawings, shop drawings, construction photographs, and project files from the University of Texas Buildings collection.
The University of Texas has started a project to renovate the tower which will be completed in 2027 at a cost of 70 million dollars, where many other engineers will be involved in restoring the University of Texas Tower. The tower will be 100 years old when the renovation project is completed. The effort has a website at https://tower.utexas.edu/
1 “Tower History: The University of Texas at Austin.” Our Tower, The University of Texas at Austin, 3 Oct. 2024, tower.utexas.edu/history/.
2 Highsmith, C. M., photographer. (2014) Littlefield Fountain, the sculptor Pompeo Coppini’s memorial in Austin, Texas, to University of Texas students and alumni who died in World War I. United States Texas Austin, 2014. -04-16. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2015630512/.
3 Lee, Adrienne. “UT Tower to Undergo Historic Restoration Beginning This Fall.” UT News, 4 Oct. 2024, news.utexas.edu/2024/10/04/ut-tower-to-undergo-historic-restoration-beginning-this-fall/.
