Josef Melan was the outstanding authority on the theory and practice of bridge-building in Austria during the transition from the discipline-formation period to the consolidation period of theory of structures. The Melan System, which links steel and concrete construction, won significant market-shares in European and American bridge-building as early as the 1890s and was awarded a gold medal at the World Exposition in Paris in 1900. Melan had published his work on concrete arches in conjunction with iron arches in 1893. Melan became famous in 1898 after building a 42.4 m bridge with a very shallow arch in Steyr. At that time, this was the largest reinforced concrete bridge in the world. He also built the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana.