Alfred Charles Gardner
{{Short description|British engineer (1880–1952)}}
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Alfred Charles Gardner FRSE MICE MIME (1880–1952) was a British engineer. He designed vast station roofs and bridges for the Great Western Railway. In later life, he created the launch sites for {{RMS|Queen Mary}} and {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}} in the Clyde shipyards.
Life
File:Corporation bridge Grimsby.jpg
File:Stobcross Quay and the Finnieston Crane - geograph.org.uk - 2182047.jpg
File:Queen Elizabeth Construction.jpg
He was born in Richmond, Surrey, on 4 October 1880Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers May 1953 the son of Henry Charles Gardner and his wife Sarah.{{cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Alfred-Gardner/6000000039818788485|title=Alfred Charles Gardner (1882 - d.) - Genealogy|website=geni.com|accessdate=18 March 2018}} He was educated at the Vineyard School in Richmond then at the Polytechnic School of Engineering in London.
In 1898, he was apprenticed to the Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding and Engineering Company based in Blackwall, London and served there until 1901. He then went to work for London County Council. His first major project was their Electricity Generating Station at Greenwich. Later in 1901, he became Assistant Engineer at the Great Western Railway. In 1907, he moved to the Great Central Railway as Steelwork Assistant. He later became Principal Bridge Assistant, responsible for building over 30 bridges. The most unusual of these was the bridge at Keadby (1916) at its time, the largest lifting bridge in Europe.Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: May 1953: obituaries
From 1918 onwards, he served as the Dock Engineer for Grimsby and Immingham, working for the London and North Eastern Railway Company. Here, he built the Corporation Bridge across the dock entrance (1928). In 1929, he was appointed Chief Engineer for the Clyde Navigation Trust, becoming responsible for works in Glasgow's extensive docks and the River Clyde. Here, he was responsible for Plantation Quay and Lancefield Quay. He laid the bases at Stobcross Quay in preparation for the Finnieston Crane.Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: May 1953: obituaries
He prepared the launch sites for both the {{RMS|Queen Mary}} and {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}}, including necessary dredging of the Clyde to ensure space for these huge ships.Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: May 1953: obituaries
In 1933, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were A. H. Roberts, D McLellan, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare, David Alan Stevenson, D. Ronald, Edward Theodore Salvesen, and D. S. Stewart.{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=23 June 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}
He retired in 1941. He died in Glasgow on 2 December 1952.
Family
In 1906, he divorced his wife, Ada Maria on grounds of her infidelity.{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7999880|title=Divorce Court File: 6597. Appellant: Alfred Charles Gardner. Respondent: Ada Maria...|website=The National Archives|accessdate=18 March 2018}}
References
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Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Category:People associated with Glasgow