Arthur John Whyte McIntosh
Arthur John Whyte McIntosh (c1900-1953), chief engineer of the Crawley Development Corporation
1953 Obituary [1]
WE regret to record the death of Mr. A. J. W. Mclntosh, chief engineer of the Crawley Development Corporation, which occurred suddenly on April 15th. Mr. Mclntosh was fifty-three years of age.
Arthur John Whyte McIntosh was born at Dundee, and, after service in the first world war, he studied engineering at St. Andrew's University, where he graduated in 1924.
He then entered a career of municipal engineering, during the course of which he obtained a wide and varied experience with several city or borough authorities, including service with the borough engineer of Oldham, and the city engineer of Carlisle. When he was with the Carlisle Corporation, Mr. Mclntosh was assistant in charge of design, and later in charge of the works for the Eden bridge at Carlisle, a five-span reinforced concrete arch structure.
In 1933 he became deputy to the city engineer of Aberdeen, and remained in that post until 1948; during that period he was associated with a considerable volume of work which was in progress at Aberdeen, including six bridges, sea defences, main drainage, and a number of other works, including civil defence works and services during the war.
In 1948, Mr. Mclntosh was appointed chief engineer of the Crawley Development Corporation, several months before construction of the new town was started. To many municipal engineers such a post must seem an ideal opportunity involving the complete planning of the engineering services and layout of an entirely new town. As may well be imagined, such a situation gives opportunity for the introduction of more rational and advanced ideas than may be possible in a town which has been established, and has grown gradually, over many years.
The successful results of several years' work are now becoming apparent at Crawley, for which no little credit is due to the late chief engineer. A description of the engineering works of the new town was given in our issue of September 21, 1951, which gives an idea of the care and thought which has gone into the town's development. Particular interest has been shown in a number of new developments in the work at Crawley new town, such as the experimental length of prestressed concrete road, the first to be laid in this country. Apart from specific engineering design, however, Mr. McIntosh had to consider numerous wider problems in the layout and servicing of the new town, including, for instance, investigations into the provision of district heating and of new methods of refuse disposal, the layout of the road system to ensure the best conditions of road safety, and the design of street "furniture," to mention only one or two of the many problems involved.
Mr. McIntosh was also the chief engineer of the Weir Wood Water Board, a regional water supply board supplying Crawley and various neighbouring districts. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1944, and served on one of the committees of the Road Research Board. He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Institution of Municipal Engineers.