Oleg Alexander Kerensky

(Oleg Aleksandrovich) (1905–1984) B.Sc. (Hons. Lond.), A.M.Inst.C.E., civil engineer

1905 Born in Russia, son of Alexander Kerensky, Russian Prime Minister and revolutionary leader^[1]

1927 Graduated from London Univ. (Northampton Polytechnic)

Worked for a short while for Oxford City Council

Training in Mech. Workshops and with County Surveyor

1927 Joined bridge department of Dorman Long and Co

Senior Designer, Engineer on Construction of Lambeth Bridge, and Chief Designer with Bridge Dept., Dorman Long and Co., Ltd.

c.1939 Sub-Agent on Re-Construction of Wandsworth Bridge, Holloway Brothers (London) Ltd., Bridge Wharf, Millbank, London, S.W.1.

1940-43 Construction of Avonmouth Oil Terminal

1943-45 Chief Engineer for the Mulberry Harbours in North Wales

Until 1955 was principal bridge designer under Sir Gilbert Roberts; worked with Mott, Hay and Anderson on design of Severn Road Bridge and Forth Road Bridge. He was principal designer for the Ganga Bridge, the Erskine Bridge and the Medway Bridge.

1964 Conferred CBE

1970 Appointed Fellow of the Royal Society; was one of 2 partners in Freeman Fox and Partners recognised as a world authority on bridge design (at this time part of the Milford Haven Bridge collapsed during construction); he was also vice president of the Institution of Structural Engineers.^[2]

1970 Lived in Eaton Square, London

1970 Went to Australia with Sir Ralph Freeman to examine the reasons for the collapse of the Yarra Bridge, also a box-girder design^[3]

1970-71 President of Institution of Structural Engineers

1974 Retired from Freeman Fox and became a consultant

1984 Died.

The Institution of Structural Engineers organised the International Oleg Kerensky Memorial Conferences, the second of which was held in Glasgow in 1989.

Sources of Information