Alexander McMenegal Telford
Alexander McMenegal Telford (1895-1963)
1963 Obituary [1]
ALEXANDER McMENEGAL TELFORD, B.Sc., who was born on 20 April, 1895, died on 7 September, 1963.
Educated at George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, he studied engineering at Edinburgh University and received the degree of B.Sc.(Eng.) with first-class honours in 1915.
In World War I he served from 1915 to 1918, first as an officer in the Royal Engineers, 51st Highland Division, later as Adjutant, C.R.E.
After three years’ general practice in Edinburgh with Messrs Leslie & Reid, he became in 1922 lecturer in surveying at Edinburgh University, and in the same year was engaged by Charles Brand & Sons, Contractors, on the reconstruction of the City and South London Underground Railway between Kings Cross and the Angel.
A turning point in his career came in 1923, when he left England for the Sudan to become Chief Engineer to the Kassala Cotton Company, which aimed to develop 30,000 acres of the River Gash delta for cotton and food crops by canalization. For the next four years he was solely responsible for the design and construction of all the canals, houses, and water supplies involved in this project.
From 1927 to 1928 he laid out a new irrigation scheme for the same company in the Gezira, covering some 45 000 acres, then at the Government’s request went to Tanganyika to report on the engineering and agricultural possibilities of two large areas in the southern territory for which a government Commission had suggested a railway.
For the next two years Mr Telford worked as chief engineer to the Sudan Plantations Syndicate...[more]