In Memoriam: Ben Gerwick

Ben C. Gerwick, Jr., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, passed away on December 25, 2006. He was 87.

A 1940 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Gerwick served as the chairman of Ben C. Gerwick, Inc. and as a professor emeritus of civil engineering at Berkeley. He steered his father’s company, founded in 1926, towards pretensioning technology in the 1950s, and served as a consultant on major prestressed-concrete bridges in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia during his extensive career.

Gerwick participated in construction of major projects such as the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and the Ninian Central Platform, located in the North Sea. He did further work in the North Sea, consulting on several major oil platforms like the Ardjuna Sakti, which is used for cryogenic gas storage.

His contributions to construction engineering earned Gerwick recognition throughout his career. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973, and was named one of the “Top People of the Past 125 Years” by Engineering News Record in 1999, joining notables such as Thomas Edison and Frank Lloyd Wright.

ASCE awarded him both the President’s Award and the Peurifoy Construction Research Award in 1989, plus recognized Gerwick’s lifetime achievements in construction by honoring him with an award as part of its Outstanding Projects and Lifetime (OPAL) program in 2001.

Gerwick is survived by his wife, Ellen Chaney Gerwick, three children, seven grandchildren and four stepchildren.

Contributions may be sent to Ben C. Gerwick Fellowship Award Fund, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, 760 Davis Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1710.