APRIL 2008 Issue
Obituary
Emil James Sanden, P.Eng.
EMIL JAMES SANDEN, P.ENG. |
A past APEGGA president who built a career in bridges for the Alberta Department of Highways has died. Life Member Emil James Sanden, P.Eng., passed away on Jan. 24, two days before his 84th birthday.
The Sherwood Park resident held APEGGA’s top elected position in 1977 and was a co-winner of the L.C. Charlesworth Professional Service Summit Award in 1981. He often attended APEGGA events — including the 2007 Christmas reception in Edmonton.
Born Jan. 26, 1924, in Kelowna, B.C., Mr. Sanden was raised on a homestead near Hussar, Alta., the youngest of six children. He studied civil engineering at the University of Alberta, starting each year two weeks late because he was needed for harvest.
Soon after graduating in 1946, he married Esther Mahon, with whom he had five children.
Mr. Sanden loved building bridges and became the head of the bridge branch of the Alberta Department of Highways. A true innovator, he was instrumental in the development of culverts over five feet in diameter. These eventually grew large enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic.
This and several other of his significant ideas were exported from Alberta to the world.
He completed a study of ice on rivers that resulted in reducing the required design strengths for bridge piers by 50 per cent. He was a world leader in the development of precast concrete structures.
All told, Mr. Sanden was involved in the building of 12,000 bridges. He retired from the department as assistant deputy minister in 1976.
He and Esther raised their children in Edmonton, retired to Victoria in 1983 and then moved back to Sherwood Park in 1998 to be closer to family.
Mr. Sanden has 11 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He loved being around little children. Mr. Sanden, says an obituary published online, was particularly proud of the go-cart he and his grandson Clifford built. In fact 115 tanks of gas were used for grandchildren and other kids riding around the cul-de-sac at the family homes in Victoria and Sherwood Park.
The online obituary says: “Emil was a gifted teacher and a wonderful father. He was a builder, an engineer and an inventor.”
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.