Carson F. Morrison, P.Eng. (1902–1993) was a university professor, innovative engineer, magazine editor, co-founder of the North American firm

Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield is an employee-owned professional services firm providing engineering and management consulting services in the areas of energy and industrial, buildings, technology and telecom, transportation, environment, water and wastew ...

, and president of a standards association. He was considered to be a touchstone for professional ethics and morality in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

. He is remembered for his ideas and advice, knowledge and imagination.

Early life and education

Morrison was born on a farm in File Hills, in what is now

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

but then, in 1902, was called the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. He graduated from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Structural Engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

. He later taught there part-time and then continued on to

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

where he received his Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering. His masters thesis (1927) is titled "The Effect of the Manner of Support and of Certain Details of Construction on the Secondary Stresses in a Roof Truss".

Working life

Morrison was a

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

and Mathematics Lecturer,

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

(1927–1928). He was with the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

from 1928 to 1968, first as a Lecturer and later as a professor. His primary teachings were in the field of civil engineering. His knowledge and interests particularly lied in wood structures and guyed towers. During the post-war years Morrison, along with fellow engineers Charles Hershfield, Joe Millman, and Mark Huggins responded to the building boom by establishing the firm Morrison Hershfield Millman and Huggins in Toronto in 1946. At that time the firm offered civil, structural, and

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

services. With the company until the time of his death in 1993, Morrison's roles included that of Principal, President and chairman. The firm eventually grew to become the North American company Morrison Hershfield, providers and integrators of specialized multidisciplinary engineering and related expertise. As a result of the engineering expertise of Morrison Hershfield's co-founders, many of the projects were investigations and problem solving. An early project undertaken by Morrison was to provide a solution to the "galloping" of the guys supporting the newly constructed

radio antenna In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an ...

array towers at the Canadian International Service short wave transmitter at Sackville,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. This phenomenon results under specific climatic conditions which causes the guys to oscillate in a dramatic fashion. Failure to provide appropriate damping exposes the structure to serious risk. Morrison was also a published author and editor. One book he published that was of significant impact on the engineering community was "Professional Engineering Practice: Ethical Aspects" (1982). This book covered topics ranging from the Structure of the Code of Ethics to, Professional Engineers in the Manufacturing Industry, to International Engineering Work. Updated versions of this book are still used in engineering programs today as a basic guide to professional conduct. Morrison was the founding editor of Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine and took a lead in establishing the Canadian Consulting Engineering awards. He held the role of editor from 1959 to 1978. From 1973 to 1975, Morrison was president of

Canadian Standards Association The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed ...

Notable projects

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. ...

and

Mid-Canada Line The Mid-Canada Line (MCL), also known as the McGill Fence, was a line of radar stations running east–west across the middle of Canada, used to provide early warning of a Soviet bomber attack on North America. It was built to supplement the P ...

site supervision and engineering in Ontario's far north * Widening of the

Leaside Bridge The Leaside Bridge, formerly the East York Leaside Viaduct, and officially commemorated as the Confederation Bridge, spans the Don River in the City of Toronto, Ontario. The Truss bridge carrying Millwood Road was built to connect the then Town o ...

in Toronto, Ontario * Investigation into the tragic 1959 collapse of the Listowel Arena, Listowel Ontario, which took 8 lives. This led to changes in the

building codes A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permission ...

to recognize the effects of non-uniform snow loading, together with the establishment of a requirement for regular inspection of all arenas. * Investigation into the 1966 collapse of

Heron Road Bridge The Heron Road Workers Memorial Bridge (formerly the Heron Road Bridge) is a bridge in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It connects Baseline Road to Heron Road and allows east–west traffic to cross both the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal just south o ...

in Ottawa, Ontario. The collapse took nine lives. Using two models, Morrison demonstrated that a properly-braced falsework could hold two times the weight of one with inadequate bracing. Just like the bridge, which was under construction at the time, the model that was not properly braced crashed to the ground. * Site selection for the

Prince Albert Radar Laboratory The Prince Albert Radar Laboratory (PARL) was a radar research facility operated by the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment (DRTE), part of the Canadian Defence Research Board. Its primary purpose was to test long-range radio propaga ...

in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Awards and achievements

* Honorary Member, Ontario Association of Architects, 1963 * Professional Engineering Gold Medal,

Professional Engineers Ontario Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO; known until 1993 as the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, APEO) is the self-regulatory body that governs Ontario's 85,000 professional engineers, and sets standards for and regulates engineering ...

, 1974 * Elected as a Fellow of the

Engineering Institute of Canada The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) ( French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. ...

, 1974 * Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal, 1977 * The

John Jenkins Award, 1980 * Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada / Canadian Consulting Engineer Magazine Carson F. Morrison Award, 1984 (an award named in Morrison's honour) *

admitted Carson Morrison to the Order of Honour in 1984. The highest distinction, the rank of Companion recognizes contributions that exceed those of Officer. It is exclusively given to individuals who have profoundly influenced the engineering profession through their service. *

Standards Council of Canada The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) / Conseil Canadien des Normes (CCN) is a Canadian organization with the mandate to promote voluntary standardization in Canada. The SCC is responsible for: * accreditation of standards development and confo ...

Jean-Paul Carriere Award, 1984. Awarded for distinguished service to Canadian standardization.

External links

History of the firm Morrison HershfieldCanadian Consulting Engineer - Carson Morrsion

References