Eminent Structural Engineer: Anton Tedesko (1903–1994)

I first met Anton (Fig. 1) in the late 1960s when I had just begun my small structural engineering practice in New York City. Every project was an important one for me and in my first use of what I thought was a simple structural system—precast, prestressed hollow core concrete plank—I encountered a terrifying situation. I was prepared to deal with issues of upward camber in the plank but when it was erected, instead of arching slightly upward, it deflected significantly downward. I knew of Anton, having heard him lecture, and I also knew that he had recently retired from Roberts & Schaefer and had opened his own consulting practice. Upon contacting him I first learned that we lived only 5 km from one another. Then his soothing voice proceeded to calm my terrible fear that I had done something dramatically wrong. He worked through the problem logically and expeditiously with me and came up with a simple explanation which, in my anxiety, I never would have considered.