Boleslaw Chwascinski

Boleslaw Chwascinski was certainly one of the key figures in the Polish bridge-building. Before WWII he made his name as an alpinist and climber rather than as a constructor. His first huge work was probably the road from Kabul to Dzalalabad, being designed and built in 1939-1940; key point of that undertaking was crossing the Tangu Gari gorge. In 1940 he left Afghanistan for Britain, where he served as navigator in the 301 RAF Bomber Division. Among others, awarded also Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military honour. Returned to Poland in 1946. Leading or involved in a number of road and bridge construction projects, Chwascinski was managing the construction of both Góra Kalwaria bridges, the road and the railroad ones. Heading many projects also abroad, mostly in the Middle East. Since 1950s took up teaching at the Warsaw Technical University, which was gradually taking more and more of his time. During that period and after he retired, published many books and articles, mostly focusing on the bridge-building history and climbing.