COL Cranston R. Rogers, USA
Class of 1949
Hometown: Medway, Ma.
- A Nationally prominent Civil Engineer, Rogers was named a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2008. The Society’s highest accolade, it recognizes those members who have achieved eminence in a branch of engineering. Rogers was honored for his distinguished career in the design of some of the most challenging transportation projects of our time, coupled with his outstanding management of U.S. Corps of Engineers Army Engineer Reserve units. He is the only army reservist to be presented The Wheeler Award of The Society of Military Engineers and is one of only 565 engineers to be named an honorary member of ASCE.
- Among his many engineering accomplishments, Rogers designed and managed what was widely recognized as the most demanding component of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project, known as the "Big Dig." His tunnel jacking work performed beneath operating rail tracks represented a quantum leap in tunnel engineering in the United States. The project required the construction of three highway tunnels at only a slight depth beneath very active rail tracks under the worst possible ground conditions.
- Rogers attended The Citadel as a Veteran Student after service in World War II, and graduated in 1949. He received a Masters in Civil Engineering from MIT in 1951. He had entered the Army as a private during World War II, deploying with the 7th Army in Europe. For his service in the war, he received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart and was recommended for a direct battlefield commission after the Battle of Aschaffenburg, Germany. While at The Citadel, the Department of Military Science learned he had been recommended for a battlefield commission and assisted in his receiving a commission as a 2LT in the U S Army Reserves.