Arthur R. Anderson

At the time of his death, an obituary in The Seattle Times referred to Anderson as "a pioneer in concrete construction methods:" "Arthur R. Anderson's theme might have been, 'Anything steel can do, concrete can do better.' This visionary engineer, his family and their associates designed concrete light poles despite widespread skepticism. The Tacoma native also came up with the revolutionary curved and angled beams of the monorails in Seattle and at Disney World."

(see photo below: brothers Tom and Art Anderson at Disney World monorail)

"'He brought the concept of prestressed concrete from Europe, where it was in production, to the United States,' said his son Karl Anderson of Tacoma."

Elected a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering in 1976, Arthur Anderson also received PCI's Medal of Honor. In 2010, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland declared March 11, 2010 as Arthur Anderson Day, acknowledging a "businessman who has left his mark on Tacoma."

At the time of the Seattle World's Fair, the American Concrete Institute's publication from its 1962 Fall Meeting in Seattle, Concrete Construction for the Century 21 Exposition, included Anderson's article "Casting Curved Prestressed Monorail Beams." He wrote over 60 articles throughout his career, many published in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Journal.