Carl Eduard Gruner (in English, often referred to as Charles Edward Gruner) was a

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

-born Swiss

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, manager of the Swissboring Company and later on a partner at the "Gruner Brothers" ("Gebr. Gruner", today "Gruner Group") engineering company. He made considerable contributions to many projects in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. the

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Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

and

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, most particularly the construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway, in which he participated as a Sector Engineer. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(1939–1941 and 1943–1946) Gruner was in charge of several military construction works in his homeland. Between 1941 and 1943 he was in charge of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

s and power plants construction in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. From 1946 he was mainly involved in projects outside Europe. In 1947 he experienced the death of his father, Heinrich Gruner, who had established an engineering company of his own in 1862. In 1948, Gruner became partner in his late father's company. As the responsible for the Public Works Department, Gruner directed the construction of power plants, railways and

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

systems in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, Syria, Sudan and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. In 1976 he was asked by a subcommittee of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

to survey the damage caused to the Syrian town of Quneitra during the Israel-Syrian wars in 1967 and in 1973. Gruner worked with team of Swiss engineers and military experts, who lived in the town for four months and examined every recognizable structure. They concluded that some damage had been caused by the warfare, however most of the damage had been the result of deliberate destruction by heavy machinery. Gruner's report served as a confirmation of the Syrian allegation that Israel deliberately destroyed the town after the 1973 War, before handing it back to Syrian civil control according to the ceasefire agreements. The UN General Assembly adopted his report.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruner, Eduard Swiss railway mechanical engineers Golan Heights 1984 deaths 1905 births