Sonti Kamesam (1890–30 November 1952) was an Indian

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

who worked at the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun. He is best known for his patented wood preservative, ASCU, from the chemical symbols for Arsenic and Copper. The treatment was patented in Britain from 1934 and in the US from 1938. It also went by the name of Chromated Copper Arsenate or CCA in the United States of America from around the 1950s. In his treatment,

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

is a fungicide,

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

is a secondary fungicide and insecticide, while

chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...

is a fixative which also provides

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

(UV) light resistance. Recognized for the greenish tint it imparts to timber. this preservative was extremely popular for many decades until arsenic toxicity and carcinogenicity was recognized by the

US EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

and other regulators. ASCU trademark

Kamesam was born in Narsapur in

West Godavari district The West Godavari district is a coastal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with an administrative headquarters in Bhimavaram. As of the 2011 Census of India, the district has an area of and a population of 1,779,935. It is bounded ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and was a younger brother of

S. V. Ramamurthy Sir Sonti Venkata Ramamurthy Order of the Indian Empire, KCIE (1 August 1888 - 19 January 1964) was an Indian civil servant who served as Chief Secretary to the Government of Madras Presidency from 1939 to 1943 and as advisor to the Madras govern ...

. After primary education at

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

, he graduated from Presidency College,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and obtained his

B.E. A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

from

Guindy Engineering College The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college situated in Chennai, India. It is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe. Histo ...

. He also obtained an ME (honours) and became a Member of the Institution of Engineers (India). He joined in Forest Research Institute,

Dehra Dun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, ...

and later promoted as an Expert-in-charge of Wood Preservation. He was sent to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for research and worked with Richard Falck (1873-1955), a specialist on fungi and their damage to wood. They developed the 'Falkamesam arsenic-copper mixture' which was patented in Poland in 1932. Until then Wolman's formulation – famously known as Wolman Salts – contained

dinitrophenol Dinitrophenols are chemical compounds which are nitro derivatives of phenol. There are six isomers of dinitrophenol: * 2,3-Dinitrophenol * 2,4-Dinitrophenol * 2,5-Dinitrophenol * 2,6-Dinitrophenol * 3,4-Dinitrophenol * 3,5-Dinitrophenol Di ...

, a chemical manufactured by Hicksons, UK. In 1933, Kamesam added Copper sulphate as an anti-fungal to the formula of Wolman Salts which worked against termite damage. In addition Kamesam introduced the use of chromium to bind the two salts to the fibres of wood. He received an Indian patent in 1933, a British patent in 1934 and a US patent in 1938. The application of the ASCU process for use in the Indian Railways was examined by a committee headed by Sir C.V. Raman in 1933-34. In 1936 he designed a highway bridge with a 60-foot span. In order to prove the strength of the bridge, he made two adult elephants, each weighing in at around ten tons, walk across while his children stood underneath. After retirement Kamesam joined Tiruvankur estate as director of the development department. He built many bridges with his preserved wood. He was awarded an honorary

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

for his contributions in 1939. He wrote a booklet on Construction of Better and cheaper highway bridges in 1943.

References

External links

A note on Kamesam (with portrait)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamesam, Sonti Telugu people 1890 births 1952 deaths People from West Godavari district Engineers from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian engineers 20th-century Indian inventors Presidency College, Chennai alumni