Deshabadu Engineer Dr. Arumadura Nandasena Silva Kulasinghe a Civil Engineer by profession was the father of pre-cast, pre-stressed low cost housing.

Early Life    

He was born to a middle class family at Udammita in Ja-Ela on 26th October 1919. He lost his mother when he was barely 4 years old.

He first studied at Wadduwa English Boys College and then moved to Mari Stella College, Negombo and to pursue further education, he entered St. Benedicts' College Kotahena.

In 1938 he passed the London Matriculation Examination securing a first division that enabled him to join the BSc in Engineering London Degree Course at the Ceylon Technical College on an entrance scholarship. Due to the second world war in  the 1940’s his studies were disrupted but later in 1958 he completed his BSc. (Eng.) Hons. London Degree as an external candidate.

 In the same year he was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers London and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.

Later Life

In 1940, he joined the Norton Bridge Hydro Power Project as a Technical Assistant and in 1944, he joined the Colombo Harbour as a Junior Assistant Engineer. He focused his attention on cost technologies, innovative construction techniques and utilization of local resources in his Engineering pursuits. In 1946 he married Dulcie de Silva. They had two sons, Upul and Harith

His pioneering efforts and contributions in the areas of pre-cast concrete, pre-stressed concrete, alternate low cost construction material, ferro-cement boat building and applications of the shell design theory in construction are applied even to this day in engineering structures in Sri Lanka.

In 1962 he became the founder Chairman and General Manager of the State Engineering Corporation of Ceylon while serving as Director of State Hardware Corporation, Ceylon Steel Corporation, Lanka Leyland Limited, Colombo Low Lying Areas Reclamation Board, Ceylon Tire Corporation, while holding prestigious positions as Council Member of the Ceylon Bureau of Standards and Member of the Board of Regents Vidyalankara University.

Having been appointed as Chief Engineer, Colombo Port Commission in 1963 he was appointed Commissioner of the Colombo Port Commission in 1968. He retired from the State Engineering Corporation in 1971 and left the country returning in 1977.

He helped in the construction of the Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya and Buddha Jayanthi Chaithya at the Colombo Port. His engineering genius is aptly displayed in mega construction projects as the Polgolla; Maduruoya; Radenigala; Rantambe Dams, Hydropower Stations, State Engineering Corporation’s Head Office in Colombo and the Colombo Planetarium.

Marine Drive in Colombo including sea walls, new lighthouse and concrete roadway in prestressed concrete, fishing ports in Galle, Mirissa, Tangalle, Jaffna, and Beruwela, Cement factory at Puttalam are but a few lasting landmark monuments that have stood the test of time and keeps ANS Kulasinghe remembered till eternity.

Kulasinghe the Unassuming and Simple

He was always ready to learn from his juniors if and when a necessity arose and despite all his great achievements he remained a modest man. He lived a simple and unpretentious life and material wealth was not important to him.

He was fond of music and enjoyed playing the Thabla and Dilruba. He considered music a path to relive his work-life stress and as a source of relaxation. He was an avid reader. It helped him  be knowledgeable in modern sciences and engineering. These attributes made him a complete man.

 Last years

He died on 14 February 2006 after a brief illness at the age of 86.