Person
Bradfield, John Job Crew (1867 - 1943)
CMG
- Born
- 26 December 1867
Sandgate, Queensland, Australia - Died
- 23 September 1943
Gordon, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Civil engineer
Summary
John Bradfield was associated with a great range of engineering works including the Cataract and Burrinjuck Dams, the Sydney Underground Railways and Brisbane's Story Bridge. He was, however, best known as one of the original designers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. For his thesis on the design and construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city railway system, Bradfield was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science in Engineering by the University of Sydney, as well as the University medal.
He is commemorated by the Bradfield Highway over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Details
Associated Engineering Works:
* Pyrmont Bridge (electric swing);
* Glebe Island Bridge;
* Bridge over Clarence River, Tabulan;
* Bridge over Murray River, Cobram (lift);
* Bridge over Hunter River, Morpeth;
* Bridge over Manning River at Killawarra;
* Bridge over Murray, Barham-Koondrook;
* Bridge over Murrumbidgee, Darlington (bascule);
* Bridge over Clarence River, Maclean (bascule);
* Bridge over Hunter River, Singleton;
* Bridge over Macquarie River, Dubbo;
* Bridge over Hunter River, Luskintyre;
* Cataract Dam;
* Burrinjuck Dam;
* Country railway lines (incl. North coast - West Maitland to Taree);
* Tramway lines (suburban Sydney);
* Sydney Harbour Bridge;
* Sydney Underground Railway;
* Story Bridge, Brisbane;
* Hornibrook Highway, Brisbane;
* University of Queensland.
Chronology
- 1888 -
- Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1889
- Award - University Gold Medal, University of Sydney
- 1889
- Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), University of Sydney
- 1889 - 1890
- Career position - Draftsman, Queensland Railways
- 1891 - 1893
- Career position - Designing draftsman, New South Wales Department of Public Works
- 1893 - 1913
- Career position - Assistant engineer, New South Wales Department of Public Works
- 7 Feb 1893
- Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1896
- Award - University Medal, University of Sydney
- 1896
- Education - Master of Engineering (ME), University of Sydney
- 10 Jan 1911
- Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1913 - 1930
- Career position - Chief engineer for metropolitan railway construction, New South Wales Department of Public Works
- 1919
- Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1920
- Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1921 -
- Career position - Foundation Councillor (Engineering), Australian National Research Council
- c. 1930 - 1933
- Career position - Government representative, in dealings with the contractors and to supervise construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
- 1932
- Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1933
- Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne
- 2 Jan 1933
- Award - Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG), as Government Engineer - Sydney Harbour Bridge
- 1934
- Award - Telford Gold Medal, Institution of Civil Engineers, London - for paper: "The Sydney Harbour Bridge and approaches"
- 1934 - 1940
- Career position - Consulting engineer for the Story Bridge, Brisbane
- 1935
- Award - King's Silver Jubilee Medal
- 1935 - 1937
- Career position - Member, NSW Advisory Committee of Council, Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1937
- Career event - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)
- 1940 - 1942
- Career position - Technical adviser to the constructors of the Hornibrook Highway near Brisbane and helped to plan and design the St Lucia site of the University of Queensland.
- 1942 - 1943
- Career position - Deputy Chancellor, University of Sydney
Related entries
Children
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, 1923, D9; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, D68-D71, D105-D106; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, 1908 - 1943, MS 4712; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
Private hands (Bradfield, K.N.E.)
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, 1867 - 1943; Private hands (Bradfield, K.N.E.). Details
State Records New South Wales, Sydney Reading Room
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, 1911 - 1933, 4/7582-8; State Records New South Wales, Sydney Reading Room. Details
University of Sydney, Engineering School
- John Job Crew Bradfield - Records, 1900 - 1940; University of Sydney, Engineering School. Details
Published resources
Books
- Ellyard, David and Wraxworthy, Richard, The Proud Arch: the story of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Sydney: Bay Books, 1982). Details
- Raxworthy, Richard, The unreasonable man: The life and works of J. C. C. Bradfield (Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1989), 152 pp. Details
- Raxworthy, Richard, From footbridge to Harbour Bridge : the life and works of J. J. C. Bradfield (Sydney: Bridge Climb, 1999), 152 pp. Details
Book Sections
- 'Awards : The Telford Gold Medal [1838-1967]' in Institution of Civil Engineers Yearbook 1969 (London, United Kingdom: Institution of Civil Engineers, 1969), pp. 11-18. Bradfield was awarded the Telford Gold Medal 1934, for paper: "The Sydney Harbour Bridge and approaches". Details
- Spearritt, Peter, 'Bradfield, John Job Crew (1867-1943), civil engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), pp. 381-384. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070391b.htm. Details
Edited Books
- Chrimes, M. M.; Cox, R. C.; Cross-Rudkin, P. S. M.; Elton, J. M. H.; Hurst, B. L.; McWilliam, R. C.; Rennison, R. W.; Sutherland, R. J. M.; Thomas, R. E. ed., Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 3: 1890-1920 (London, United Kingdom: Thomas Telford Publishing, 2014), 775 pp. 'Bradfield, John Job Crew, CMG', pp.86-87. Details
- Cossins, Geoffrey ed., Eminent Queensland Engineers - Volume 2 (Brisbane, Queensland: The Institution of Engineers, Australia, Queensland Division, 1999), 113 pp. https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2017-02/eqe_vol_2.compressed_0.pdf. pp.18-19 'J.J.C. Bradfield CMG DSc(Eng) ME(Syd) MInstCE MIEAust'. Details
Journal Articles
- 'Abstracts of proceedings of Divisions, 1920.', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1 (1920), 151-161, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.633491999041294. '"Engineering Developments in New South Wales since the Inauguration of the Commonwealth," J.J.C. Bradfield, M.E.,M.Inst.C.E.', p.156. Details
- 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal [1932 award to Dr. J. J. C. Bradfield]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 4 (1932), 429. 'Council unanimously decided that the 1932 award of the above medal be made to Dr J J C Bradfield, Member, Sydney Division.'. Details
- 'Obituary: Dr. J. J. C. Bradfield', Australian Journal of Science, 6 (2) (1943), 59-60. Details
- 'First members of institution [Diamond Jubilee feature article]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 51 (20) (1979), 69. 'Registered member number 4'. Details
- Bradfield, J. J. C., 'Proposed Metropolitan Underground Electric Railway for Sydney (Illustrated)', Commonwealth Engineer, 2 (4) (1914), 146-148. Details
- Bradfield, J. J. C., 'Brisbane River Bridge - the progress of construction to December, 31, 1936.', Report of the twenty-third meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, Auckland meeting, January, 1937 (1937), 219. Details
- Bradfield, John J.C., 'Some notes on Monier construction', Journal and abstract of proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, 5 (1900), 55-62, https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SUES/article/view/1994. Details
- Bradfield, John J.C., 'Design of retaining walls, Pyrmont Bridge', Journal and abstract of proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, 8 (1903), 169-175, https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SUES/article/view/2038. Details
- Bradfield, John J.C., 'Presidential address. Sydney University Engineering Society', Journal and abstract of proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, 8 (1903), 1-20, https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SUES/article/view/2033. Details
- Bradfield, John J.C., 'Linking Sydney with North Sydney', Journal and abstract of proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, 18 (1913-14), 95-163, https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SUES/article/view/2213. Details
- Bradfield, John J.C., 'Presidential address. [Engineering Developments in New South Wales since the Inauguration of the Commonwealth]', Journal and abstract of proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, 21 (1917-20), 121-151, https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/SUES/article/view/2074. Details
- Bradfield, John Job Crew, 'Electrification of Sydney and suburban railways. (v) The City Railway', Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1926), 495-574, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.865813570413004. Details
- Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Thirteenth Annual Report [1932]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 5 (1933), 168-172. 'Prizes awarded during the session: The P. N. Russell Memorial Medal [1932], to Dr J J C Bradfield, Sydney Division', p.169. Details
- Phippen, Bill, 'Railway bridge over Eddy Avenue in Sydney: was this the first reinforced concrete bridge to carry trains in New South Wales?', Engineering Heritage Australia magazine, 2 (7) (2018), 20-6, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2018-02/EHA_%20Magazine_Vol2_No7_January_2018.pdf. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6222848. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/23782584. Details
- 'Bradfield was awarded the Telford Gold Medal 1934, for paper: "The Sydney Harbour Bridge and approaches"', Award : Telford Gold Medal [1838 - ], Institution of Civil Engineers, 2022. https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/page/awards/telford-gold-medal. Details
- 'Obituary. John Job Crew Bradfield. 1867-1943.', Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1680/ijoti.1943.13971. Details
- Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 'Application: 8431, 1892', Civil Engineer Membership Forms, 1818-1930, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/3585/. Details
- 'Bradfield, J J C (1867-1943)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-632616. Details
See also
- Men of Queensland, 1937 (Brisbane: Osborne Publishing, 1937), 196 pp, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-591968616/. pp.24-25. Details
- Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details
- Chrimes, Mike, 'Lost in space?: Biography across the hemispheres', in 16th Engineering Heritage Australia Conference: Conserving Our Heritage - Make a Difference! (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2011), pp. 389-403., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.895272297972218. Details
- Coltheart, Lenore; and Nicholas, Amie eds, The timber truss bridge book ( Auburn, N.S.W.: Transport for NSW, 2019), 210 pp, http://heritagensw.intersearch.com.au/heritagenswjspui/handle/1/10518. Details
- Contessa, A., 'Story Bridge - design and construction', Technical Papers (Institution of Engineers Australia, Queensland Division), 29 (3) (1988), 9-16. Details
- Dorman, Selwyn; Hagarty, Don; Johnson, Geoff; Reid, Noel; Sharp, Stuart; Winney, Ken, 'Chapter 4: Sydney's railways' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 63-96. Details
- Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'Bradfield's Bridge - John Bradfield' p.20. Details
- Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. pp.74,80-81,82-83. Details
- Fraser, Don, 'Chapter 5: Bridges' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 97-122. Details
- Fraser, Don, 'American Bridges of the NSW North Coast Railway', Australian Journal of Multi-disciplinary Engineering, 7 (2) (2009), 109-115, https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.311400883471193. Details
- Institution of Engineers Australia. Sydney Division. Engineering Heritage Committee, The Historic Engineering Plaques of Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales: The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1994), 38 pp. p.29. Story Bridge, Kangaroo point, Brisbane, QLD.; pp.30-31. Sydney Harbour Bridge, Pylon Lookout, Sydney, N.S.W. Details
- Lawson, J. D., 'Watering Australia's Inland', in Conference on Hydraulics in Civil Engineering 1987: Preprints of Papers. (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1987), pp. 7-10., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.525225601039307. Details
- Ludlow, Christa; Bowie, Ian; Neville, Pamela, 'Chapter 15: Engineering education in Sydney' in Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney, Don Fraser, ed. (Crows Nest, New South Wales: Engineers Australia, 1989), pp. 285-298. Details
Gavan McCarthy; Ken McInnes
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 18 September 2024
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