Person
Macdonald, Alexander Simpson (1888 - 1955)
- Born
- 17 March 1888
Urquhart, Rosshire, Scotland - Died
- 2 October 1955
Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Civil engineer, Structural engineer and Surveyor
Summary
Alex Macdonald, ARTC BSc AssocMInstCE MIEAust, was senior partner with Eric Wagner in the consulting engineering firm Macdonald Wagner, formed in Sydney in 1934.
Prior to moving to Australia in 1915, Macdonald gained experience in reinforced concrete design and construction in UK, Brazil and Canada. And after returning from service in the First World War, helped pioneer the design of reinforced concrete in buildings in Sydney from 1920, working with Arthur Hart, then working as an independent consultant, occasionally partnering with others on projects, such as the Astor Flats (1921).
In 1937, Macdonald used an innovative foundation design for the Bank of New South Wales at Moree. His design was able to overcome the effects of cracking caused by the seasonal variation in moisture content in the highly unstable black soils found there, and found over wide areas of New South Wales and Queensland.
He was very active in professional and public affairs - as a founding member and first Treasurer of the Association of Consulting Structural Engineers New South Wales in 1933 and President in 1936, and on committees of the Institution of Engineers Australia and the Standards Association of Australia.
Details
Chronology
- 1901 - 1905
- Education - Royal Academy, Dingwall
- 1905 - 1909
- Career position - Apprenticeship, with David J Reid AssocMInstCE
- 1906
- Career event - Student Member (StudInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1907 - 1909
- Education - Associate Royal Technical College (ARTC), Glasgow
- 1907 - 1910
- Education - Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSc(Eng)), Glasgow University
- 1910 - 1912
- Career position - Assistant engineer, Para'Port Works, Brazil. Later Certificate Engineer, Sir Wheatman Pearson and Son Ltd.
- 1912
- Career position - Designing engineer, Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Canada
- 1912 - 1914
- Career position - Consulting engineer, DuCane, Dutcher & Co. Vancouver B.C. [Associated with design and execution of Hydro-electric, Reinforced concrete, steel, irrigation, harbour and water and sewerage contracts]
- 1915
- Life event - Arrived in Australia
- 1915
- Career position - Engineer, Harbour Trust, Sydney, New South Wales [Design of steel work, under Walter Edward Adams MInstCE]
- 1915 - 1919
- Military service - First World War. Captain, 5th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF
- 1918 - 1919
- Career position - Designing engineer, Considere Construction Company, Victoria Street, London
- 1918 - 1919
- Career position - Designing engineer, Trussed concrete steel Company, London
- 1918 - 1919
- Career position - Engineer, Melville Dundas & Whitson, Reinforced concrete contractors, Glasgow
- 1920
- Career position - Resumed as engineer, Harbour Trust, Sydney, New South Wales [under Walter Edward Adams MInstCE]
- 1920
- Career position - Consulting engineer, in association with Arthur John Hart AssocMInstCE, structural engineer, Sydney
- 1920 - 1933
- Career position - Consulting engineer, on own account
- 1921
- Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 8 Mar 1921
- Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1933 -
- Career position - Founding member and first Treasurer of the Association of Consulting Structural Engineers of New South Wales
- 1934 - 1948
- Career event - Partnered with Eric Wagner, to form consulting engineering firm A. S. Macdonald and Wagner
- 1936 -
- Career position - Member, Building Advisory Council, Sydney City Council
- 1936
- Career position - President, Association of Consulting Structural Engineers of New South Wales
- 1939 - 1955
- Career position - Member, Board of Appeal Panel, Sydney Corporation Act
- 1945 - 1955
- Career position - Member, Building Regulation Advisory Committee, Local Government Act NSW [Nominee of Institution of Engineers Australia]
- 1948 - 1955
- Career position - Senior Partner, Consulting engineers, MacDonald Wagner & Priddle
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Edited Books
- Lewis, Miles ed., Two hundred years of concrete in Australia (North Sydney: Concrete Institute of Australia, 1988), 137 pp. See pp.16, 101, 102. Details
Journal Articles
- Macdonald, A. S., 'Black Soil Foundations', Architecture (1938), 209-213, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2998044772/view?sectionId=nla.obj-3009967681&partId=nla.obj-2998098098. Details
Resources
- CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, Macdonald A S', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=1844530. Details
- Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 'Application: 16456, 1921', Civil Engineer Membership Forms, 1818-1930, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/3585/. Details
- 'Macdonald, A. S.', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476702. Details
See also
- 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_m.html. Details
Rosanne Walker; Ken McInnes
Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 10 December 2024
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