Watson, Frank George (1927 - 2013)

Summary

Frank Watson, BA, FIEAust, FAIM, MIET, M-SAE-A was the General Manager and Director of Engineering of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority (MURLA) from 1971 to 1983. He was responsible for supervising and coordinating the planning, financing and construction of the Loop and successfully handing the completed works over to the Victorian Railways to operate.

Details

Born on the goldfields in Western Austrlia, Frank commenced his Diploma of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at the Western Australian School of Mines, Kalgoorlie in 1945, completed the three years of course work in two years, but did not complete the fourth year project because he was recruited as a Lecturer in the School to cope with the influx of post-war students. In 1954 he completed an Advanced Diploma in Mechanical Engineering through the British Institute of Engineering Technology by correspondence.

Prior to the MURLA project, Frank Watson was the Engineer in Charge of Central Plant Workshops, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW), 1965 to 1971, during tunnellng for Melbourne's South Eastern Trunk Sewer Project. The MMBW had purchased a large Robbins Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the project but it did not cope with the unexpected soft rock structures that were encountered. Frank and a former Hydro-Electric Commission colleague, David Burnet Sugden, fixed this problem by inventing a new head for this machine. Their patent (US: 3,600,899) was registered and licensed back to the US manufacturer James S Robbins of Seattle. The "Melbourne Head", as it was known, was subsequently used on Robbins TBM's worldwide.

In 1987, Frank received the Tunnelling Achievement Award by the Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association (AUCTA) for his services to the tunnelling industry.

Chronology

1945 - 1946

Education - Studied Diploma of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Western Australian School of Mines (Unfinished as thesis deferred)

1947

Career position - Lecturer in Mathematics and Physics, Western Australian School of Mines.

1948 - 1950

Career position - Trainee, Government Aircraft Factory, Fishermens Bend, Victoria.

1951 - 1955

Career position - Engineer, (at Liawenee, Butlers Gorge, Tarraleah, Trevallyn), Hydro-Electric Commission, Tasmania.

1954

Education - Advanced Diploma in Mechanical Engineering, British Institute of Engineering Technology

1956 - 1965

Career position - Engineer, Head Office, Hydro-Electric Commission

1962

Education - Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy (BA), University of Tasmania

1965 - 1971

Career position - Engineer-in-Charge, Central Plant Workshops, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, Victoria.

1970

Patent - 'Improved Shield Tunnelling Method and Apparatus'

1971 - 1983

Career position - General Manager and Director of Engineering, Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority, Victoria.

c. 1974

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia.

c. 1974

Career event - Fellow (FAIM), Australian Institute of Management.

c. 1976

Career event - Member (MIET), Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK)

1983 - 1984

Career position - Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, Victoria.

1984 - 1987

Career position - Executive Manager, Scientific, Mechanical and Electrical Services, Melbourne Water.

c. 1987

Award - Life Member, Australian Tunnelling Society.

1987

Career position - Consultant, Connell Wagner, Consulting Engineers.

1987

Award - Tunnelling Achievement Award, Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association (AUCTA). "In recognition of his services to the tunnelling industry"

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Obituary - Frank Watson 1927-2013', Engineers Australia, 85 (12) (2013), 63. Details
• Handfield, John, 'Frank Watson Optimistic Engineer', The Chartered Engineer Victoria (1978), 3,6. Details
• Watson, Donald and Spurling, Tom, 'Frank G. Watson, engineer 2nd September 1927 to 11th October 2013', ATS and ITA news, 2014 (March) (2014), 118. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Watson, Donald, and Spurling, Tom, 'A gifted engineer who ensured Melburnians were in the Loop', The Age (2013), 41, https://www.theage.com.au/national/a-gifted-engineer-who-ensured-melburnians-were-in-the-loop-20131113-2xgxb.html. Details