Knight, Allan Walton (1910 - 1998)

Summary

Sir Allan Knight, CMG BSc ME BComm HonDEng HonFIEAust FTSE, was Chief Commissioner of the Hydro Electric Commission Tasmania from 1946 until he retired in 1977, overseeing the development of hydro power generation in the State. Late in his career he dismissed growing environmental and conservation concerns, particularly over the flooding of Lake Pedder, leading to long and bitter disputes that tarnished his career. Earlier in his career, he achieved global recognition, when as an engineer and later Chief engineer of the Public Works Department, from 1937 to 1946, he pioneered composite concrete slab and welded steel beam construction, and designed and built the cocrete curved floating bridge that crossed the Derwent River at Hobart. After the Tasman Bridge that replaced it was tragically damaged by the ship Lake Illawarra in 1975, Sir Allan successfully supervised the complex and difficult reconstruction project.

He served on many boards, including being a member of the Council of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education, the Tasmanian committee for the Churchill Trust, the Scenery Preservation Board, the Standards Association of Australia and the state committee of the CSIRO.

His distinguished engineering achievements and public service were acknowledged when he was awarded the Warren Memorial Prize in 1934; appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1960; was awarded the Kernot Memorial Medal in 1963; the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1963; appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1970; awarded an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1982; and awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering, University of Tasmania in 1990.

Details

Chronology

1929

Education - Diploma of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Hobart Technical College

1932

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Tasmania

1932

Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), University of Tasmania

1932

Career event - Junior Member (JrIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1932 - 1937

Career position - Engineer / Resident engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania

1934

Award - Warren Memorial Prize [for "Design and Construction of Composite Slab and Girder Bridges"]

1935

Education - Master of Engineer (ME). University of Tasmania

1936

Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1938 - 1946

Career position - Chief engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania

1942

Career position - Chairman, Tasmania Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1942

Career position - Member of Council, Institution of Engineers Australia

1946

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1946

Education - Bachelor of Commerce (BComm), University of Tasmania

1946 - 1977

Career position - Chief Commissioner, Hydro Electric Commission, Tasmania

1960

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) - Chief Commissioner, Tasmania Hydro Electric Commission

1963

Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1963

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

1966 - 1974

Career position - Commissioner, Australian Universities Commission

1968

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]

1970

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Commissioner, Tasmania Hydro-Electric Commission

1974

Award - Wilfred Chapman Award, Welding Technology Institute of Australia

1975

Award - John Stoney Medal, Australian Institute of Management

c. 1975

Career position - Chief Commissioner, Joint Tasman Bridge Restoration Commission

1977

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)

1977 - 1988

Career position - Chairman, Queen's Silver Jubilee Appeal

1982

Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1977]

1990

Award - Doctor of Engineering (DEng), honoris causa, University of Tasmania

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• 'Proposed floating arch bridge for Derwent crossing at Hobart', Commonwealth Engineer, 24 (8) (1937), 280. Details
• 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1963 Award [A. W. Knight, CMG BSc ME Bcomm MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 35 (1963), N94. Details
• 'Sir Allan Knight', Tasmania Division Bulletin (1970), 7-8. Details
• 'Knight, Fink honoured [Sir Alan Knight, Prof Tom Fink elected Honorary Fellows]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 55 (6) (1983), 25. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Eighteenth Annual Report [1937]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 10 (1938), 182-. 'Prizes - Warren Memorial Prize (1934 award), to Mr A W Knight, BSc ME AMIEAust, Tasmania Division', p.184. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'A new type of road bridge', Commonwealth Engineer, 20 (9) (1933), 267-268. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'Design and construction of composite slab and girder bridges', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (1934), 10-22. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'The Leven Bridge, Ulverstone, Tasmania', Commonwealth Engineer, 23 (2) (1935), 51-56. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'Design and construction of the Scamander Bridge', Commonwealth Engineer, 24 (5) (1936), 157-162. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'Design and construction of composite slab and girder bridges : Discussion', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 299-. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'Design and construction of composite slab and girder bridges : Discussion', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 9 (1937), 180-. Details
• Knight, A. W., 'Power development in Tasmania', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 26 (1954), 65-. Details

Newspaper Articles

• 'Bridge designer and engineer only 24', Advocate (Burnie) (1934), 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68133567. Details
• 'Designed a bridge of sighs - Allan Walton Knight', Smith's Weekly (1944), 11, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235765142. Details
• 'Obituary : Sir Allan Knight, Engineer.', The Age (1998), 22. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Forty-fourth Annual Report [1963] (1964), 15 pp. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1963 Award), to Mr A W Knight, CMG BSc ME BComm MIEAust', p.2. Details

Resources

• CA 2002, 2 Echelon, Army Headquarters; CA 2001, Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B4747, KNIGHT/ALLAN WALTON', B4747 Army Militia service records, attestation documents, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=9293287. Details

See also

• Draper, W.J. ed., Who's who in Australia 1983 (Melbourne, Victoria: Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1983), 960 pp. p.492. Details