Dempster, Andrew Marsden Gresham (1899 - 1968)

Summary

Marsden Dempster, BScEng MCE ME LS CE HE AMIEAust MASCE, was Chief Civil Engineer, Department of Works and Housing from 1946, and was involved with the reconstruction of Darwin after the Second World War.

Earlier, as an innovative bridge design engineer with the Country Roads Board of Victoria, between 1927 and 1942, he was associated with the pioneering use of electric arc welded bridge superstructures including the Sunday Creek Bridge (1930), the McKillops bridge over the Snowy River at Wulgulmerang (1931-1934); and other significant bridges including the Hoddle Bridge over the Yarra River (1938) and the Phillip Island suspension bridge (1940).

He produced the book "Specification for the Design of Road Bridges" (1936), contributed many journal articles to the "Commonwealth engineer" and was a Councillor of the Victoria Division, Institution of Engineers Australia.

Details

Associated engineering works:
* 1930 Sunday Creek Bridge, Hume Highway, Seymour;
* 1931-32 and 1934-35 McKillops Bridge, over Snowy River, Wulgulmerang;
* 1934 Orbost bridge, over Snowy River;
* 1934 Centenary Bridge, road over rail, at Port Melbourne;
* 1936 Hoddle Bridge, Punt Road, Melbourne;
* 1937 Huntingdale Golf Course;
* 1940 Phillip Island suspension bridge;
* 1946 Reconstruction of Darwin.

Chronology

1919

Education - Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BScEng), University of Western Australia

1922

Career event - Certificate of competency as a land surveyor, Victoria 1922 [No.194]

1922 - 1927

Career position - Assistant engineer, State Electricity Commission, Victoria [Morwell brown coal mine and power station]

1923

Career event - Licensed Surveyor under the Land Surveyors Act 1923 [No.503]

1923

Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne

1924

Career event - Granted Certificate of Qualification as Municipal Surveyor (CE), Local Government Act 1903 VIC

1926

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

1927 - 1942

Career position - Bridge engineer, Country Roads Board, Victoria

1928

Education - Master of Civil Engineering (MCE), University of Melbourne

1928

Award - Argus Scholarship, Civil Engineering, University of Melbourne (shared with A.C. Tregoning and R.H.A. Cochrane)

1936

Career event - Book published Specification for the Design of Road Bridges

1942 - 1945

Career position - Engineering consultant, US Arrmy

1946 -

Career position - Chief Civil Engineer, Department of Works and Housing [Involved in the reconstruction of Darwin]

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Dempster, M. G., Specification for the Design of Road Bridges (Melbourne: Tait Publishing Company, 1936), 48 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Dempster, A. M. G., 'Atmospheric Corrosion of Structural Steel and Paint Protection. Part I Introduction', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 13 (1941), 221-. Details
• Dempster, A. M. G., 'Continuous beams and moment distribution', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 28 (1956), 108-. Details
• Dempster, M. G., 'Road bridge over Snowy River, Woolgoolmerang, Victoria', Commonwealth Engineer, 20 (2) (1932), 33-38. Details
• Dempster, M. G., 'Roller compacted concrete pavements', Commonwealth Engineer, 21 (1) (1933), 26. Details
• Dempster, M. G., 'Economics in concrete design and practice', Commonwealth Engineer, 20 (8) (1933), 233-240. Details
• Dempster, M. G., 'Some impressions of engineering in Western Australia', Commonwealth Engineer, 23 (10) (1936), 309-312. Details
• Dempster, M. G.; Ozanne, W. A., 'The Snowy River flood of January, 1934', Commonwealth Engineer, 21 (8) (1934), 227-234. Details
• Dempster, M. G.; Ozanne, W. A., 'Hoddle Bridge, Melbourne, design and construction details', Commonwealth Engineer, 26 (1939), 284-291. Details

Theses

• Dempster, M. G., 'Rigid framed bridge', M.C.E. thesis, University of Melbourne, 1928. Details

See also

• Alexander, Joseph A. ed., Who's who in Australia 1950 (Melbourne: Colorgravure Publications, 1950). p.210-211. Details