Person
Bradfield, John Job Crew (1867 - 1943)
CMG
- Born
- 26 December 1867
Sandgate, Queensland, Australia - Died
- 23 September 1943
Gordeon, 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.
Details
Born Sandgate, Queensland, 26 December 1867. Died Gordon, New South Wales, 23 September 1943. CMG 1933. Educated University of Sydney (BE 1889, ME 1896). Draftsman, Queensland Railways 1889-91; draftsman, New South Wales Department of Public Works 1891-1909, assistant engineer 1909-13, chief engineer for metropolitan railway construction 1913-30, but continued to represent the government in dealings with the contractors and to supervise construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; retired 1933; consulting engineer for the Story Bridge, Brisbane 1934-40; 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. Peter Nicol Russell Medal, Institution of Engineers, Australia 1932; Kernot Memorial Medal, University of Melbourne 1933; Telford Gold Medal, Institution of Civil Engineers, London 1934. Foundation member, Institution of Engineers, Australia. Deputy Chancellor, University of Sydney 1942-43. Commemorated by the Bradfield Highway over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Chronology
- 1889
- Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), University of Sydney
- 7 Feb 1893
- Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1896
- Education - Master of Engineering (ME), University of Sydney
- 10 Jan 1911
- Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 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
- 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"
- 1935
- Award - King's Silver Jubilee Medal
- 1935 - 1937
- Career position - Member, NSW Advisory Committee of Council, Institution of Civil Engineers, London
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
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, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 7 (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, 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
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 25 July 2019
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