Isaacs, David Victor (1904 - 1991)

Summary

David Victor Isaacs, MBE MCE MInstCE FIEAust, civil engineer, was recognised for his pioneering work on electric welding and concrete pile design; his consulting work on several major bridges; his contribution to the recovery of gold bullion from the sunken RMS Niagara during the Second World War; and his key role as Director of the Commonwealth Experimental Building Station (CEBS) from its inception in 1944 until his retirement in 1969. He published a large number of research papers that changed the practice of design and construction of buildings and structures, both within Australia and overseas.

The 'David Victor Isaacs Prize', a student prize in the School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, is named in his memory.

Details

Some Associated Engineering Works:

* 1929 Railway viaducts at Glenroy and Albion, Victoria;
* 1929 Spencer Street Bridge, Melbourne;
* 1934c. Consulting engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania. [As a specialist consultant on electric welding];
* 1934 Bridge over Nive River, West Coast Road, Tasmania;
* 1935 Box Hill Town Hall, Victoria;
* 1938c. Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania.

Chronology

1923

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1926

Award - The "Argus" Civil engineering Scholarship, University of Melbourne

1926

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

1927

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

1929

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

1930

Career position - Senior Demonstrator, Road Materials Testing, Civil engineering, University of Melbourne

c. 1933 - c. 1937

Career position - Engineer, Scott & Furphy consulting engineers [Design of welded bridges and buildings]

1935

Career event - Scientific Research Grant, Welding of Joints [With Wilfrid Dinsey Chapman]

1937

Award - Warren Memorial Prize, Institution of Engineers Australia

1938 - 1944

Career position - Consulting engineer, Public Works Department, Tasmania [As a specialist consultant on electric welding]

c. 1940

Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1941 - c. 1944

Military service - Lieutenant, Reserve List, Australian Military Forces

c. 1943 - 1944

Career position - Special technical officer, Allied Works Council

1944

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

1944 - 1969

Career position - Director, Commonwealth Experimental Building Station (CEBS), Ryde, New South Wales

c. 1950

Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1966

Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) - for service as Director of the Experimental Building Station

1968

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

1969

Life event - Retired

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Bock, Geoff, The End was to Build Well: a Half-century of Australian Government Building Research (North Ryde, New South Wales: CSIRO, Division of Building, Construction and Engineering, 1995). Isaacs, D.V. pp.8, 11-13, 22-24, 30, 33-34, 39, 44, 47-48, 55, 57, 111, 140. [Portrait p.12]. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Prizes of the Institution [Warren Memorial Prize 1937, Edward Noyes Prize 1934]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 10 (1938), 424-425. Warren Memorial Prize, 1937, to Mr D V Isaacs, MCE AMIEAust, for his paper 'The Distribution of Stresses in Fillet Welds', presented at a General Meeting of the Melbourne Division in September, 1936. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Nineteenth Annual Report [1938]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 11 (1939), 67-86. 'Prizes - Warren Memorial Prize (1937 award for papers presented during 1936), to Mr D V Isaacs, MCE AMIEAust, Melbourne Division', p.74. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, '19th Annual General Meeting - Minutes [Melbourne, 21st March 1939]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 11 (1939), 146-147. Warren Memorial Prize, 1937, presented to Mr D V Isaacs, MCE AMIEAust, at the AGM, March 1939. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, 'People - Dr. Keith (Bill) Bradfield; Geoffrey Coates; Prof John Crisp; Colin Seckington, Dr Vaughan Beck; Obituary: David Isaacs', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 63 (20) (1991), 23. Details
• Isaacs, D. V., 'Spencer Street Bridge, III - Design', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2 (1930), 149. Details
• Isaacs, D. V., 'Reinforced Concrete Pile Formulae', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (1931), 305. Details
• Isaacs, D. V., 'The Distribution of Stresses in Fillet Welds', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (8) (1936), 286. Details
• Isaacs, D. V., 'Design of Welded Steelwork in Bridgewater Bridge, Tasmania', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 13 (1941), 279. Details
• Isaacs, D. V., 'Prestressed concrete. Overload behaviour', Constructional Review, 26 (4) (1953), 19-24. Details
• Isaacs, D.V., 'Principles of design of welded structures - III.', Commonwealth Engineer, 22 (1) (1934), 18-22. Details
• Isaacs, D.V., 'Principles of design of welded structures - II.', Commonwealth Engineer, 21 (12) (1934), 387-391. Details
• Isaacs, D.V., 'Principles of design of welding structures', Commonwealth Engineer, 21 (10) (1934), 291-296. Details

See also

• Chapman, W. D., 'Railway Viaducts on the Albion-Broadmeadows Line', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2 (1930), 189-197. D.V. Isaacs assisted in the design of the viaducts. Details