Henry Deane (engineer)

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Henry Deane (born March 26, 1847 in Clapham Common ( London ), United Kingdom , † March 12, 1924 in Melbourne , Victoria (Australia) ) was a British- Australian railroad engineer and botanist . Its botanical author abbreviation is " H.Deane ".

Deane made his name with the electrification of the tram from Sydney and with the construction of Wolgan Valley Railway and the Trans-Australian Railway .

Early years

Henry Deane was born in Clapham Common as the son of the pharmacist Henry Deane Sr. and his wife Jemima, nee Elliot. His father was a member of the Linnean Society of London . Deane attended schools in England, which he graduated in 1862. He studied at Queen's College in Galway (now the "National University of Ireland"), where he obtained a BA (Bachelor of Administration) in 1865 and an MA (Master of Administration) and M.Sc. (Master of Science) in Mathematics and Science with Honors. Deane also studied engineering at King's College London for two years and received his diploma in 1867.

Working life

After two years in the design office of the railway engineer Jon Fowler in London, Deane moved to Waring Brothers in 1869 and worked on projects for the Hungarian railways. In 1871 he became chief technician at the shipyard of the Danube Steamship Company in Altofen . In 1875 Deane returned to England, where he designed roofs and bridges and supervised construction work. In 1879 he worked for a few months in the Philippines building a sugar factory and then returned to England. However, at the end of the same year he emigrated to Australia . In January 1880 he arrived on board the "Kent" in Sydney .

There he found work as a surveyor for the New South Wales Government Railways . At first he was busy with the preliminary measurement of the "Northern Line" between Hawkesbury River and Ourimbah . In 1881 he was appointed "District Engineer" for the route from Gunnedah to Narrabri , and in 1883 "District Engineer" for the route from Homebush (Sydney) to the Hawkesbury River. In July 1886 he was appointed inspector ("Inspecting Engineer"), in July 1889 to the deputy chief engineer ("Acting Engineer-in-Chief") and in 1890 to the chief engineer ("Engineer-in-Chief"). In 1894 and 1904 he went on trips around the world to study small railroad and tram systems. From July 1899, his field of activity was expanded to include the construction of trams and he was instrumental in the planning of the electric tram for Sydney.

One of Deane's most important accomplishments was the introduction of "pioneering standards" that reduced the cost of building low-traffic overland lines.

In 1905 the New South Wales Government Railways closed their engineering department and Deane left the company.

In April 1906 Deane became a consulting engineer for the "Commonwealth Oil Corporation" and oversaw the surveying and construction of the Wolgan Valley Railway. The most important innovations he introduced included the construction of 4% gradients and curves with a 100 meter (5 chain) radius on a standard gauge line and the use of Shay locomotives (geared steam locomotives).

On March 25, 1908 he was appointed consulting engineer to the Australian federal government and entrusted with the planning of the trans-Australian railroad from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie-Boulder . He had been familiar with the project since 1903, when he was representing New South Wales as chairman of a conference of chief engineers on the subject. In 1910 Deane became chief engineer of the Trans-Australian Railroad and oversaw the construction of large parts of this railroad.

Deane was also concerned with the problem of different gauges in Australia. For example, he was entrusted with the attempts to install a third rail in Tocumwal in 1915 and especially with the “Brennan Switches”.

In April 1914 Deane resigned from the Commonwealth Railways and worked as a consulting engineer in Melbourne.

Private life and death

Henry Deane was married twice (1873 and 1890). He had three sons and three daughters. He died on March 12, 1924 in Melbourne.

Social Commitment

Henry Deane was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and various other societies. He was twice President of the Royal Society of New South Wales and for two years President of the Linnean Society of New South Wales .

Eucalyptus deanei

botany

Together with Joseph Maiden , Deane published a series of botanical descriptions of some native tree species whose wood is used commercially. He often wrote articles on forestry and botany in magazines. The eucalyptus species Eucalyptus deanei was named after him. His work on Tertiary botany is considered particularly valuable and gave him a high reputation among geologists of his time.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c J.D. Walker: Deane, Henry (1847-1924) . Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press 1981. pp. 259-260 . Retrieved April 29, 2013
  2. ^ Overcoming Break of Gauge . Western Argus, Kalgoorlie (WA), Jan. October 1914. Republished by: National Library of Australia . Retrieved April 29, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Deane, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Australian railroad engineer and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH March 26, 1847
PLACE OF BIRTH Clapham Common , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1924
Place of death Melbourne , Victoria, Australia