Callender-Hamilton Truss Bridges: The New Zealand History

William M Baker, Nicholas D Molcsan and Andrew H Buchanan

Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Abstract
The Callender-Hamilton truss bridge was regarded as the most economical bridge of its time. It was patented
in 1935 by Archibald Milne Hamilton (1898–1972), who had graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil)
degree from Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury) in 1924. The bridge design was first
developed in 1927 in Iraq, where he directed the construction of a strategic road for their Public Works
Department on behalf of the British Empire. The multi-truss multi-tier bridge system that he developed,
known as the Callender-Hamilton bridge, allowed faster than normal construction by unskilled technicians
due to its prefabricated components. This bridging technique later proved to be extremely effective and was
used in the development of military bridging prior to and during World War II. Over 1000 Callender-Hamilton
bridges exist worldwide, across 50 countries. There are at least 16 bridges located in New Zealand that have
stood the test of time.

1. Introduction final year Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) project in

Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury.
1.1 Background This paper is very similar to their final report [2].
A University of Canterbury graduate engineer,
Archibald Milne Hamilton, was responsible for the 2. Research methods
revolutionary design of the Callender-Hamilton
truss bridge, expanding the boundaries of what is 2.1 Library and interests
possible with standardised bridging. The bridge The University of Canterbury library database and
design made immense contributions to military the internet were searched to find material on
bridging in World War II. Figure 1 shows a Callender-Hamilton bridges, military bridging and
photograph of the Gates of Haast bridge on State Archibald Milne Hamilton. The findings were used
Highway (SH) 6 on the West Coast of the South to gain a technical understanding of the bridge
Island of New Zealand. design, as well as identifying the different kinds of
bridges available for military usage prior to World
War II.

2.2 University of Canterbury archives

Figure 1: Gates of Haast bridge.

1.2 Purpose of this project
A large collection of Hamilton’s previous
correspondence, documentation and models were
donated to the University of Canterbury by his
family. It has been over 80 years since the
development of the first Callender-Hamilton bridge
and they are still in use around the world. There
are 16 Callender-Hamilton bridges located in New
Zealand, which are all on state highways in the Figure 2: Model of a Callender-Hamilton bridge.
South Island. It is timely to review this civil
engineering pioneer and the contributions he made The MacMillan Brown Library at the University of
to pre-fabricated truss bridging. The first two Canterbury holds 116 boxes of Hamilton material
authors agreed to make this investigation as their in their archives collection [7]. This collection

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 1
contains many models, paintings, books, hundreds thermionic valve in New Zealand in 1920, and won
of photographs, and upwards of 20,000 documents the University of Canterbury’s Engineering Society
that were donated by the Hamilton family in 2010. Lecture prize, along with a colleague, for their
These date as early as 1882 and this is the first paper on “Thermionic Valve in Radio Telegraphy”.
time that they have been inspected, summarised
and documented. Figure 2 shows one of the many 3.2 University study
models that are part of the archival collection. Hamilton graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering
(Civil) from Canterbury College (now the University
2.3 Opus International Consultants of Canterbury) in 1924. Whilst at university,
In attempt to gain an understanding of the current pulmonary trouble prevented Hamilton following up
Callender-Hamilton bridges in New Zealand, Opus electrical or radio engineering. Doctors advised
International Consultants (formerly the Ministry of him that an outdoor life would be suitable. He then
Works and Development) were contacted. They decided to take up civil engineering and outdoor
assisted with information about bridge mountain surveying. While this proved an
management and maintenance, and located invaluable decision, curing him in the long run, he
Callender-Hamilton bridges across New Zealand. was not accepted for World War II service.
Many of these bridges were visited over the course
of the project. 3.3 Graduate employment
Hamilton worked for the Lyttelton Harbour Board in
2.4 Family members 1924 and 1925. Along with Gordon Douglas White-
The initial family connection is that Hamilton was Parsons, he constructed an exact scale model of
the great uncle of the third author. Hamilton’s the port, shown in Figure 4. They used this model
daughter, Margaret Ritchie, gave some insight to investigate troublesome wave action within the
about her father’s life, some background on the harbour. From the model they were able to make
archives, and the patenting battle that consumed suggestions to the Board for improvements and
Hamilton’s life for a number of years. Another of enlargements. White-Parsons was a friend and
Hamilton’s daughters, Mary Bliss, provided colleague, who eventually assisted developing
information relating to his life via email. His son Callender-Hamilton bridges as an employee of the
Robert Hamilton provided supplementary Callender Construction Company in London.
information. Figure 3 shows a photograph of
Archibald Hamilton, with his wife Bettina and their
six children.

Figure 4: Model of the Lyttelton Harbour.

3.4 Career overseas
Over the next two years, Hamilton was employed
by the Admiralty in London, where he worked on
the development of Singapore’s naval base. He
was then appointed Assistant Engineer to the
Public Works Department in Iraq, where he
directed construction for the Rowanduz Road. This
Figure 3: The Hamilton Family. L-R Mary, Robert, was a strategic route requiring major civil
Archie, Margaret, Alex, Bettina, Janet, Bill engineering feats on behalf of the British Empire
3. About Archibald Milne Hamilton from 1927 to 1932. It was here the Callender-
Hamilton bridge design originated. He then worked
3.1 Early Life alongside the British Military on bridging
Archibald Milne Hamilton was born and grew up in techniques and further developed his design
Waimate, South Canterbury, and was educated at before becoming a consulting engineer in London.
Waitaki Boys’ High School. He displayed keen
interests in engineering from an early age, notably 4. The Need for new bridge design
the development of transmission radio. At the age
of 18, Hamilton had his own transmitting and 4.1 Military bridging in World War I
receiving amateur wireless station and was An investigation by the Royal Engineers Society in
potentially one of the first people in New Zealand England, analysing the various types of military
to transmit wirelessly with London using Morse bridges during World War I, showed various
Code [10]. He imported and used the first disadvantages in the bridging used by the British

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 2
forces. There was a need for an increase in live standard for Ministry of Transport Callender-
loading and span length. It was also noted that the Hamilton bridge erection and also for righting Army
construction period was too great for effective tanks or trucks, or pulling them out of mud.
assault.
Hamilton was granted premature termination of his
4.2 The Rowanduz Road (1927–32) contract when the Rowanduz Road was
The British Administration in Iraq gave Hamilton completed. This enabled him to return to England
the job of constructing the Rowanduz Road. and place his bridging experience and proposals
Described in Hamilton’s book, Road Through before the War Department with a view to
Kurdistan, this went through Kurdistan between the introducing a new military bridge. This would later
northern Iraq and Iran borders [9]. The road’s become known as the Callender-Hamilton bridge.
construction required many bridges crossing deep
ravines along the treacherous countryside. Due to 5. A new bridge design
the lack of resources and skilled labour locally, the
majority of these were built with surplus military 5.1 Requirements
bridges from World War I. Figure 5 shows a bridge Hamilton set the following goals for his design to
in the Rowanduz gorge, Iraq. It can be seen the achieve:
difficult terrain the construction team had to work  As few members as possible
with.  A bridge form of any span and width to carry a
range of loads
On this project Hamilton identified the need for an  Easy and cheap to manufacture with a high
improvement in efficient bridge design and degree of accuracy and uniformity
construction. He devised a concept of using  Light enough to permit easy transport
standard sets of parts that could be fixed together  Easy erection on site without the need for
in order to form different lengths [12]. The strength highly skilled labour or elaborate plant
could then be varied by attaching further members.  Fixing of any type of bridge deck
 Suitable for rapid dismantling, without damage
 The structure must permit a simple process of
proportioning the members according to the
stresses imposed by the system of loading.

5.2 Components
Each of the requirements had some influence on
the design of the Callender-Hamilton bridge [6]. It
is comprised of just 10 different parts, and the
heaviest member is just 191 kilograms (kg) [15].
The range of spans was from nine to 61 metres
(m) in the form of either a single or double truss, in
a single or double tier.
Figure 5: A Military-style bridge.
As head engineer, Hamilton’s life was fully
occupied during the five year project. He was Standard angle for chords & diagonals.
considered the father figure for up to 1000
workmen, who spoke seven different languages.
Hamilton was in charge of looking after their pay, Vertical Angle. Side stiffener for single truss
bridge.
health and food requirements. This road became
known as the Hamilton Road. Although he hoped it
might unite the region’s people it has been fought
Connector plate.
over many times [9]. Even by today’s standards, Main gusset plate. Batten Plate.
this road is a considerable engineering feat and
Double Gusset
remains one of the region’s most strategically Plate.
important roads
Leg plate. Angle cleat. Vertical connector plate.
Launching possibilities in cantilever form were
broadened in the construction of the bridges, which Figure 6: Standard Callender-Hamilton bridge parts
used nothing more powerful than Trewhella tree
pulling winches for erecting long span bridging [5]. Figure 6 shows the standard members and gusset
The British military became particularly interested plates used for construction of the bridge. The
in this technique. The Trewhellas, which were bridges are formed together using bolted
easily carried by one or two men, later became construction, eliminating any welding or cutting

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 3
processes from site. This allows large structures to
be broken down into smaller, lightweight, parts For the majority of situations, all that was needed
which are easy to handle and transport to site. The was a standard toolkit and some form of lifting
bolts were of standard type, 38.1millimetres in system to use with the standard bridge parts.
diameter. Therefore, temporary and permanent bridges could
be installed within days using unskilled labour. This
5.3 Galvanizing and durability allowed the bridge to be used in a wide range of
The bridges were first designed to be temporary. situations despite its simple design, which no other
The bridges could be deconstructed and parts bridging system provided at that time.
used many times over. All members were hot dip
galvanised after cutting, punching and drilling was 5.5 Launching methods
complete. The combination of bolting and The usual method for forming the spans was to
galvanised steelwork allowed a bridge to be first construct the bridge on the river or canyon
deconstructed where the members could be re- bank by bolting together the standard bridge parts.
used without the need to take precautions against The bridge could then be moved into position by
corrosion. The maintenance and painting period sliding it along greased railway tracks. Figure 9
was modified to 30 years in normal conditions, shows a Callender-Hamilton bridge during this
reducing operating costs. Figure 7 shows a section operation.
of a hot galvanised gusset plate, 20 years after
exposure to the atmosphere and a few feet above
the sea [5]. The bolt heads are only just beginning
to rust.

Figure 9: Launching in progress.

The bridge could either be pushed as a cantilever
with heavy weights on one end, as shown in Figure
10, or standard bridging parts could be used to
build a tower and cables supported the bridge as it
was pulled across. When heavy plant was
Figure 7: Gusset plate beginning to rust after 20 years. available and the terrain allowed for it, cranes were
5.4 Construction used to lift the completed spans into place. Once in
One of the most remarkable things about the position the span was jacked down on to the end
Callender-Hamilton bridge’s design is the small bearings.
amount of tools and equipment needed for
assembly and erection (see Figure 8).

Figure 10: A crane loading weights onto the bridge end.

Figure 8: Standard tool kit.

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 4
 standard parts that could be easily assembled. It
6. Early stages of testing (1933) also had to be economical in weight, easy to
dismantle and be capable of carrying the heaviest
6.1 Testing background class of civil and military equipment [12]. However,
A test was conducted at the Experimental Bridging no submissions were considered to be up to the
Establishment in Hampshire, England, in 1933 [6]. British military’s standard. Table 1 shows the
A 24 m bridge was erected to test the speed and specifications of the Callender-Hamilton bridge
ease of construction, and how the bridge would compared to the alternatives, where the range of
perform during live loads. The bridge was easily spans was the largest along with the extremely
put together by just six men, who could handle the light weight of the heaviest member [6].
parts themselves and had no trouble lifting them
Table 1: Military bridging options in 1933.
into place with only hand pulleys. The bridge was
then tested to see the effects of dead and live Range
No. Mass of
loads on the bridge parts. The setup can be seen of
Bridge Type of Heaviest
in Figure 11. Spans
Parts Part (kg)
(m)
Mark II Truss 12 - 21 15 1,334
Inglis 18 - 33 6 408
Box Girder 10 - 29 2 590
Hopkins Light 23 - 32 22 472
Hopkins Heavy 32 - 46 22 472
Callender-Hamilton 9 - 61 10 191

Figure 11: Test bridge showing during live loading. 7.2 During World War II
Advances on the Callender-Hamilton design had
6.2 Performance during testing been made by Donald Bailey. The Bailey bridge’s
The weight of the dead load, including the bridge design allowed for a rapid erection time, although it
and decking, was 37,200 kg. Loading consisted of was not as strong and robust as the Callender-
scrap metal weighing 18,000 kg in the centre of the Hamilton bridge. This meant that the Bailey bridge
span. For live loading, tanks weighing 38,100 kg was used for assault bridging, while the Callender-
and 16,300 kg were placed as close as possible to Hamilton bridge was used for semi-permanent
each other at the centre of the bridge. The bridge bridges along supply routes. Both designs gave
performed better than expected with no failure the British Army a lead over any other country in
occurring where the total loading on the structure this field at the outbreak of World War II. The
was 72,600 kg. simple manufacturing process, assembly and
transportation made them ideal designs to use
6.3 Bending moment and shear curves [12].
Modern computers now calculate bending moment
and shear forces, but when Hamilton was As there was such high demand for these types of
developing the bridge this tedious process was bridges during World War II, there were many
done by hand. This information allowed military different factories producing parts. The
engineers to make quick decisions about the components were manufactured in the United
number of trusses required. An example of the Kingdom (UK), India and South Africa from 1938 to
chart for the test bridge can be seen in Figure 12. 1945. For quality assurance, a test bridge was set
up in each factory to ensure all the parts fitted
requirements. While a test bridge was being
assembled, it was being dismantled at the other
end and then the approved parts were stored or
dispatched as required.

Figure 12: Maximum Bending Moment and Shear curves

As the bridge was made up of a number of
for the test bridge. standardised parts, members could be replaced
singularly, rather than replacing an entire bridge.
7. British military bridging Figure 13 shows a damaged Callender-Hamilton
bridge awaiting repair.
7.1 Prior to World War II
The need for improving military bridging was
identified, and in 1932 a number of leading
engineers were invited to send proposals to the
Royal Engineers Society. The bridge design
needed to cover a range of spans and consist of

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 5
Figure 13: A damaged bridge during World War II
Figure 14: Bailey bridge [11]
7.3 Current military bridging
The bridge design for the military has progressed 8.2 Ex-Gratia awards
to the Medium Girder Bridge. This meets the The influence that Hamilton’s design had on this
original specifications from the Callender-Hamilton style of bridging had not been recognised by the
and Bailey bridges, but advances have been military. Following the Callender-Hamilton design,
through the use of modern-day materials. This three more multi-truss multi-tier designs appeared
bridge can be constructed in just 20 per cent of the for military purposes, and Hamilton applied for an
time [16]. ex gratia award to acknowledge his innovation. In
the application, Hamilton explained that current
8. Patenting and future multi-truss multi-tier designs will look to
Hamilton obtained two patents for his work on his as the prototype that can be readily varied in
bridge design and construction. British patent no. form but not in principle.
423926 details one form of multi-truss multi-tier
bridge, while patent no. 423996 applies to After formal investigations into Hamilton’s work
particular construction methods used in Callender- advancing military bridging, he was awarded ex
Hamilton bridges. He also obtained patents in a gratia awards in 1936 and 1954 to the value of
number of other countries for his bridge designs. £4,000 and £10,000 respectively for patent breach.
However his daughter, Margaret explained that at
8.1 Similarities with the Bailey bridge the time there was an extremely high tax rate of
After acknowledging Hamilton’s work in 1933, an around 90 per cent for this type of payment, and
advancement of the Callender-Hamilton design Hamilton was left with just enough money to buy
was made by Sir Donald Bailey, the designer of the himself a new Land Rover.
more well-known Bailey bridge [4]. Hamilton and
Bailey had both been working with the British 9. Production and evolution
Military at the time. However, major patenting In the 1950s there were over 1000 Callender-
issues arose when a large military bridging Hamilton bridges across 50 countries, stretching
contract was awarded to Bailey. more than 17 km in length. The longest bridge of
this design is 737 m, located at Haast on the West
Throughout New Zealand and the world, Bailey Coast of New Zealand.
bridges are still used in emergency situations as
well as temporary solutions for planned events, 9.1 Manufacturing
such as roading projects. This Bailey bridging Hamilton signed a contract with British Insulated
system is still regarded as a versatile, cost Callenders Cables Limited (BICC) [5], which is
effective and easy short term solution, but without where the first part of the bridge name originates.
the advancements made by Hamilton the Bailey There was an agreement on the royalties Hamilton
bridge may have never existed. Figure 14 shows a would receive, based on the weight of bridging
Bailey bridge, where the pre-fabricated sections manufactured. The current bridge design in the UK
are in 3 m lengths. is managed by Balfour Beatty Power Networks
Division, the successor of BICC [3]. The bridge
design in North America and Canada is managed
by Acrow Limited of Canada [1].

9.2 Types of Callender-Hamilton Bridges

Callender-Hamilton bridges could be proportioned
to satisfy a large variety of requirements. Apart

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 6
from permanent bridges carrying utilities, foot 10.2 Maintenance
traffic, road vehicles or trains, they were also The Callender-Hamilton bridges on the West Coast
required at short notice to meet short term were constructed as early as 1955 and have lasted
emergency needs. In this case, they provided a over 40 years without a paint job due to the hot dip
substitute for a complete or partial failure of an galvanising of the members and bolts. This is
existing bridge and temporary access during impressive, especially considering the intense
construction of another bridge. These short term rainfall in the area and its proximity to the sea.
bridges could be used following failures due to Regular maintenance is done on the bridges, with
flooding, for advancing military units or repairs after an approximate value of $5000 per year spent on
the bombing of an existing bridge. each bridge’s expansion joints and plates. Impact
damage is relatively regular with the Callender-
10. Callender-Hamilton bridges in New Hamilton bridges compared to other bridges
Zealand because they are narrow structures and a number
Opus International Consultants (formerly the have overhead bracing, such as the Gates of
Ministry of Works and Development) are the bridge Haast bridge. Regular and routine maintenance is
consultant for 11 of the 14 regions across New conducted on all bridges in the region, focusing on
Zealand. Other consultants across the country the pavement, waterway issues, clearing debris
include Bloxam Burnett & Olliver for Taranaki and and general cleaning.
Manawatu, Beca for Tauranga, while the Waikato
region is shared between the two consultants 10.3 Replacement
(Waldin, 2013, pers. comm.). These consultants No Callender-Hamilton bridges in Canterbury or
conduct the maintenance on all bridges within their the West Coast have been replaced as of yet.
regions. However, the Gates of Haast Bridge on SH6 is on
a replacement program because of the area’s risk
There are 16 Callender-Hamilton bridges in New of large slips, rather than the condition of the
Zealand which are all located on State Highways in bridge. Some bridges have had seismic
the South Island. Figure 15 shows the locations of strengthening and many require upgrades to
these bridges. support heavier live loads. These bridges are only
SH6: Pelorous River likely to be replaced where there are multiple
SH6: North to South:
SH67: Mokihinui River reasons for replacement, such as road width, live
Windbag Creek loading, impact risk/damage or seismic
Haast River
Greenstone Creek
SH73: Wallace Point risk/damage.
Harris Creek
Cron Creek SH6: Parkers Creek
Roaring Swine
Cache Creek
10.4 Bridge management
Haast River - Pleasant Flat Opus follows a strict bridge management regime
Gates of Haast
and the procedures are listed below:
 Visual/Superficial inspections every year to
SH94: North to South:
Tutoko River inspect any issues visible from the road.
Donne River
Gulliver River
 General inspections every two years to identify
any visual defects
 Detailed/special inspections every six years
with specific needs for different bridges
 Steel inspections and testing as required.

The bridge reports and maintenance needs are put

into a database following each inspection with the
likely cost and priority for component
replacements. Based on the funding that the New
Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) supplies,
Figure 15: Callender-Hamilton bridges in New Zealand repairs and strengthening work are then carried
out. Designs for repairs are then tendered out to
10.1 Choice of Callender-Hamilton Bridges local contractors.
The Ministry of Works chose the Callender-
Hamilton bridge design because of the low 10.5 Case study
maintenance cost, due to the galvanised steel [14]. During the project, Jeremy Waldin raised a
The standard design also allowed for simple concern regarding three single truss Callender-
construction and ease of transport [8]. Hamilton bridges with spans greater than the
previously assumed maximum length of 27 m.
Unknown to Opus, the design manual had been

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 7
updated, and the true maximum span was 37 m.
This information from the archived papers and 13. References
technical drawings were relayed to help Opus with [1] Acrow (2006), Callender-Hamilton Bridges.
the management of these bridges. Retrieved 2006, from
http://www.acrowcanada.com/callender-hamilton.html
10.6 Emergency bridging in New Zealand [2] Baker, W.M. and Molcsan, N.D. (2013). Bridging the
The NZTA has approximately 3 km of Bailey Gap: Callender-Hamilton Truss Bridges. Final Year
bridging available for hire in 3 m lengths [11]. The Project. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering,
Bailey bridge is favourable in this instance due to University of Canterbury.
the quick erection time. A temporary single lane 30 [3] Balfour Beatty (2003). Retrieved 2008, from
m span can be erected and in use within one week http://www.bbusl.com/content/1/81/more-services.html
of ordering. They may be used as a temporary
[4] Bailey DC et al. “The Bailey bridge and its
replacement due to failure, temporary structures
development” Institution of Civil Engineers Symposium.
for construction projects or provide crossings for ICE, London, (1947),
other non-emergency situations.
[5] BICC, “Callender-Hamilton Bridges”, British Insulated
Callender’s Cables Limited. (1946).
11. Conclusions
The first Callender-Hamilton bridge was [6] Boyse, C.O. The Design and uses of Callender-
constructed over 80 years ago following Archibald Hamilton Unit-Construction Bridges, Callender’s Cable &
Milne Hamilton’s pioneering work in the field of civil Construction Co. Ltd, (1938), 2-14 pp, London.
engineering. He expanded the boundaries of what [7] Hamilton family archives (1882-2010), Collection of
was possible with pre-fabricated bridging and was A.M. Hamilton’s documents, photographs, models and
able to greatly assist the British Military with his speadsheet database. Retrieved from MacMillan Brown
innovative design and construction methods. Library, University of Canterbury.
[8] Hamilton, A.M. (1962), The Timaru Herald: New
Hamilton made a significant contribution, not only Haast Pass Road Superb Scenic Route.
World War II military bridging, but to the future of
[9] Hamilton, A.M. (1937), Road through Kurdistan;
standardised bridges around the world. A number
travels in Northern Iraq, Faber and Faber Limited.
of Callender-Hamilton bridges are still in operation
in New Zealand and elsewhere in the world. [10] Hamilton, A.M. (1925), The Radio Supplement.
[11] NZTA (2013), Providing Bailey bridges. Retrieved
After reviewing the collection of archives, as well September 2013, from New Zealand Transport Agency:
as a number of other resources, the origins, design http://www.nzta.govt.nz/network/maintaining/manageme
and development of this revolutionary bridge were nt/bailey-bridge.html#cost
acknowledged and recorded in this student
[12] Think Defence (2012), UK Military Bridging –
project.
Equipment (The Bailey Bridge). Retrieved July 2013,
from http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/01/uk-military-
12. Acknowledgements bridging-equipment-the-bailey-bridge/
Special thanks are made to Archibald Hamilton’s
family for making their father’s resources available [13] Think Defence (2011), UK Military Bridging –
Equipment (Pre WWII Equipment Bridging. Retrieved
to the Macmillan Brown Library at the University of
July 2013, from Think Defence:
Canterbury, Christchurch. Additional information on http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2011/12/uk-military-
Hamilton’s life was provided by Mary Bliss, bridging-equipment-pre-wwii-equipment-bridging/
Margaret Ritchie and Robert Hamilton.
[14] White-Parsons, G.D. (1963), Callender-Hamilton
Acknowledgements also go to staff at the Bridge Business – New Zealand.
Macmillan Brown Library, for their efforts and [15] White-Parsons, G.D. (1952), Callender-Hamilton
continued support. The initial acquisition was Bridge Handbook. British Insulated Callender’s
arranged by Jill Durney and Jeff Palmer, and the Construction Company, Limited.
current research was greatly assisted by Erin [16] WFEL (2013), MGB Technical Specification.
Kimber, Head Archivist. Retrieved October 2013 from:
http://www.wfel.com/products-and-services/medium-
Support from industry included Russell Nicholls, girder-bridge/technical-specification/
Project Manager at Opus International
Consultants, Dunedin, who provided information
on locations of Callender-Hamilton bridges across
the South Island, and Jeremy Waldin, Senior
Bridge Engineer at Opus, Christchurch, for
providing other locations across New Zealand, and
information on Opus’s bridge management.

4th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Lincoln University, Canterbury, 24-26 November 2014 8