A. M. Hamilton

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For other persons named Archibald Hamilton, see Archibald Hamilton (disambiguation).

Archibald Milne Hamilton (1898 - 1972) was a New Zealand-born civil engineer, notable for building the Hamilton Road through Kurdistan and designing the Callender-Hamilton bridge system.

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[edit] Early life, marriage and children

He was born in Waimate, New Zealand, the son of W.M. and J.S. Hamilton on 18 November 1898.. He was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School. In 1924 he graduated from Canterbury College with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree.

He married Bettina Matraves Collier, a medical doctor in 1934, and they had six children. The second eldest of these was the evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton, and one of his daughters Mary R. Bliss, achieved some notability for designing mattresses.

[edit] Early career

He worked for the Lyttleton Harbour Board, New Zealand where he designed a wave model for planning port improvements, Then he worked at the Admiralty, London, designing the Singapore Naval Base.

[edit] Hamilton Road

Between 1928 and 1932 he was the principal engineer of the Hamilton Road, through Iraqi Kurdistan which he hoped would unite the peoples of the region. However, the road has been fought over many times. He described the building of this in a 1937 book entitled Road through Kurdistan

[edit] Callender-Hamilton Bridge

During the construction of the road, Hamilton became aware of the need for strong, adaptable bridges with components that could easily be transported and erected in remote and/or difficult terrain. With British Insulated Callenders Cables, now Balfour Beatty Power Networks Ltd, he designed the Callender-Hamilton Bridge System, the income from which helped support his family. The parts of the bridge were bolted together like a Meccano set, and was popular with the British Army. This led to the development of the Bailey bridge, and Hamilton successfully claimed to the Royal Commission for Awards to Inventors, as it has breached his patent.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Hamilton, A.M. (1937). Road through Kurdistan: The Narrative of an Engineer in Iraq. Faber, London

[edit] External links