John Kindler
KINDLER, John Ernest MEAdel FIEAust (1906-1968)
KINDLER, JOHN ERNEST , structural engineer and chief engineer of a multi-purpose department, was born at Nuriootpa, South Australia, on 20 October 1906. After graduating at the University of Adelaide he wrote a Masters thesis while helping to supervise the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In 1932 he joined the New South Wales Department of Main Roads, and in 1934 was appointed a senior assistant engineer with the Bridge Board which had just been formed to build the Story Bridge in Brisbane under the direction of J.A. Holt (later Sir James Holt) the Supervising Engineer.
After the completion of the bridge in 1940 Kindler worked on projects of the Allied Works Council in north Queensland, under J.R. Kemp (q.v.). After the War Kemp formed the Engineering Office of the Co-ordinator General's Department from the staff of the Bridge Board and the Stanley River Works Board, with Holt as Chief Engineer of the Structures Branch and W.H.R. Nimmo (q.v.) as Chief Engineer of the Hydraulics Branch. For some thirty years this Office acted as engineering consultant to the Queensland Government and was given direct responsibility for a great variety of civil engineering projects; with first choice of candidates for the engineering scholarships then being offered by the State it developed into an elite organization.
Until 1949 Kindler was Principal Designing Engineer (Structures) with the Department, but when Nimmo was appointed Commissioner for Irrigation and Water Supply Holt was made Chief Engineer of the Department, with Kindler Deputy Chief Engineer (Structures) and E.M. Shepherd Deputy Chief Engineer (Hydraulics). In 1954 Holt succeeded Sir John Kemp as Co-ordinator General, and Kindler became Chief Engineer of the Department.
Until the 1970s the Structures Branch was responsible for most of the large bridges built in Queensland, for the structural work at the new St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland and for a wide range of special studies including (in 1951) the first engineering investigation of erosion of Queensland beaches. Many of the bridges, included new techniques in design and construction; for example, the Burdekin rail road bridge and Indooroopilly' rail bridge were the first to use high strength bolts in place of rivets and to have the decks designed to act with the lower chords of the trusses. Kindler was the ideal leader in these jobs; thoroughly trained by Holt in design, he kept himself informed on overseas developments and had the confidence and courage to criticize in public accepted design practice. Furthermore, he would accept the ideas of others, "provided they passed his rigorous analytical examination"; this trait was especially valuable when he also had responsibility for the Hydraulics Branch which, after the completion of Somerset Dam was responsible for the Tully Falls and Barron Falls hydro-electric schemes and other projects in north Queensland. Under his leadership the Department was constructing authority for over ten projects, ranging from the construction of the Weipa township to the dredging of the Brisbane River to accommodate new oil refineries.
Kindler was committed to the advancement of his profession; six of his technical papers were published by the Institution of Engineers, Australia; with co-author W. Hansen he was awarded the Warren Memorial Prize in 1957 and he also received the Warren Memorial Prize and R.W. Chapman Medal in 1958. He was Chairman of the Queensland Division of the Institution in 1955, and was active in the founding of the Association of Professional Engineers of Australia and in the preparation for the landmark "Professional Engineers' Case" of 1957-61. He did much for engineering education; he was closely associated with the University of Queensland through personal friendship, co-operation in many technical investigations, and as a member of the Engineering Faculty Board; he played a very important part in the founding of the Queensland Institute of Technology, which named the Kindler Memorial Theatre and the John Kindler Memorial Prize in his honour.
Stern in appearance, scrupulous in all things, sympathetic but a somewhat hard taskmaster, he earned the respect of his staff by his sincerity. John Kindler died at his desk on the morning of 25 June 1968 (the day he was to be appointed to succeed Sir James Holt), leaving his wife and two married daughters; his passing at the height of his powers was a very great loss to his family, his friends and to Queensland.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
AnnuaI Reports, Co-ordinator Generals Department (esp.1964-65);
'Author and Subject Index of Publications, 1920-1968' (I.E.Aust, 1969), p.45;
Information from Mrs. S.K. Kindler and former colleagues.
NOTE: John Kindler has also been recognised in the Queensland Hall of Fame
and was Engineers Australia Queensland President 1955 QLD Presidents
