Brian Blackwell Macmahon
MACMAHON, Brian Blackwell, BE MIEAust (1925-2003)
Brian was born at “Torquay” in Esmond Street, Unley, South Australia, on October 26, 1925. He was the son of vigneron and cork manufacturer John Blackwell Macmahon and his wife Annette Macmahon (nee Le Creu). The family lived on a 40 acre block at Pimpala between Reynella and Morphett Vale.
Brian started school at Morphett Vale Primary School where he spent seven years. Brian won a Commercial Travellers Association Scholarship in December 1938 and he commenced his secondary education at Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide. He completed his intermediate there in 1940 and then went on to study for two years at St Peter’s, Adelaide.
In 1943, he commenced an engineering degree at Adelaide University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1946. His first employment was in Melbourne with the Federal Department of Works and Housing in their Soils Laboratory. He returned to Adelaide with the Federal Department of Housing and Construction as a soils engineer on the construction of the new Adelaide Airport at West Beach and at Woomera Rocket Range.
On October 9, 1948, Brian married Elaine Mabel (Sally) Thomas, in St Peter’s College Chapel, Adelaide. They had one son Thomas Warren (Tom) Macmahon, born 1952. Brian married secondly Lysanne.
In 1950 and 1951, Brian worked for the Hydro Electric Commission in Tasmania, on the construction of the Pine Tier Dam, based at Bronte Park.
In 1952, Brian took up a position with the SA Engineering and Water Supply Department working on the Mannum-Adelaide Pipeline that took water from Mannum on the Murray River and transported it 50 kilometres through the Onkaparinga Valley to the Millbrook Reservoir.
In 1955, Brian joined Rosewall Earthmovers Pty Ltd who had tendered for holding reservoirs associated with the Mannum-Adelaide Pipeline. Over the next eight years he worked throughout South Australia and the Northern Territory with a major project being the extension of the runway at Alice Springs Airport in 1961.
Brian purchased Rosewall Earthmovers Pty Ltd in 1963 with John McDonald and they co-founded Macmahon Construction Pty Ltd (Macmahons) and the parent company Macmahon Holdings Ltd on August 5, 1963. Founding board members were Brian as the Managing Director, John McDonald as the Secretary, Tom Rutter as the Administration Officer, Ray Noll as the Senior Supervisor and “Cud” Freeman. Brian was also Board Chairman.
Macmahons won its first mining contract, in 1967, for excavation works at Nobles Nob Gold Mines at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
The opening of the Perth Office, in 1969, under Dudley Campbell, expanded the infrastructure and mining role of the company.
Another major project for Macmahons was the Darwin River Dam. Construction commenced in 1970, with the earth and rockfill dam supplying water from 1972. In 1978, Macmahons began construction of the Tarcoola to Alice Springs Railway, as well as a section of the Great Northern Highway near Broome, WA.
Macmahons in 1983 had 1,000 employees and $77 million in annual revenue, across Australia and was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It was of a scale that it could undertake the civil works for the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, in 1983. In 1985, Brian retired as Managing Director of Macmahons but retained the role as Board Chairman.
In 1987, Macmahons acquired FK Kanny & Sons, an open cut mining contractor based in Western Australia. The acquisition enabled Macmahons to further expand its operations in the mining sector. That year Brian resigned as Chairman transitioning to the role of non-executive director.
Macmahons secured the contract for bulk handling of iron ore in Dampier for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd in 1992. In 1995, Macmahons acquired Kalgoorlie based underground mining and consultancy services group National Mine Management Pty Ltd. Also in 1992 a Macmahons office was also established in Indonesia to explore business opportunities in the region.
Macmahons civil contracts were extensive during 1998, including the Adelaide-Crafters Highway and a tunnel project in South Australia, the upgrade of the Royal Australian Air Force based at Learmonth (as part of a joint venture) and the construction of an 87km rail formation for Hamersley Iron in Western Australia.
In 2000, Brian retired from the position of non-executive director ending 37 years of his tenure on the company Board.
In 2000, the newly appointed CEO, Nick Bowen, restructured Macmahons and moved the head office from Adelaide to Perth. Macmahons, the company Brian co-founded, continues to be successful. In 2024 it reported $2 billion revenue with a 9,676 person workforce and a $4.6 billion order book.
Brian became a Student Member of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1946 and a Member in 1952. He was also President of the Australian Federation of Construction Contractors for three years in the 1970’s.
Macmahons established the Brian Macmahon fellowship at the University of Adelaide to honour Brian. The fellowship is awarded to a Civil Engineering student completing postgraduate studies in an area relevant to the operations of Macmahon. The first award was made in 1997.
References:
Register, 28.10.1925, p. 8.
Advertiser, 26.12.1938, p. 5.
Advertiser, 27.1.1941, p. 4.
Advertiser, 14.11.1947, p. 10.
Mercury, 9.7.1952, p. 12.
Advertiser, 22.10.1952, p. 18.
John Lewis, Brian Macmahon – A Quiet Achiever, Openbook Publishers, Adelaide, 1995
Adelaidean, Volume 6 Number 19, University of Adelaide, 20.10.1997, p7
Compiled by Chris Fitzhardinge, March 6, 2025
