William Nimmo
NIMMO, William Hogarth Robertson, CBE DEngQld MCEMelb Hon.FIEAust FICE FASCE (1885-1970)
NIMMO, WILLIAM HOGARTH ROBERTSON, hydraulic engineer (investigation, design and construction). Born in England of Australian parents on 10 February 1885, he graduated at the University of Melbourne in 1908, and in 1964 was awarded the first Doctorate in Engineering of the University of Queensland on the basis of his published papers.
After initial experience as a draftsman and engineering surveyor in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland he joined the Tasmanian Public Works Department in 1913 where he designed the State's first concrete-arch dam and the first reinforced-concrete bridge. In 1918 he joined the new Hydro-Electric Department, worked out the hydrology of the Great Lake and, as Resident Engineer, constructed the Liawenee diversion canal from the Ouse River to the Lake. He also began a lifelong practice of using investigations at construction sites to solve current theoretical design problems.
Nimmo moved to Brisbane in 1924 as Civil Engineer to the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board. In 1927 he became Designing Engineer of the Main Roads Commission, then in its formative years under (Sir) John Kemp (q.v.). In 1933-34 he was a member of a Bureau of Industry committee investigating the water-supply and flood-mitigation requirements of Brisbane. He completed the investigation almost single-handed in about fifteen months using for the first time in Australia, it is believed, unit-hydrographs and flood-probability studies combined with a flood-plain map of Brisbane for the economic assessment. As a result the Stanley River Works Board was established in 1934 to construct the Somerset Dam and Nimmo was seconded from the Main Roads Commission, first as Designing Engineer and later as Chief Engineer. Innovations in design and construction included measures to prevent hydraulic uplift, and hydraulic model studies of dissipator and sluice gates.
In 1942 Nimmo became Chairman of the Board of Engineers which built Cairncross Dock on the Brisbane River, using staff and plant from the Stanley River Works Board, the Main Roads Commission and the Department of Harbours and Marine with added labour from the Civil Constructional Corps; when completed in 1944 it was the largest dry dock in the Southern Hemisphere. Somerset Dam was completed after the war and Nimmo and his staff (then the Hydraulics Branch of the Co-ordinator General's Department) made many hydraulic investigations including the hydrology of the Channel Country in south-west Queensland, possible scour at the site of the Burdekin River road/rail bridge, a feasibility study of the Burdekin scheme and the detailed design of the Tully Falls hydro-electric project, which was built by his Branch. In 1949 he became Commissioner for Irrigation and Water Supply and directed the Department at a time of great expansion which included the construction of the Tinaroo Fails Dam and the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation project. Concurrently he was chairman or a member of many interdepartmental commissions and boards. He retired in 1955 but was retained as engineering consultant to the Government and continued to serve as Chairman of the Dumaresq-Barwon Border Rivers Commission.
Nimmo was an engineer-scientist who used his sound theoretical understanding and wide knowledge in the design and construction of major works, and in directing an important department. He was unassuming in manner but definite in what he wanted, and he had both the admiration and affection of his staff. He gave much to engineering and from his student days was an active member of professional associations. He was Chairman of the Brisbane Division of the Institution of Engineers, Australia in 1937, Councillor from 1938 to 1955, President in 1949 and an Honorary Fellow from 1960. As Chairman of the National Committee he led the Australian delegation to the International Committee on Large Dams in Rome in 1961. Always ready with a useful reference, he was adept at devising investigation and construction techniques; his doctoral thesis contains some fifty-six published papers, discussions and reports written from 1916 to 1962. He was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal of the Institution in 1950, the Kernot Memorial Medal of the University of Melbourne in 1956, and the CBE in 1962.
Dr. Nimmo died in Brisbane on 7 May 1970, survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
References:
Eminent Queensland Engineers Vol 1 is available here.
Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Engrs, Vol. 92 (1928);
Information from Mrs E. A. Wickham, Brisbane, Fryer Memorial Library, University of Qld, and personal recollections.
NOTE: William Nimmo has also been recognised in the Queensland Hall of Fame
and was Engineers Australia Queensland President 1937 QLD Presidents
