Jim Paton
Paton, James Lampard (Jim), BE(UWA) FIE(Aust) FICE(UK) DIC (1928-2022)
James Lampard (Jim) Paton was born in Perth, Western Australia on October 27, 1928, the third son of James Lampard Paton, a prominent chartered accountant with his firm Paton and Morris, and his wife Lily Tamar Paton, nee Grono. After Cottesloe Primary School Paton attended Scotch College, Swanbourne from 1938, leaving in 1945 to commence a Civil Engineering Degree at the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1951. Paton participated in student activities as captain of the University Rowing Club, which became the champion Club in WA and represented the University, and also Western Australia in national regattas. He was also student Guild Council Treasurer.
On graduating Paton was employed as a design engineer by the Structural Engineering Company, a large firm located at Welshpool, working on large steel structures. Paton gained experience on a range of projects including structural steel for a power station, steel assemblies for the BP Refinery at Kwinana, steel framed buildings, and a variety of steel projects including for a superphosphate works.
In 1954 Paton was employed by the Perth Metropolitan Water Supply Sewerage and Drainage Department (MWSSD now part of the Water Corporation). The MWSSD initiated development of the Serpentine River Scheme, south of Perth, to augment Perth’s water supply which was then under high demand. The project involved the design and construction of two storage dams in the Darling Range, including 1,400 & 1,200 mm diameter steel pipelines connecting to Perth. Paton was involved with the planning for all the elements including structural design of the first dam, the lower “Pipehead Dam”, a relatively low storage mass concrete structure.
Between 1955 and 1957 Paton was engaged on the design and construction of the upper 'Main Dam' a homogeneous earth wall, together with the spillway and outlet tower. He supervised the site investigation setting the geotechnical parameters for the structural design and construction standard for the dam embankment.
In 1958 Paton married nurse Ruth Woolgrove and moved with his wife to the dam site to supervise construction of the project by a day labour work force. This included the dam wall, spillway, outlet tower and the steel pipelines connecting through to Perth. He remained in residence with his young family until completion of construction in 1964. Paton and wife Ruth had four children, Jillian, Claire, Rachel and James. One of their granddaughters is a qualified engineer.
Paton continued with construction completing a single span tied arch bridge over the Swan River at Success Hill, Guildford, to carry a pipeline connecting Mundaring Weir to the Perth system.
In the period 1950 to 1969 Paton served for ten years in the Citizen Military Forces (Now the Army Reserve) as a commissioned engineer officer serving with a number of reserve units including officer in command of the 10th Light Horse Armoured Regiment’s engineering squadron.
In 1963 the Government decided to substitute a Board for Departmental control and the organisation then became known as the MWSS&DB. In 1967, Paton was appointed Principal Engineer in charge of MWSS&DB’s Design Branch where he introduced survey control and an overall system for the design and recording of water and sewerage services constructed as a result of large scale land subdivisions then underway.
In 1967 the University of Western Australia awarded Paton a 'Robert Gleddon Fellowship' for further study at Imperial College London which he completed in 1969/70 graduating with a Diploma of the Imperial College in concrete structures.
In October 1970, Paton resumed the position of Engineer in Charge of the Design Branch. Paton was responsible for several large projects including the design and contract award for construction of the South Dandalup Dam and also the dam on the Wungong River near Armadale.
To increase the outlet capacity of Canning Dam, Paton initiated the design and construction of a 5.6 kilometre long hard rock 3,700 mm diameter water tunnel through the Darling Range to the dam. Also, in this period the design and construction of the first water treatment plants for the development of Perth’s below ground unconfined water aquifers were completed.
Paton had a long association with Engineers Australia and its precursor body the Institution of Engineers. He joined as a Student Member in 1949 and became a full Member in 1957. By 1979 Paton had become a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers.
In 1979 Paton became Chairman of the Western Australian Division of Engineers Australia. This was Western Australia’s sesquicentennial year since European settlement, and also Engineers Australia diamond jubilee year. As a result, Engineers Australia Annual National Conference was held in Perth with Paton as Chairman. The Conference, opened by the Governor General of Australia, included a number of speakers from overseas and was an outstanding success with over fourteen hundred delegates attending. A list of the 94 papers presented at this Conference is available here.
At this time Paton established the WA Division’s Engineering Heritage Committee, now a well regarded group in the community. In recognition of his contribution to engineering heritage, Jim was awarded an Award of Merit in 2007.
In 1975 Paton resigned from the MWSS&DB to enter a partnership with G.B.Hill and Partners. On joining he carried out the design of infrastructure for the LNG plant being constructed on the Burrup Peninsula.
In the early 1980’s G B Hill and partners were engaged on major developmental projects involving Paton. This included the Cape Peron Ocean Outfall Project (CPOOP) diverting wastewater away from Cockburn Sound into the open ocean. This was a joint venture project with Binnies requiring environmental approval, the design and construction of a diversion pumping station at the Authority’s Woodman Point wastewater treatment plant, one of the largest pumping stations constructed at the time, a land based 1,400 mm diameter steel pipeline to Cape Peron, and the construction from Cape Peron of a four kilometre offshore pipeline buried in the sea bed. In 1984 This project received an Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Award.
Other work at G B Hill and Partners involving Paton included the provision of water and wastewater services for large scale land developments. This included Paton’s direct involvement in the urban development of the Beeliar area south of Perth in the then Water Corporation’s South Jandakot Public Water Supply area. To gain environment approval the project entailed extensive modeling of the underground water aquifer. Conditions were established for the development including ongoing monitoring and the design of a main drainage scheme for Thomsons and Yangebup Lakes involving a pumped discharge into Cockburn Sound.
Between 1990 and 1993 Paton was responsible for the design and supervision of a major extension of the solar salt field at Dampier for Dampier Salt. At this time Paton also undertook the design and contract award of infrastructure for the development of Rio Tinto’s Kimberly diamond mine including a water supply pipeline from Lake Argyle to the mine site.
In 1996 Paton retired as Managing Director, remaining in a consultant’s role with GHD when G B Hill and Partners joined with consulting engineers GHD in August 1998. Paton retired in 2016.
During this period Paton was a member of the Scotch College Council and he was also a member of the University of Western Australia Senate for six years.
During his career Paton associated with a large number of prominent engineers including Harold Clough of Clough Engineering, Albert Tognolini and Ken Michael (both Commissioner of Main Roads). Paton also associated with many who are now deceased including Dr Gordon Barratt Hill of G B Hill and Partners, Ian Steel of Merz McLellan and Partners, R M Hillman Director of Public Works, John Morgan Surveyor General, Harold Hunt Chief Engineer Water Authority, Ken Kelsall Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Water Authority and Don Aitken Commissioner of Main Roads.
Prepared by Jim Paton on 27 April 2019. Additional comments by David Watson, Principal Consultant, Development Engineering Consultants and Mike Taylor, EHWA in September 2022.
An oral history focussing on Jim's contribution to the early days of engineering heritage is available here.
Jim died on 18 July 1922 aged 93 and was survived by his wife Ruth and their four children Jillian, Claire, Rachel and James.
Publications:
As mentioned in the Award of Merit, Jim was one of the first engineers to prepare conservation plans. EHWA has copies of:
Heritage Council of WA, Heritage Assessment Boulder Subway, Boulder Station, Boulder, Golden Mile Loopline Railway, 1993.
Heritage Council of WA, Conservation Plan Donnelly River Mill, 1994.
Rottnest Island Authority, Oliver Hill Battery Conservation Assessment, 1995.
City of Nedlands, Heritage Assessment of the Stirling Highway Trolleybus Poles, 2002
Neergabby Community Association, Junction Bridge Conservation Plan, 2003
