John Bradfield

Dr. John Jacob "Job" Crew Bradfield CMG (26 December 1867 – 23 September 1943) was a
prominent Australian engineer who is best known for his work overseeing the design and
building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Education

Bradfield received his early education in Ipswich, Queensland where he attended Ipswich North
State School [1] and Ipswich Grammar School. He then completed a Bachelor of Engineering
in 1889 and then a Master of Engineering in 1896 from University of Sydney, where he was a
resident of St. Andrew's College. He was a member of the Queenslanders' Association in
Sydney.[1] In 1924 Bradfield received the first doctor of science in engineering at the
University of Sydney for his thesis on electric railways and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Professional career

The original railway network for the Sydney CBD planned by John Bradfield

From 1889 to 1891, Bradfield worked for the Queensland Railways Department as a
draftsman.[2][3] In 1891 he joined the New South Wales Public Works Department. In 1912
he was appointed Chief Engineer for metropolitan railway construction, when he commenced
his long association with secretary Kathleen Muriel Butler.[4] In 1915 Bradfield submitted a
report outlining a grand scheme for Sydney's railways involving the electrification of the
suburban railways, a city underground railway and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. World War I
led to the collapse of all three proposals.

During World War I, Bradfield worked with Professor Warren and Mr A.E. Cutler to establish
the first civil aviation school, where pilots were trained for overseas service.
Sydney Harbour Bridge

It was not until 1922 that the Bridge Bill passed through Parliament.[5] Much of his work on
the Sydney Harbour Bridge involved the assistance of his secretary Kathleen Muriel Butler,
who in spite her job title, was involved in the checking of specifications and the negotiations
with tenderers.[4]

Bradfield had a grand vision for Sydney's railway system. Bradfield called for the provision of
a network of underground city railway lines beneath Sydney's central business district, the
construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a new railway station, Central. While the central
idea of an underground loop beneath the city was implemented, and stub tunnels built at
designated interchanges for provision of future lines, many of his related ideas remain
unimplemented. A larger network of lines was proposed for the western, eastern and southern
suburbs, however most of these lines remain conceptual and have never been constructed.

The building of the bridge coincided with the construction of a system of underground railways
in Sydney's Central business district, known today as the City Circle, and the bridge was
designed with this in mind. The bridge was designed to carry four lanes of road traffic, flanked
on each side by two railway tracks and a footpath. Both sets of rail tracks were linked into the
underground Wynyard railway station on the southern end of the bridge by symmetrical ramps
and tunnels.

The eastern-side railway tracks were intended for use by a planned rail link to the Northern
Beaches,[citation needed] though they were used for tram services from the North Shore to
Wynyard station. The intention was to operate tram services until the implementation of a heavy
rail service to the Northern Beaches; however, when tram services were discontinued in 1958,
they were converted into extra road traffic lanes, which now serve the Cahill Expressway and
a city-bound bus lane.
The Depression, and later World War II, along with the post-War growth of motor vehicle usage
led to projected patronage of passenger services in Bradfield's plan being overestimated. Parts
of the city underground were constructed and exist as the present-day City Circle. Small
sections were also built for additional proposed city lines, such as additional platforms at
Wynyard and St James railway stations which have never been used for heavy rail transport.

In 1923, the first sod was turned on the city railway.[5] The City Circle was constructed
originally as a stub line to St James, via the Town Hall, Wynyard and towards the Harbour
Bridge. It was not until 1955 that the loop was completed by the construction of Circular Quay
station. A line to the eastern suburbs was eventually built, but along a different alignment to
that envisaged by Bradfield, who proposed a line along Oxford Street.

Bradfield retired from the New South Wales Department of Public Works at the end of July
1933 after 42 years of service with the intention of continuing to work as a consulting
engineer.[6]

Honours
Bradfield in 1933

Named in his honour are Bradfield highways in both Sydney and Brisbane, the Federal
electorate of Bradfield,[17] the North Shore Sewerage Bradfield Carrier[18] in West Killara
and Bradfield Senior College, a school for the creative industries in St Leonards. A footbridge
in his home town of Ipswich, Queensland was named in his honour in 2010.[19]

A Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney,[20] Bradfield was awarded the Peter
Nicol Russell Memorial Medal by the Institution of Engineers Australia,[21] and appointed a
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1933.[20][22]

In 1934 he was awarded the Telford Medal by the Publications Committee of the Institution
of Civil Engineers of London for his paper The Sydney Harbour Bridge, and its
Approaches.[23] In July 1936 the Institution of Civil Engineers in London elected Bradfield
as a member of council representing Australia.[24] In August 1940, a plaque was placed on
the Story Bridge recognising the contributions of many of those involved, including Bradfield
in Brisbane.[7] He was awarded Queensland Institute of Engineers lifetime achievement
award in 2007.

The Bradfield Highway, which is the main roadway section of the bridge and its approaches,
is named in honour of Bradfield's contribution to the bridge.