A. M. Hamilton
Archibald Milne Hamilton (? - 1972) was a
New Zealand-born engineer, notable for building the
Hamilton Road through
Kurdistan and designing the
Hamilton-Callender bridge system.
He was born in
Christchurch, New Zealand, the son of W.M. and J.S. Hamilton . In 1924 he graduated from
Canterbury College with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil)
degree. He married B.M. Hamilton, a
medical doctor and they had six children. The second eldest of these was the
evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton, and one of his daughters Mary R. Bliss, achieved some notability for designing mattresses.
Between 1928 and 1932 he was the principal engineer of the Hamilton Road, through
Kurdistan which he hoped would unite the peoples of the region. However, the road has been fought over many times. He described the building of this in a 1937 book.
During the construction of the road, Hamilton became aware of the need for
strong,
adaptable bridges with components that could easily be transported and erected in remote and/or difficult
terrain. With
British Insulated Callenders Cables, now
Balfour Beattie, he designed the
Hamilton-Callender Bridge System, the income from which helped support his family. The parts of the bridge were bolted together like a
Meccano set, popular with the
British Army. This led to the development of the
Bailey bridge, and Hamilton successfully claimed to the
Royal Commission for Awards to Inventors, as it has breached his
patent.
*Hamilton, A.M. (1937).
Road through Kurdistan: The Narrative of an Engineer in Iraq. Faber, London
**New Edition (1958). Faber, London.
**(2004) reprint ISBN 1-85043-637-1
* http://www.thegreatdebate.org.uk/MentalismCB.html autism?
* http://www.krg.org/docs/KT010726.pdf bit about the road.
*
source of university degree*
text by his daughter Mary Bliss in memory of his son Bill Hamilton contains useful information
