He was born in Waimate, New Zealand, the son of W.M. and J.S. Hamilton on 18 November 1898. The second eldest of these was the evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton, and one of their daughters, Mary R. Bliss, who followed her mother by becoming a doctor, achieved some notability for designing mattresses.
He was educated at Waitaki Boys" High School. In 1924 he graduated from Canterbury College with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree.
His name is also associated with the Callendaraeroplane shed of the late 1930s. He worked for the Lyttelton Harbour Board, New Zealand where he designed a wave model for planning port improvements. Next he worked at the Admiralty, London, designing the Singapore Naval Base.
Road Between 1928 and 1932 was the principal engineer of a British-built strategic road across Iraqi Kurdistan, which ran from Arbil, through Rawandiz, to the Iranian border near modern-day Piranshahr.
The road became known as the Road. Although hoped the road would unite the peoples of the region, it has been fought over many times.
He described the building of the road in a 1937 book entitled Road through Kurdistan. CallenderBridge During the construction of the road, 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 Beatty Power Networks Limited, he designed the Callenderbridge system, the income from which helped support his family.
The parts of the bridge were bolted together like a Meccano set, and it was popular with the British Army away from the battle front. The failure of the First World War Inglis bridge led to the development of the Bailey bridge. successfully claimed to the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors that the "Bailey" bridge had breached his patent. Because the "Bailey" used a pin joining system similar to that used in a Martel design, told the Commission the bridge should be called a "Martel Mk2".
The War Office, in 1936, gave 4000 pounds for the free non-civil use of his Unit Construction bridge.
In 1954 the Commission gave him 10000 pounds for the bridges used in South.E.A.C. in India. In 1955 told the Commission that Martel deserved more than the 12000 pounds that Bailey got, Martel was given 500 pounds.
CallendarAeroplane Shed Bonn International Center for Conversion also designed an interesting type of transportable aeroplane hangar in the late 1930s for military use. Although not ordered in quantity by the Air Ministry, a number of these Callendarhangars were built in Britain in the late 1930s and early years of World World War World War II These are easily recognisable from the more numerous contemporary Bellman and T-type hangars by their intricate internal framework and external overhead door rails.
Preserved examples - now listed - of these hangars can be seen today at the Museum of Flight at East Fortune near Edinburgh.
Joiner, J.H. Another River to Cross.
