John Holland (engineer)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Holland AC (21 June 1914 – 31 May 2009) was an Australia
n engineer and construction magnate, who founded the John Holland Construction Group (later named John Holland (Holdings) Pty Ltd) in 1949, was Managing Director until 1972, Chairman until 1986, and President from 1986 until his death. The company was purchased by Heytesbury Pty Ltd
in 1991, and is now owned by Leighton Holdings
Limited.
Holland's company's projects included major work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
including diverting the Snowy River
, the new Parliament House, Canberra
, the West Gate Bridge
and Sidney Myer Music Bowl
in Melbourne
, the Sydney Entertainment Centre
, the rebuilding of the Tasman Bridge
in Hobart
, a significant role in the rebuilding of Darwin
after Cyclone Tracy
in 1974, and overseas project such as the Australian Embassy in Riyadh
, Saudi Arabia
.
, south-east of Melbourne
. He acquired the informal name John at an early age, and he was always known as John Holland thereafter. He studied civil engineering at the University of Melbourne
and then worked for the Commonwealth Oil Refineries
for three years. He joined the army when World War II
broke out, and served in the Middle East, Greece and the Pacific, becoming a lieutenant-colonel. He returned to civil engineering, setting up his own business in 1949. His first contract was to build a shed on a property in western Victoria
owned by a farmer named Malcolm Fraser
, who would later go into politics and become the Prime Minister of Australia
.
The collapse of the West Gate Bridge
in Melbourne
on 15 October 1970 caused the deaths of 35 workers. The Royal Commission into the incident was very critical of all involved in its construction.
Holland retired as chairman of the John Holland Group in 1972, and in 2000 the Leighton Group bought 70 per cent of John Holland Group; this was increased to 100 per cent in October 2007.
He took a personal interest in every employee, and insisted they be involved in community service. He himself was involved in various causes, including the board of the Royal Melbourne Hospital
, the Bone Marrow Foundation, a co-founder of the National Stroke Foundation, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, chairman of the Sir Edward Dunlop Memorial Committee and, from 2000, as patron of the Children First Foundation. He was a keen sportsman in his younger days, and later became president of Royal Melbourne Golf Club
and patron of Flinders Golf Club.
in 1973 for services to engineering, and made a Companion of the Order of Australia
(AC) in 1988 for service to the community, particularly to youth and in the field of medical research.
Holland received the Peter Nicol Russell
Memorial Award (1974), the Kernot Medal of the University of Melbourne (1976), the Consulting Engineers Advancement Society Medal (1984), and the Queensland University of Technology
Distinguished Constructor Award
and the Australian Constructors Association Award for Distinguished Service (both 2001).
Holland was a Foundation Fellow and from 1975-80 the first Honorary Treasurer of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
, and in November 2004 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Academy, a rarely awarded honour.
on 31 May 2009, aged 94, survived by his wife, four children, three stepsons and 20 descendants and step-descendants.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n engineer and construction magnate, who founded the John Holland Construction Group (later named John Holland (Holdings) Pty Ltd) in 1949, was Managing Director until 1972, Chairman until 1986, and President from 1986 until his death. The company was purchased by Heytesbury Pty Ltd
Heytesbury Pty Ltd
Heytesbury Pty. Ltd. is the privately owned company of the Holmes à Court family in Western Australia.Originally called Heytesbury Holdings, the company was formed by Robert Holmes à Court in the 1970s as the holding company of his rapidly expanding financial empire...
in 1991, and is now owned by Leighton Holdings
Leighton Holdings
Leighton Holdings is Australia's largest project development and contracting group. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries...
Limited.
Holland's company's projects included major work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
including diverting the Snowy River
Snowy River
The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into...
, the new Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House is the meeting facility of the Parliament of Australia located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and opened on 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia...
, the West Gate Bridge
West Gate Bridge
The West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city and Melbourne's western suburbs with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city...
and Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain, close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, the Sydney Entertainment Centre
Sydney Entertainment Centre
The Sydney Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers...
, the rebuilding of the Tasman Bridge
Tasman Bridge
The Tasman Bridge is a five-lane bridge crossing the Derwent River, near the CBD of Hobart, Tasmania. The bridge has a total length of 1,395 metres . It provides the main traffic route from the CBD to the eastern shore - particularly Hobart International Airport and Bellerive Oval...
in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, a significant role in the rebuilding of Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
after Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974...
in 1974, and overseas project such as the Australian Embassy in Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
Biography
Clifton Vaughan Holland was born on 21 June 1914, the eighth of ten children, and was raised on his family's farm on the Mornington PeninsulaMornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion...
, south-east of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. He acquired the informal name John at an early age, and he was always known as John Holland thereafter. He studied civil engineering at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and then worked for the Commonwealth Oil Refineries
Commonwealth Oil Refineries
Commonwealth Oil Refineries was an Australian oil companyCommonwealth Oil Refineries that operated bewtween 1920 and 1952 as a joint venture of the Australian government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company....
for three years. He joined the army when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, and served in the Middle East, Greece and the Pacific, becoming a lieutenant-colonel. He returned to civil engineering, setting up his own business in 1949. His first contract was to build a shed on a property in western Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
owned by a farmer named Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
, who would later go into politics and become the Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
.
The collapse of the West Gate Bridge
West Gate Bridge
The West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city and Melbourne's western suburbs with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 15 October 1970 caused the deaths of 35 workers. The Royal Commission into the incident was very critical of all involved in its construction.
Holland retired as chairman of the John Holland Group in 1972, and in 2000 the Leighton Group bought 70 per cent of John Holland Group; this was increased to 100 per cent in October 2007.
He took a personal interest in every employee, and insisted they be involved in community service. He himself was involved in various causes, including the board of the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
, the Bone Marrow Foundation, a co-founder of the National Stroke Foundation, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, chairman of the Sir Edward Dunlop Memorial Committee and, from 2000, as patron of the Children First Foundation. He was a keen sportsman in his younger days, and later became president of Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a golf club located in Black Rock, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia with two courses. Royal Melbourne has hosted numerous national and international events, including the 1959 Canada Cup , and the 1970 World Cup...
and patron of Flinders Golf Club.
Honours and awards
John Holland was knightedKnight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1973 for services to engineering, and made a Companion of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AC) in 1988 for service to the community, particularly to youth and in the field of medical research.
Holland received the Peter Nicol Russell
Peter Nicol Russell
Sir Peter Nicol Russell was an Australian foundry owner, philanthropist and university benefactor.-Early life:Russell was born at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, the second son of eleven children of Robert Russell, an engineer and ironfounder, and his wife Janet, née Nicol...
Memorial Award (1974), the Kernot Medal of the University of Melbourne (1976), the Consulting Engineers Advancement Society Medal (1984), and the Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
Distinguished Constructor Award
Distinguished Constructor Award
The Queensland University of Technology Distinguished Constructor Award recognises significant contributions by individuals to the Queensland construction industry and community and to honour those who have given a lifetime of work to the industry...
and the Australian Constructors Association Award for Distinguished Service (both 2001).
Holland was a Foundation Fellow and from 1975-80 the first Honorary Treasurer of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering is an independent non-government organization dedicated to the promotion in Australia of scientific and engineering knowledge to practical purposes. Professor Robin Batterham is the current President of ATSE....
, and in November 2004 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Academy, a rarely awarded honour.
Family
In 1942 Sir John Holland married Emily Joan née Atkinson, with whom he had a daughter and three sons. She died in 1999 and in 2003 he married Suzanne Wharton, who had three sons from a previous marriage.Death
Holland died at Cabrini Hospital, MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 31 May 2009, aged 94, survived by his wife, four children, three stepsons and 20 descendants and step-descendants.