Concrete expert praised for dam
IF it involved concrete, David Brathwaite knew what to do with it.
The highly respected engineer earned global recognition for his work on the Benmore Dam project, New Zealand’s secondbiggest hydroelectric plant, in the early 1960s.
The New Zealand Ministry of Works had decided to build the substantial penstock installation — the pipes taking water down the dam face to the turbines — in prestressed concrete, and there was a complex problem due to the height of the dam and the available technologies. There had also been an issue with the thenactive Boilermakers Union, making the construction of regular steel penstocks potentially too expensive.
Mr Brathwaite, who had been transferred to the Ministry’s hydro office in Dunedin in 1958, linked with fellow engineer Bill Slater to solve the problem with a unique design that worked so well it was later nominated as one of the world’s 100 great concrete projects.
Mr Brathwaite projectmanaged the construction and installation of the 2.4m penstock sections. The huge pipes were transported one at a time to the top of the dam face before being lowered into position with a purposedesigned rig.
David Stanley Brathwaite was born in Hastings on June 1, 1933, to Lorna (nee Smith) and Jack Brathwaite, a motor mechanic who had received multiple injuries at Gallipoli and was awarded the Military Cross.
His early life was shaped by both his father’s absence and his mother’s love. The youngest of four boys, he enjoyed model aeroplanes, sailing and photography. He went to primary school in Waipukurau before the family moved to Dunedin during World War 2, staying with Lorna’s parents, Stanley and Florence Smith.
In 1946, he went to Nelson College, where he met his lifelong friend, Steve Gentry. He then studied physics and geology at the University of Otago, before switching to Canterbury to study civil engineering.
Mr Brathwaite began his working life with a twoyear spell with the Ministry of Works in Dunedin, where his uncle, Edgar, was the district civil engineer and something of a mentor. He worked on the foundations of the dental school and other government buildings, gaining expertise on prestressed concrete on several projects.
Skiing became a passion, and it was while on an excursion to the Temple Basin that Mr Brathwaite met a young English woman, Jill Weideman. They married in Christchurch in 1957. Daughter Rebecca was born the following year.
After a short spell in Wellington and their years in Otematata while Mr Brathwaite worked on the Benmore Dam, and where son Richard was born in 1961, the family returned to Dunedin, where Mr Brathwaite joined E.R. Garden and Partners.
His work included bridges, water supply, silos, cement works, sewerage works, skifields, buildings and other typical civil works, and he later took over the running of the company.
In 1979, he was called to give expert advice at Abbotsford. Richard recalls accompanying his father to the Dunedin suburb and gluing strips of glass across cracks in the road as the hillside started to move.
The company also played a key role in road engineering and designing chairlifts at various Otago skifields.
The Brathwaites enjoyed their Dunedin years, socialising with friends and hosting dinner parties. They also bought a house in Wanaka, spending many blissful summers in the town.
Mr Brathwaite joined the boards of the Evening Star — the fifth generation of his family to be involved with the company — and Donaghies Industries, and enjoyed trips to Switzerland to design cement works.
A pleasure was to see the next generation follow him into the world of engineering. Mr Brathwaite, uncle Edgar Smith and granddaughter Sophie were civil engineers, and maternal grandfather Stanley Smith, father Jack and son Richard were mechanical engineers, making them a rare fifthgeneration engineering family.
Sophie spent several years working for Meridian Energy in a team maintaining the Benmore Dam, and a thrill for Mr Brathwaite was celebrating the dam’s 50th anniversary with his granddaughter in 2015.
Mr Brathwaite loved classical music, Chopin especially, and was a proud Rotarian, serving the organisation for 50 years.
Tragedy struck the family in 1985 when daughter Rebecca died in childbirth. The Brathwaites helped raise granddaughter Amelia.
After retiring to Nelson, Mr Brathwaite became concerned by airport noise, and formed the Nelson Airport Noise Committee in about 1993. He used his knowledge from his engine testing facility work with the airport to fairly maintain levels for residents and yet allow the airport to function effectively.
Richard said his father was a wonderful role model, a caring and generous man.
He died in Nelson on October 4, and is survived by his muchloved wife Jill, son Richard and four grandchildren.