Geoffrey Fernie
Geoffrey N Fernie BE FIEAust. CPEng. (1934 – 2020 )
Director, Maunsell & Partners Pty Ltd
Geoff Fernie was born in Northam WA in 1934. His father, Norman Fernie, was a prominent PWD engineer and Company manager in WA. His mother was Iris Evelyn, (née Weston).
Geoff attended Dalkeith and Nedlands Primary Schools and received a Scholarship to Perth Modern School where he completed his schooling before attending the University of Western Australia (UWA).
He graduated in 1956 with a degree in Civil Engineering from UWA and was employed by G Maunsell & Partners, (Maunsell), as a Junior Engineer on the Perth Narrows Bridge project. Between 1957 and 1959 he was part of the Resident Engineer's Staff on site under Resident Engineer T G Bingham.
After several years in London with Maunsell, Geoff returned to Australia and was involved in the detailed design of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge (Canberra), various Standard Gauge railway bridges (WA), and the preliminary design of Batman Bridge (Launceston), under the guidance of Partner, Peter Stott. He managed Maunsell’s Canberra office during the pre stressing of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and other associated Parliamentary Triangle works, and later transferred to Melbourne to establish Maunsell’s Australian Bridge Design team.
Between 1964 and 1971 Geoff was responsible for the design of a wide range of bridges around the country and abroad including the Hume Highway at Bargo, NSW, Victoria Bridge in Adelaide, Tullamarine Airport in Victoria, and the Gogol River crossing in New Guinea. This period included the prestressed concrete viaduct approach structures and ancillary works for the Lower Yarra Crossing of the Westgate bridge project, and the Stirling Bridge in Perth which later received a Merit Award from the Australian Consulting Engineers Association (ACEA).
Geoff became a Director of Maunsell in 1969 and in 1970 attended the Victorian Royal Commission into the collapse of the structural steel spans of the Westgate Bridge, with colleague E M Birkett.
Geoff moved to Perth in 1972, and after two years as Resident Engineer during the construction of the Stirling Bridge at Fremantle, he remained in Perth to manage Maunsell’s Perth office and to develop the bridge design team. During this period he worked on major structures in Asia and Australia including Ap Lei Chau (Hong Kong), Tai Po (Hong Kong) and the Redcliffe Bridge over the Swan River (WA), a project which was awarded an Engineering Excellence Award by the Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust).
Geoff interacted with many bridge design and construction engineers, including Gilbert Marsh at the MRD[1] and Don Young at contracting company Clough, and had a first class understanding of not only the design but of the practical construction methods for different bridge designs.
With an increasing awareness of environmental issues Geoff then went on to develop multi disciplinary project environmental impact assessment (EIS) teams in Perth, employing local and overseas specialists. He managed major EIS preparations for the Yeelirrie Uranium Project (1976), North West Shelf Natural Gas LNG project (1979), and advised Western Mining Corporation on the Roxby Downs/Olympic Dam project. Under the guidance of Mike O’Riordan from the UK National Radiological Board, Geoff prepared the radiation impact assessments for both the Yeelirrie and Olympic Dam Projects.
Between 1980 and 1984 Geoff was the Environmental Co ordinator for the 1,100km Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline with Project Managers Fluor/Maunsell.
Geoff joined IEAust In 1963 as a Member and became a Fellow by 1979. He was Chairman of the ACEA[2] (WA Chapter) for two years during 1979 to 1981.
Geoff married Leonie (Lee), (nee Fairweather), in 1958, and following retirement they moved to the town of Walpole in southern WA. There Geoff and Lee developed and managed a mixed species tree farm at Northcliffe. Geoff and Lee were keen conservationists; Geoff was involved with National Park’s management as Deputy Chairman of an Advisory Committee to CALM[3] on the Management Plan for the 326,000 Ha Walpole Wilderness Area. In 1989 Geoff and Lee published a book "The Origins and History of the Walpole Nornalup National Park". Geoff also published "Tolstoy to Tinglewood: the case of Frank Skinner Thompson", in 2001 (with Gary Muir), relating to an historic property in Nornalup.
A keen sportsman, Geoff was awarded a Full Blue as a member of three A Grade premiership teams from the University Cricket Club[4]. In retirement he indulged in golf, and in fishing off the south coast of WA.
Geoff Fernie died in June 2020. In memorial, colleagues contributed to a tribute document collated by Tony Herbert. A copy of this tribute document is available here.
Biography prepared by Peter Blockley
