Rascal the Thornton Heath Garden Inspector

 

Gordon guitar

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AnK1LkSYK5t1gYJNJwAau_MW_rk5EQ?e=AVzN5U

 

Inspecting Rascal's Rose

Prowling Around

Inspecting the Jungle

No Problems to Report

All Tuckered Out after Inspection

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Andy & Libby Wedding 2012

Retired March 2012

1986-1999 KCC (Highway Structures) - Maidstone
Details to be posted

1978-1986 THES (Trafalgar House Eng Services), Mitcham

1984 Soap Factory Foundations at ABA, NIGERIA - 3 month site supervision of piled foundation construction, and new surface water drainage - for THES (J Manning)

1970-1978 Cementation (Design Office), Mitcham

1973 - Britannia Bridge, Wales

The Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straights to the island of Anglesey is now a 2 Tier Steel Arched Truss/Concrete Deck Bridge carrying the reinstated rail crossing and a new road above as shown in the photos below, but it was originally 2 way rail only as designed and built by Robert Stephenson circe 1845, with the rail tracks running inside tall separated twin wrought iron boxes comprising 4 spans, 3 masonry towers and 2 abutments built from large local limestone blocks- see full details on Google - but a fire started by scoolboys inside one of the boxes in 1970 whilst supposedly looking for birds nests, set light to bituminous materials above the boxes and the large fire that ensued caused the wrought iron boxes to buckle and sag and become unserviceable, and impossible to repair.

Reinstatement of the bridge required the construction of new steel arches trusses between the towers and abutments to support the railway, and it was decided to take asdvantage of the new construction by adding another tier to take a new road above the railway. The design of the new bridge was carried out by Husband & Co, with new steel arches by Cleveland Bridge Co. and concrete and other construction work by Cementation Ltd, of Mitcham, Surrey

This required increasing the height of the original twin openings in the masonry towers and removing the central masonry support pier between the boxes to create one large free spanning opening as shown. The 600mm thick masonry above the opening was supported on reinforced concrete cantilever toes off 2m deep x 1m wide prestressed concrete beams cast on the inside of the towers with the ends of the beams supported through the side walls.

The new prestressed beam structures were constructed by Cementation and designed in the Cementation Design Office at Mitcham, Surrey, by Gordon Gillespie as part of his M.I.C.E submission in 1976 under the guidance of chief engineer Ian MacFarlane.

Typical Britannia Bridge Tower (3no thus)

Aerial View of New 2 Tier Road/Rail Bridge - Open 1980

The Conway Bridge in the background was constructed circa 1845 just after the original Britannia Bridge

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1970 -1973 Cementation (Design Office), Mitcham

1962 - 1970 Cementation Construction(UK)

more UK Employment details to be added

1964 Cementation (Overseas) - Ghana

Site Engineer for 9 months with a small team from UK consisting of Site Agent J Murphy, Site Foremen Terry Farrelly & Ron Oritt, 2 Steelwork Foremen Wally Brown + ANO, a QS and myself - with a workforce of Ghanains, Nigerians, and other African Nationals, on the construction of two 300m long Bridges comprising 6 Span Steel Trusses with Reinforced Concrete Decks, RC Abutments and Twin RC Column Pier Supports, with the bridges spanning over 2 tributaries of the River Volta at Yapei and Morno near Tamale in northern Ghana. The bridges had to be constructed before the new Volta Dam downstream became operational as the rising water levels that would be caused by the dam would permanently submerge the bridge Pier Supports and a large part of the Pier Columns. Sand and Gravel for the Concrete was excavated locally, otherwise all materials including prefabricated Steelwork, Steel Reinforcing Bars, and Cement in steel drums, were shipped from UK.

Travel via Zurich/Accra/Kumasi airports

image reversed

Accra Independence Arch 1957 (Nkruma)

Typical photos of Morno Bridge Construction (Yapei Bridge 40 miles away similar)

Yapei Bridge nearing completion (see flood level marks on columns)

<< New text box >>

Here is a link to a video titled 'Ghana: New Bridges Over The Black Volta River Opened To Traffic.in 1966 ' on the British Pathé website -  Black & White - No Sound

https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA5VOOJNYBR8FRRFOD8IP2D5I2C-GHANA-NEW-BRIDGES-OVER-THE-BLACK-VOLTA-RIVER-OPENED-TO-TRAFFIC/query/RIVER+BRIDGES

 

 

1962-64 -- Employment in N Ireland - Details to be added

1957-61 Queens University Belfast - BSc Civil Eng

1945-57 School - University entrance attained

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Born 1939 Dec 14 - The Fluther, Mill Rd, Ballyclare, NI

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Parents - William Gillespie 1899-1976 & Ellen Joyce Alexandra Boyd (Nellie) Gillespie 1905-1974

Sisters - Margaret, Josephine, Sandra (b1922, 34, 43)

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Sisters Spouses and Families

Margaret (1922-1998) & Gerald Ames (1918-2007)

Josephine (1934-2012) and William Taggart (1933), married daughters Margaret Ballentine, Elizabeth their Sprules, and Jane Hershon, and families

Sandra (1943) and Ron McKnight, her married daughter Karen (Todd) Turkington, and son Richard Todd, and families.

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Jean Boyd (Straid, Co Antrim, NI, 1898-???)

Jean Boyd is a Relative of Ellen Joyce Alexandra Boyd Gillespie (1905-1974), also of Straid, Wife of William Gillespie (1899-1976) and Mother of Margaret (1922-1998), Josephine (1934-2012), Gordon (1939), and Sandra (1943), at The Fluther, Mill Road, Ballyclare, Co Antrim. NI.

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