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MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT of the TRANSVAAL COLONYEstablished:Architect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The reformed PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT of the Transvaal Colony, replacing that of the ZAR PWD, was based in Pretoria after the South African War, under the directorship of GH FOWKE, a Royal Engineer. During the financial year 1904-5 the control of the Public Works Department of the Transvaal was transferred from the Colonial Secretary to the Commissioner of Lands, and it was decided that, consequent upon the retirement of Lieut.-Col. FOWKE, R.E., from the position of Director of Public Works, the technical responsibility for buildings and roads and bridges should be vested in the officers at the head of their respective branches. That for buildings was vested in the Chief Architect (formerly Superintending Government Architect), and for roads and bridges in the Chief Inspector. The Department thus became organised into three divisions, the Administrative, the Architectural, and the Roads and Bridges Divisions. The first-mentioned of these, placed under control of the Secretary of Public Works, consisted of the head office, the accounts branch, the estates office, and the mechanical and electrical engineers branches. The Architectural Division, under the Chief Architect, had its administration based upon centralisation. The buildings of the former district offices were closed, and the staff considered necessary for the divisional work was removed to Pretoria, supervision being carried out by travelling inspectors. It was further decided, in this scheme of re-organisation, that no work should be done departmentally, and the contents of the district stores, excepting such as were required by the Chief Engineer of Roads and Bridges and the Mechanical Engineer, were sold. The Roads and Bridges Division remained under the Chief Inspector, whose title was changed to Chief Engineer, Roads and Bridges, but the organisation of the Division remained practically the same. Representatives were retained in the headquarters of the former districts, excepting Johannesburg, and the Public Works Department stores and offices passed under the control of this division. A transport branch was formed under the Chief Engineer, Roads and Bridges, which was enabled successfully to deal with the provision of transport to Government officials, to enable them to perform their various duties. The Architectural division, therefore, was the most affected by the re-organisation. (Ref: Internet Archive: "The Transvaal and its mines : the encyclopedic history of the Transvaal" pp. 194-195. accessed 2013:01:21) Practitioners working for the Public Works Department of the Transvaal Colony after the Anglo-Boer War and before 1910. ADAMS, Harry Archer All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. List of projects With photographs With notes
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