Don Aitken
AITKEN, Donald Hector, AO BE(Hon) HonDEng HonFIEAust FATSE FCIT FAIM (1925-2010)
Donald Hector Aitken was born on January 8, 1925, at Guildford, Western Australia, to storekeeper Hector Gordon Aitken and his second wife, Ivy Fernie Aitken, nee Wichert.
Don attended Midland Junction State School followed by four years at Guildford Grammar School. Whilst still at school, his father died and his mother took over running the large store at Midland Junction to support the family. Don was a capable athlete, playing football for Swan Districts and cricket for University and Nedlands. In 1947 he was selected for a State football team to play Essendon.
In 1942, Don enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Engineering at the University of Western Australia graduating in 1945. During the course he developed an interest in soil mechanics. The degree was then converted to a Bachelor of Engineering by thesis. His thesis assessed the use of gravels for road base course and sub base course. In 1946 he joined the Main Roads Department as a junior engineer. In the 1950s he established Main Roads' first soils laboratory and went on to develop the use of coastal limestone as a road base material.
During a working holiday to England, in 1950, to investigate traffic lights, he met his future wife, Margaret Wiseman. Don married Margaret at St Georges College, UWA, on January 30, 1954. They had four children.
Returning to Western Australia, Don installed the first traffic lights for the state in Perth in December 1953, having recommended their use at every major intersection. In 1957, after working throughout the state, he was appointed Senior Divisional Engineer. In 1964 he was appointed Chief Engineer, the second highest position in the MRD.
Don was appointed Commissioner of Main Roads on April 25, 1965, being the youngest engineer appointed to that position and then went on to hold it for over 22 years until his retirement on October 23, 1987. During his tenure as Commissioner he saw the completion of the sealing of the Western Australian section of the Eyre Highway in 1969; the sealing of the North West Coastal Highway between Carnarvon and Port Hedland in 1974; and completion of a sealed road between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek in 1987, the last link in a sealed highway around Australia.
In the metropolitan region of Perth, there was further extension of the Kwinana Freeway to South Street by the construction of the Mount Henry Bridge in 1982. He also oversaw the completion of the Mitchell Freeway interchange in 1973 and the Stirling Bridge in 1974. Don also drove the use of technology within Main Roads, including the use of computer aided design. He undertook a major review of the classification of roads, the first since MRD had been established in 1926.
After retiring from MRD (succeeded by Albert Tognolini), Don became a director of Western Mining from 1987 to 1997. He also served as a director of Central Norseman Gold from 1994 to 1997.
Don had a long relationship with the UWA, being a member of its senate from 1967 to 1991, Pro Chancellor 1974 to 1981, and Chancellor 1981 to 1990. Don was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering by UWA.
He was a member and chairman of the National Association of Road Authorities, director and chairman of the Australian Road Research Board and a member of the Australian Transport Council Road Group. He became an honorary member of the Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia, having been the first Australian president of that body.
Don was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. In 1977 Don was awarded the Companion of the Imperial Service Order and in 1988 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.
The Australia Road Federation awarded him the John Shaw award for “meritorious contributions to roads”. He was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal by the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1982. Also, in 1982, he was awarded Citizen of the Year in Western Australia in the professions category.
Don had a passion for golf and served as President of the Lake Karrinyup Golf Club from 1975 to 1976.
Don died on September 2, 2010 aged 85 with his wife, Margaret, having died in 2004.
Don is remembered for his outstanding contribution to Main Roads and Western Australia by the naming of its head office, the Don Aitken Centre, in 1993. During his long career as an Assistant Engineer, Chief Engineer and Commissioner, Don Aitken gave exceptional service to his State during a period of unprecedented expansion of the metropolitan and country road network. Under his leadership, Main Roads spent more than $2.7B in maintaining, upgrading and improving Western Australia’s public road system, including more than 600 new bridges. This expenditure was vital in facilitating the post war expansion of Western Australia’s agricultural and mining industry.
Select Bibliography:
Leigh Edmonds, The Vital Link, A history of Main Roads Western Australia 1926-1996, University of Western Australia Press, 1997.
Engineering Heritage Australia, Interview with Don Aitken, Interviewed by Doug Ayre, 2009.
Ozroads, History of Western Australia's Highways, accessed January 5, 2022
EHRP - Stirling Bridge Nomination
EHRP - Mitchell Freeway Stage 1 Nomination
Shivani Singh, Who’s Who in Australia 2011, Crown Content Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 2011;
Margaret Sacks (ed), WAY 79 Who is Who, Crawley Publishers, Nedlands, 1980
Prepared by Chris Fitzhardinge for the centenary book 'Anything is possible' in March 2019.
