Queensland Transport Main Roads Department
Bridge Inspector Dale Cleary
News image and article from Courier mail 15 August 2007 by Jodie Munro O'Brien
THE Main Roads worker crushed to death in a cherry picker accident in Brisbane's west on Monday was described yesterday as an "unsung hero".
A Department of Main Roads spokesman said Dale Cleary, 55, had worked for the department for more than 30 years. A married father of two, Mr Cleary was a senior bridge inspector and dedicated to workplace safety, the spokesman said.
"His death has shocked and saddened his co-workers and all those who have known him through his many years of service with the department,." he said.
Mr Cleary and another employee were in a cherry picker doing maintenance on a Centenary Highway bridge at 11pm when he was caught between the machine and the overpass and received fatal injuries.
Minister for Transport and Main Roads Paul Lucas said he was saddened by the accident.
"Dale Cleary was one of the unsung heroes of the Main Roads Department who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make our roads safer," he said.
Having worked alongside Dale completing bridge inspections I valued his experience, professionalism and great working attitude. He was a pleasure to work with and tried to help us get the best possible assessment of conditions for the structures we were auditing. He mind was always on the job trying to understand and learn from observable conditions each structure presented. He went the extra mile. Assume nothing check everything.
When I heard on the radio early one morning heading to work that a bridge inspector had been killed in accident working below a bridge on the Centenary Highway overnight my mind immediately thought of Dale. I hoped Dale was not harmed and checked in with my friends back at the Main Roads Department to see what they knew. Sadly it was not the news anyone wants to hear.
Dale was also the leading bridge inspector that discovered the potentially dangerous uneven bearing support condition on a section of the Brisbane Riverside Expressway following on from some deck asphalt re-surfacing operations. If you were driving a car into Brisbane at the time you would remember the lane closures and disruption this little pearl of a discovery caused. But I would rather have this kind of inconvenience than a Westgate bridge type disaster.
His keen level of skill and observation often required at night (to suit off-peak traffic) under difficult conditions helped to protect members of the public. His work allowed for the level of safe road access we take for granted everyday in Queensland.
His keen level of skill and observation often required at night (to suit off-peak traffic) under difficult conditions helped to protect members of the public. His work allowed for the level of safe road access we take for granted everyday in Queensland.
To Dale's family, friends and workmates we honor Dale for his job well done.
Yours faithfully,
Lachlan McLean
Alan Herbert Carse
Alan Carse commenced work as a civil engineer with the Main Roads Department in 1973. He passed away on the 31 August 2005. Alan worked in Main Roads districts but spent the majority of his engineering career in Structures Division in Brisbane. He was recognized as a world expert in the area of concrete technology especially in the area of alkali-silica reaction (ASR). He was a Main Roads representative on concrete technical committees and presented technical papers on asset management and concrete durability at national and international conferences.
Dr Alan Carse was respected for his technical expertise and as an individual. He was continually sought after for technical advice which he gave freely and cheerfully. Sadly, Alan passed away on 31 August 2005. While a significant portion of Alan's knowledge was tacit he had set in place a team which could build upon the work he had commenced. This tribute is to formally give recognition to Alan for his contribution both to Main Roads and to the field of concrete technology within Australia and worldwide. Alan, like many other employees, was a quiet achiever whose daily work went beyond the normally accepted bounds of a job.
This tribute scantly touches on the achievements of Alan Carse as a full treatise would fill a number of publications of this size. We should be continually reminded and appreciative of people like Alan whose hard work and dedication should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
Alan was a great promoter of research. If he recognised a good research project he endeavored to find funds for it and often succeeded. Several masters and PhD projects received financial and intellectual stimulus from Alan.
Alan had an interesting philosophy about research — while we must focus our efforts on the problems at hand we must also look into the future to predict problems we are likely to encounter in five to ten years time — the hurdle to overcome are those with no vision.
Extract from Main Roads Publication March 2006
Lachlan McLean
Alan Herbert Carse
B.E. (Hons), M.Eng. Sc., PhD, MIE (Aust)
RPEQ, IMMA, CIA
Alan Carse commenced work as a civil engineer with the Main Roads Department in 1973. He passed away on the 31 August 2005. Alan worked in Main Roads districts but spent the majority of his engineering career in Structures Division in Brisbane. He was recognized as a world expert in the area of concrete technology especially in the area of alkali-silica reaction (ASR). He was a Main Roads representative on concrete technical committees and presented technical papers on asset management and concrete durability at national and international conferences.
Dr Alan Carse was respected for his technical expertise and as an individual. He was continually sought after for technical advice which he gave freely and cheerfully. Sadly, Alan passed away on 31 August 2005. While a significant portion of Alan's knowledge was tacit he had set in place a team which could build upon the work he had commenced. This tribute is to formally give recognition to Alan for his contribution both to Main Roads and to the field of concrete technology within Australia and worldwide. Alan, like many other employees, was a quiet achiever whose daily work went beyond the normally accepted bounds of a job.
This tribute scantly touches on the achievements of Alan Carse as a full treatise would fill a number of publications of this size. We should be continually reminded and appreciative of people like Alan whose hard work and dedication should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.
Alan was a great promoter of research. If he recognised a good research project he endeavored to find funds for it and often succeeded. Several masters and PhD projects received financial and intellectual stimulus from Alan.
Alan had an interesting philosophy about research — while we must focus our efforts on the problems at hand we must also look into the future to predict problems we are likely to encounter in five to ten years time — the hurdle to overcome are those with no vision.
Extract from Main Roads Publication March 2006
Alan was a very generous, thinking, Australian professional engineer. For prostrate cancer to take Alan away so suddenly was quite a loss and shock. He delivered his message about predicting future problems and planning for them to me in his office just as he was pictured above. Queensland and Australia needs more visonary engineers like Alan Carse to think past the short-term and make a realistic assessment of where we are heading.
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