Many of those involved in the engineering, construction, and local authority infrastructure development in Northland will be sad to hear that Rhys Thomas died recently.
Rhys was a popular engineer, who began his career in Whangarei, working for consultant Jack North. In those early days, in the 1950s, he was closely involved with Theo Busck, of Busck Precast Concrete, establishing the use of pre-stressed concrete bridge beams for use on the many concrete bridges Rhys designed and had constructed in Northland, especially in the Hokianga.
Rhys joined up with Peter Fraser and established the original Fraser Thomas consultancy in the 1960s, but his main client base remained in Northland and the Far North.
He became the principal consultant for many local authorities - the Otamatea, Bay of Islands, Hokianga and Whangaroa county councils, the Dargaville and Kaikohe borough councils. He established branch offices in Kaikohe (surveyor Murray Wright) and later in Paihia (engineer Roger Toplis), and established close working relationships with the local council staff engineers and contractors, many of whom remained personal friends, in all those areas.
Major construction projects completed in the period 1960-2000 included water supply schemes for Kaikohe, Kawakawa, Paihia, Opononi, Kerikeri and Rawene, and sewerage schemes for Paihia, Russell, Kerikeri, Rawene, Opononi, Doubtless Bay, Ahipara, Whatuwhiwhi, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto. He also oversaw maintenance and extension work on many more existing schemes.