.png?ext=.png)
ASI was saddened to hear about the passing of Arthur Firkins (1935- 2023), former senior technical manager at the Australian Institute of Steel Construction (ASI’s predecessor). Arthur was a mentor and gentleman, worldly and a doyen for many in engineering, fabrication, detailing, quantity surveying, architecture and academia in the 1970s and early ‘80s. He was heavily involved in the introduction of AS 4100 and worked with and had the respect of Professors Jack Roderick and Nick Trahair at University of Sydney, Professor Greg Hancock, Tim Hogan, Scott Munter and many more from around Australia and overseas. Arthur was involved in many aspects of structural steel in Australia and overseas; and wrote and published the following books with Tim - Economics of steelwork details, Bolting of steel structures, Standardised structural connections and Design of structural connections. Arthur was responsible for hand drafting all of the images for the books. Along with writing the books, Arthur and Tim went tag team on national lecture tours to the various states, training engineers and others in the design principles in the books. Arthur’s responsibilities at ASIC included liaising with fabricators, which meant he spent two to three days per week on visits to workshops in Sydney and greater NSW. He also served on a number of Standards Australia committees with then ASIC director George Day, who split up 15 SA committees between himself, Arthur and Tom, and a number of AWRA (now defunct Aust Welding Research Assoc) panels working on their technical notes, a number of which were referred to in Australian Standards. Arthur’s life was celebrated at a gathering of family and friends at the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane on February 17. He is survived by son Arthur Stuart Firkins and daughters Mary and Lisa.
.jpg?variant=HalfWidth)
Arthur Firkins