Hillcrest man (94) publishes a good ‘dam’ book

FROM a ten-year-old boy who made his own sluice gates in the farm stream to an international engineer who has tendered for and been part of professional engineering consortiums constructing dams all over South Africa and the world, David Easton is a phenomenon. At 94, the Hillcrest resident’s mind is fully engaged and his wisdom and enthusiasm intact. He recently wrote and published A Good Dam Book, showcasing all the dams he has worked on in his life.

Caxton Local Media met with Easton to find out about his new book and how he became a pivotal figure in the South African construction industry, especially concerning dams.

A Good Dam Book isn’t the first book that Easton has written. After writing an autobiography on his experiences in working on dams for decades, he decided it was time to give back to the community and inform them about dams, which he believes are pivotal to our water infrastructure and therefore the community’s health.

Asked about how he found the writing process, Easton said, “The writing was easy as I had recorded all of my work in a log book – and I also have my grandfather’s genes – he wrote five books on banking. For my work, I had to write reports on each project which helped hone my writing skills. The book took three years to write. It was the publishing part that was complicated, but I had assistance from Anthony Cuerden of Flying Ant Designs who did the layouts and graphic design work and Cara Hallier who did the proofreading and editing. The printing was done by Pronta Print in Westmead, Pinetown.”

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A vision to share knowledge

The Department of Water Affairs would contact him to assist with the planning and preparation of tenders for many dams in the country. He also assisted with the planning of power stations, and worked with the water departments in Zimbabwe and Botswana. “My desire is to pass on all that I’ve learnt to the next generations. I wanted to write about my experiences and have included the notes I made in my log book after each construction project I completed. I have the records of 100 dams in my book.”

Easton’s journey to becoming a dam expert wasn’t straightforward. He had to work hard to get to the point where he could influence the design of many of the country’s dams. He was always interested in construction. His uncle was a civil engineer who worked with the City Engineers Department in Johannesburg. He was born and lived in the United Kingdom as a boy, and his uncle used to visit every four years.

“My family had a farm with a granite quarry from which crosses and tombstones were made. The farm had a steam going through it and a small duck pond. One day, a car washed down the stream on our farm. My uncle told me that if we put in a sluice gate, it would cause the pond to fill up enough so we could swim in it and even have a boat. So, I dug out the pond and created my own dam with a sluice gate.

“When I was a young man, I was hired by a major British construction firm, McAlpine. I started right at the bottom, putting pegs in the ground. After a few years, I was planning a whole construction site for steel works. I then worked on tenders for the head office in London for three or four years, but I couldn’t see a future for myself there. At 34, I applied for and secured a job with the same company in South Africa.”

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Within two weeks, Easton was working on the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam on the Orange River. Ever since then, he kept a record of his work in masterminding tenders for dams and other construction projects. He eventually went out on his own as a consultant and successfully marketed myself.

“It was hard as I had to go out and find work,” he said. “My work took me to many countries to tender for their dams, including China, Israel, Chile, Lesotho and Hong Kong. I worked on Hazelmere Dam, which is off the Mdloti River, near Verulam, in KZN. My last project was Springrove Dam in Rosetta, near Mooi River.”

The legacy lives on

Easton is still engaged in life at 94. He’s a family man and has four daughters, two who live in South Africa, one in the USA and another in Australia. His one daughter, Claire Norton, who is a professional planner at the eThekwini Municipality, played a part in the original planning of Westown which is being built West of Durban in the Upper Highway area.

“I still enjoy reading a weekly engineering magazine, Creamer Media’s Engineering News & Mining Weekly, and I even wrote a letter to the editor about four big projects that need to start soon for our water infrastructure, but, unfortunately, they have been shelved due to lack of funding. I am also an avid coin collector – I collect old South African coins. My aim is to collect a coin for every year from the last 100 years,” he added with enthusiasm.

If you’re keen on attending the launch of Easton’s book, A Good Dam Book, visit the Hillcrest Library on Saturday, August 24, from 09:00 to 12:00.

David Easton is giving away a copy of his book, A Good Dam Book, to two lucky readers. To enter, email Kathleen Bosman at kathleenb@dbn.caxton.co.za with your full name, email number and cellphone number. Please note that those who win a copy will need to fetch it from the Highway Mail offices at 115 Escom Road, New Germany.

For more information about Easton’s books, contact his daughter, Claire Norton at cbnorton67@gmail.com.

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