Wayne was a senior associate geotechnical engineer at Beca, based in Auckland – he had been part of the Beca whanau for over 25 years. He died after falling into a gully while descending from the summit of Mt Ngauruhoe in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
Wayne was an experienced tramper, who looked forward to and planned trips with the utmost care. His love of tramping gave him common ground with many in the engineering industry.
Dr Toan, Beca’s Chief Engineer, said:
“Wayne has been a very capable engineer, considered, and a really good thinker. Wayne has always been generous with his time; he was patient and saw the positive side of all who worked with him.
Wayne was a good listener and supportive of his co-workers.
I knew of Wayne’s love for tramping, in the bush and up the mountains. I regret I could not share his passion and accompany him in those walks as I do not have the strength to walk so far and climb so high. However, Wayne shared with me a passion for photography. I marveled at his composite panoramic photos, as if I could see the views he saw from the top of the mountain ridges, over the rocks, tussock and the trees with the sunlight glinting off the water in the lakes below.
We will very much miss Wayne for his kindness and the support he gave us all.”
As an engineer, he was talented, considered and practical. As a colleague, he was patient and caring, reliable and collaborative. He worked on a variety of projects over his career including aircraft pavements, roads, land development, building foundations, bridges, railways, water treatment plants and power transmission. He worked extensively on Auckland Airport projects – but also on many other transformational projects including Britomart, Grafton Gully, early stages of City Rail Link, SH16, SH20A Kirkbride underpass and the newly completed Waikato Expressway as well as a number of rail projects in Sydney and Melbourne.
Wayne was in some ways the perfect consultant because he was calm and could always be relied on to do what he said he would do.
Wayne will be remembered for his kindness, his humility, willingness to share his skills and time with others, and that wry smile and little chuckle. His legacy lives on in our memories, in those he has mentored and supported and in the many projects he has delivered that we will continue to use and pass by.
We will miss you, moenga roa