W. T. B. McCormackPrint Page

The plaque at the archway commemorates Country Roads Board (CRB) engineer Major W. T. B. McCormack, honorary engineer to the Great Ocean Road Trust who was responsible for the construction of the road. The original arch was unveiled in his memory in 1939. 

In April 1919 McCormack resumed his work with the Country Roads Board, taking charge of the construction, initially by returned soldiers, of the Great Ocean Road which reached Eastern View in 1922 and, eventually, Apollo Bay in 1932.

During his decade in office about 17,703 kilometres of roadway were under his jurisdiction and in that time much of its macadam surface, suitable for horse-drawn vehicles, was replaced with more durable bitumen and gravel.

GEELONG, Friday. — The memorial arch and tablet erected at Eastern View, on the Great Ocean Road in memory to the late Mr. W. T. B. McCormack, chairman of the Country Roads Board and honorary engineer to the Great Ocean Road Trust, were opened and unveiled to-day by Sir Harry Chauvel in the presence of a representative gathering. Mr. C. R. Herschall, chairman of the trust, who presided, said it would he the trust's last public function. In the work of constructing the road, Mr. McCormick had rendered work that would create a lasting impression.

In unveiling the tablet and declaring the arch open, Sir H. Chauvel said the Ocean Road was conceived by the late Mr. H. Hitchcock as a means of providing employment for returned soldiers, and a memorial to the soldiers who had fallen in the last war. At an official luncheon, held at Eastern View, the gathering included Mrs. W. T. McCormack and her son, Mr. W. McCormack, and Mr. Hassett, the first surveyor on the road. An enlarged picture of the arch and tablet, autographed by those present, was presented to Mrs. McCormick.
Age (Melbourne), 4 November 1939.

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