He became a cadet in the Government Survey Department in October 1883 and after five years of practical training, he passed the authorised surveyors' examination with credit in July 1888, and was responsible for much road construction and exploration in the North and South islands of the Dominion.
Among his first tasks was to undertake an exhaustive inspection of the road system, which had been neglected by the responsible municipalities and state government since the building of the railways.
Calder was known as a meticulous note-taker and enthusiastic photographer, and his notes recording the board's progress were transcribed and used as a basic reference for many years.
Despite, shortages of money and manpower for road-building as a consequence of the Great War, Calder campaigned successfully for more funds, especially for arterial roads, both publicly and privately.
[1] He toured Europe and North America in 1924 examining road-construction practice and road-administration and reported extensively on matters such as the controversy on the American concrete pavement techniques versus British asphalt.
Memorials to William Calder include an avenue of trees on the road to Geelong beginning one mile past Werribee, cairns at Warragul and elsewhere in Gippsland, an obelisk on the Princes Highway, at Drouin,[6] a plaque at Frankston[7] and a bridge at Moe.