Carving out underground space for railways, roads, waterways, urban development and even fishing and farming is how some people spend their entire careers.

One of those people is chair of the International Tunnelling Association Young Members Committee Keith Bannerman, who was obsessed by the industry from the moment he attended a short course in Brisbane and met “real rock star tunnellers”. These people shared their love of a vibrant industry full of opportunity, risk, and challenge. He was captivated and brings his experience working on a variety of excavations such as the Brisbane Airport Link, to help others realise their future underground.

We sat down with Keith last month while he was on a visit to London to ask what got him hooked and what advice he has for others.

GUEST

Keith Bannerman, chair of the International Tunnelling Association Young Members committee and Senior Associate at Bamser

The post #54 Keith Bannerman: A life underground first appeared on Engineering Matters.

As cases of COVID 19 explode, the World Health Organisation is urging countries around the world to learn from South Korea. Before even recording its first case  of the virus its technology industries mobilised, enabling it to test anyone with symptoms, perform extensive contact tracing and isolate those at risk – fast. This enabled the country to protect its 51 million inhabitants as early as possible.

In the UK, two months after its first reported case of the virus, government is now working on contact tracing apps and increasing testing. But private companies are taking the lead. We talk to the developer of the UK’s first mobile app for COVID 19, healthcare start-up Zoe, which had 1.8million users within the first week of its launch. Working with Kings College London on the COVID 19 Symptom Tracker, we discover that this new tool in tracking coronavirus all began with a study on identical twins.

GUESTS

Ben Travers, Head of Intellectual Property and IT at Stephens Scown

Julien Lavigne du Cadet, Vice President of Engineering, Zoe

RESOURCES

WHO Situation Updates

Oxford University: Research into COVID 19 genealogy paper

Korea’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control daily updates

Korea Central Accident Investigation Headquarters reports

The post #53 Technology vs biology: fighting COVID 19 first appeared on Engineering Matters.

How a new 2.5km cable pulled railway will connect Luton Airport’s terminal to the UK rail network boosting future growth. Today rail passengers arriving at the airport must disembark from the train and finish their journey on a shuttle bus. But not for much longer. Deep sheet piles are currently being driven into the ground to set out a cut and cover tunnel that will deliver a new rail link under the airport’s existing infrastructure. These piles will cut through clay and chalk and need to resist the load of major buildings and huge aeroplanes. This calls for a massive and complex temporary support system.

GUESTS
Dan Hobson, section manager, Volker Fitzpatrick
Phil Hobson, project director, Kier
Andy Simms, major projects manager, Groundforce Shorco
Mark Whitmore, general manager for major projects, Groundforce Shorco
Richard Wildish, tunnel section agent, Kier

PARTNER
This episode is created in partnership with Groundforce Shorco

Groundforce Shorco are market leaders in excavation support safety, providing a wide range of products from trench boxes to high end hydraulic propping solutions. With 40 years of experience its people provide first class support from initial enquiry to project completion; linked with an award-winning technical service department, Groundforce Shorco fulfils customer’s excavation solutions throughout UK, Ireland and mainland Europe.

See more at: https://www.vpgroundforce.com/gb/

The post #52 Tunnelling Podcast: Propping up Luton Airport’s new rail link first appeared on Engineering Matters.

The rapid and

Guests

Judy Anderson, Global Head of Water, Mott MacDonald
Mark Enzer, Chief Technical Officer, Mott MacDonald
Sean Horkan, Head of Strategic Asset Management, Mott MacDonald
David Viner, Global Head of Climate Resilience, Mott MacDonald
Howard Watson, Chief Technical Officer, BT Openreach

Partner

Mott MacDonald: Opening opportunities

Mott MacDonald is a US$2bn engineering,

• solving some of the world’s most urgent social,

The post #51 Covid 19: Disaster Resilient Infrastructure first appeared on Engineering Matters.

The UK has a legacy of 600,000 tonnes of nuclear

In this episode nuclear waste expert Dr Claire

Watch Dr Claire Corkhill’s documentary “We Should Be Talking About Nuclear Waste”

GUEST

Dr Claire Corkhill, reader in nuclear materials at  The

The post #50 Dealing with Nuclear Waste first appeared on Engineering Matters.

This winter a series of weather bombs detonated across the

The UK is entering unchartered territory as far as flooding

GUESTS

Fiona Barbour, Global Practice Leader, Water Resources and

Professor Trevor Bishop, Director, Water Resources South East

Dr Aidan Foley, Principal Hydrogeologist, Mott MacDonald

Rob Eastaway, Author of “Maths on the Back of an Envelope” and Founder of Maths Inspiration

Professor Robert Nicholls. I’m the director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change

Nancy Smith, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Water Resources East

Sally Watson, Technical Excellence Lead, Water and

PARTNER

Mott MacDonald: Opening

Mott MacDonald is a US$2bn engineering,

Its expertise by sector includes

The post #49 Uncharted waters: Flooding and drought first appeared on Engineering Matters.

How nematode worms, 3D printing and drones could

According to the RAC we are 1.5 times more likely to hit a pothole today than we were over a decade ago and winter is peak pothole time. In the cold months the UK’s road surfaces weather the impact of freezing conditions and the subsequent ground movement from thawing ice that goes on to create cracks and damage. With the average road being resurfaced only once every 67 years, preventing potholes before they can form is critical and a new research project at Leeds University is using new technologies to do just that.

GUESTS

Mike Harper – Chief Executive of RSTA
Rod Dennis – Spokesperson for RAC Breakdown
Justin Ward – Senior Policy Officer for CIHT
Prof. Phil Purnell – Professor of Materials and Structures at the School of Civil Engineering in the University of Leeds

SUPPORTER

This

Attention

The post #48 Paving the way in pothole prevention first appeared on Engineering Matters.

An update on our Drones episode from January 2019 where we

No-one knows how many penguins are in the Antarctic, and

GUESTS

Norman Ratcliffe, British

Dave Cummins, IRIS Group Aero

Nicky Mather, Northumbrian

Oliver Viney, Atlantic

The post #47 Breathalysing Whales: Drones Revisited first appeared on Engineering Matters.

A tremendous change occurred with the industrial revolution: whereas it had taken all of human history until around 1800 for world population to reach one billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years in 1930, the third billion in 30 years in 1960, the fourth billion in 15 years in 1974, and the fifth billion in only 13 years 1987.

Growth rate hovers at a little over one per cent each year. Meaning every year there are around 80 million additional people needing a place to live, food to eat, warmth, clean water, sanitation, a place to study a place to work and the means to get to get around.

Metro stations are the heart of their urban space, affecting the community, manipulating house prices, and acting as a gateway to the rest of the world. If a metro station is unable to meet the demands of a local area, that community suffers, the economy suffers.

In this episode we visit Tottenham Court Road station to see how it is upgrading to meet growing demand and to improve the experience and well being of its users.

GUESTS
Martyn Noak, head of discipline for tunnels at Jacobs
Will Squires, digital lead for cities and development Atkins

The post #46 Metro stations: The gateway to the city first appeared on Engineering Matters.

How new technology is supporting the UK’s offshore wind

At the same time offshore wind growth targets are enormous,

Guests

Chris Armstrong, Drilling and Template Lead, Saipem
Denys Borel, Commercial Manager Marine, Fugro in France
Alana Horton, Head of Geotechnical Laboratory, Fugro
Inés Martín Grandes, Tender Coordinator, Fugro Norway
Peter Richards, Chief Engineer, Fugro
Julia Roope, Global Business Development Manager, Offshore Wind, Fugro
Scott Whyte, Geotechnical Engineer, Fugro
Frank Wong, Transport and Installation Manager, Saipem

Partner

This episode is produced in partnership with Fugro

Fugro is the world’s leading

The post #45 Offshore Wind, Part 2 : Foundations for the Future first appeared on Engineering Matters.