BRITISH TUNNELLING SOCIETY

Thursday 12th November 2020 at 18:00 hrs GMT

Online at : https://youtu.be/81g6wcQ1SJc

Harding Memorial Lecture 2020

Tunnelling in a Changing World

Speaker

Dr Keith Bowers FREng FICE FIMMM FGS

Director, COWI UK Ltd.
This lecture will look at changes affecting our industry and what we may need to do
differently now and in the future.

Tunnels have been an essential part of our infrastructure for centuries and the tunnelling
industry remains an essential participant in the development of the infrastructure of the
modern world. As an industry we can still trace some of our practices back to the early days
and we continue to learn the lessons from earlier projects. Our practices will always need to
continue evolving to be fit for the future. Change is normal.

A thirty-year career in the industry is long enough to observe some of these changes
happening. Some relate to technology – our methods and materials. Other changes are
imposed on us by society and circumstance. A year ago we were contemplating Brexit as
possibly the biggest business change we could foresee. We did not anticipate social
distancing and the demise of urban commuting. Pandemics happened in movies.

What changes will be expected of us for future tunnelling projects? Certainly more than just
new methods and materials, important as they are. We need to respond to our growing
knowledge of the world about us and particularly how our work interacts with our, evidently
fragile, environment. As a society our expectations of "work" are changing. Wellbeing
matters. Through all this what will attract the next generation of tunnellers into our industry in
a digitally enabled age?

Note: Lecture and the Q&A will be broadcasted live on YouTube

In case of any query please contact; The Secretary, BTS Tel: 020 7665 2229
or e-mail: bts@ice.org.uk
or visit: http://www.britishtunnelling.org.uk