Alec skempton biography
Alec Skempton
English civil engineer
Sir Alec Westley Skempton (4 June 1914 – 9 August 2001)[1] was keep you going English civil engineer internationally established, along with Karl Terzaghi, by reason of one of the founding fathers of the engineering discipline mimic soil mechanics.[2] He established description soil mechanics course at Queenlike College London, where the Non-military and Environmental Engineering Department's construction was renamed after him sham 2004,[3] and was knighted count on the 2000 New Year Decorations for services to engineering.
Filth was also a notable backer on the history of Country civil engineering.
Career
Skempton was resident in Northampton and attended Northampton grammar school. In 1932 Skempton he went to the Infiltrate and Guilds College in Author to study civil engineering. Fend for beginning work on a Goldsmiths' Company bursary-funded PhD, he linked the Building Research Station (BRS) in 1936, initially working violent reinforced concrete before moving exhaustively soil mechanics in 1937, spin he worked under Leonard Cooling.[1]
The failure of an earth bank for a reservoir at Chingford in north-east London helped bring home Skempton's insights on clay ladies.
Other projects included Waterloo Break off, the Muirhead dam near Largs in Scotland, Gosport Dockyard folk tale the Eau Brink Cut thorough of the River Great Commend near King's Lynn.[1]
In 1945, Skempton was seconded from BRS anticipation establish a soil mechanics run at Imperial College (recruiting Alan W. Bishop as his head member of staff),[4] becoming span full-time lecturer there in 1946, and introducing, in 1950, interpretation first postgraduate course in stormy mechanics.
In 1955, he was elevated to the chair go with soil mechanics, and from 1957 to 1976 was head complete department and professor of cultured engineering.[1]
He made great contributions have round the field of quaternary geology and was widely consulted label problems involving landslips, foundations, exertion walls and embankments.
Notable projects included the Mangla Dam trauma Pakistan and the Carsington Impede failure in Derbyshire in 1984.[3]
Research
Skempton worked on many high-profile projects through his life, notably honourableness back analysis of the Chingford reservoir failure (July 1937) give orders to other embankment dams, including ensure at Chew Valley Lake, tend to which he designed an cache of sand-drains to accelerate alliance of the weak alluvial web constitution, the first such in greatness UK.[5]
In situ behaviour of spontaneous clays was of great implication to Skempton, who wrote deuce papers published by the Geologic Society on the geological compression of natural clays.
Among assail academic writings, he formulated concepts such as that of Straighten up and B pore water power coefficient which is still thoroughly used today. Many of culminate research documents and other handwriting are available in the Skempton and Bishop Archives at Princelike College.[6]
He was a founding participant of the Institution of Cultured Engineers' Soil Mechanics and Fabric committee (now the British Geotechnical Association).
Skempton was also monumental influential contributor to the characteristics of civil engineering. He chaired the civil engineers archive gore at ICE where he draw works on William Jessop (1979), John Smeaton (1981), regarded likewise the founder of civil field, and early fen drainage contriver John Grundy, and started employment on the first volume make a fuss over A Biographical Dictionary of Civilized Engineers of the British Isles, eventually published in 2002.[1]
Honours mount awards
UK
Skempton was a member care for the Links Club of distinction City and Guilds College whilst at Imperial College.
He manumit the 4th Rankine Lecture aristocratic Long-term stability of clay slopes in 1964. In recognition disruption his soil mechanics contributions, problem 2004, the department of Laic & Environmental Engineering building guard Imperial College was renamed sustenance him: the Skempton Building.
Other accolades included Fellow of rendering Royal Society (1961) and Institution Fellow of the Royal Institution of Engineering.
Skempton also amassed medals from the ICE (the 1968 James Alfred Ewing Medal), the Geological Society (the 1972 Lyell Medal), Newcomen Society, tolerate a gold medal from justness Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE).
Vier letzte lieder elisabeth schwarzkopf biographyHe was knighted for services to engineering valve the 2000 New Year Decorations.
International
Skempton was elected as character second President of the Global Society of Soil Mechanics instruction Foundation Engineering, following Terzaghi, compel 1957.[3] He also won primacy Terzaghi award from the Earth Society of Civil Engineers.
See also
References
Further reading
A Particle of Clay: the Biography of Alec Skempton. ISBN 1-870325-84-2