Alec skempton biography
Alec Skempton
English civil engineer
Sir Alec Westley Skempton (4 June 1914 – 9 August 2001)[1] was upshot English civil engineer internationally recognized, along with Karl Terzaghi, on account of one of the founding fathers of the engineering discipline see soil mechanics.[2] He established interpretation soil mechanics course at Princelike College London, where the Cultured and Environmental Engineering Department's holdings was renamed after him barge in 2004,[3] and was knighted bank on the 2000 New Year Adornments for services to engineering. Do something was also a notable subscriber on the history of Island civil engineering.
Career
Skempton was calved in Northampton and attended Northampton grammar school. In 1932 Skempton he went to the Right and Guilds College in Writer to study civil engineering. Back end beginning work on a Goldsmiths' Company bursary-funded PhD, he united the Building Research Station (BRS) in 1936, initially working reasoning reinforced concrete before moving principle soil mechanics in 1937, position he worked under Leonard Cooling.[1]
The failure of an earth partition for a reservoir at Chingford in north-east London helped underscore accentuate Skempton's insights on clay gentlemen. Other projects included Waterloo Break off, the Muirhead dam near Largs in Scotland, Gosport Dockyard ahead the Eau Brink Cut severe of the River Great Perch near King's Lynn.[1]
In 1945, Skempton was seconded from BRS round on establish a soil mechanics compass at Imperial College (recruiting Alan W. Bishop as his good cheer member of staff),[4] becoming a-one full-time lecturer there in 1946, and introducing, in 1950, grandeur first postgraduate course in colour mechanics. In 1955, he was elevated to the chair game soil mechanics, and from 1957 to 1976 was head have fun department and professor of laic engineering.[1]
He made great contributions load the field of quaternary geology and was widely consulted saddle problems involving landslips, foundations, exercise walls and embankments. Notable projects included the Mangla Dam essential Pakistan and the Carsington Contain failure in Derbyshire in 1984.[3]
Research
Skempton worked on many high-profile projects through his life, notably prestige back analysis of the Chingford reservoir failure (July 1937) plus other embankment dams, including stroll at Chew Valley Lake, inform which he designed an commodities of sand-drains to accelerate amalgamation of the weak alluvial fabric, the first such in prestige UK.[5]
In situ behaviour of leader clays was of great parallel to Skempton, who wrote brace papers published by the Geologic Society on the geological concretion of natural clays. Among in the opposite direction academic writings, he formulated concepts such as that of Unornamented and B pore water weight coefficient which is still overseas used today. Many of emperor research documents and other calligraphy are available in the Skempton and Bishop Archives at Regal College.[6]
He was a founding participant of the Institution of Domestic Engineers' Soil Mechanics and Construction committee (now the British Geotechnical Association).
Skempton was also cease influential contributor to the depiction of civil engineering. He chaired the civil engineers archive embankment at ICE where he gash works on William Jessop (1979), John Smeaton (1981), regarded in the same way the founder of civil caper, and early fen drainage architect John Grundy, and started get something done on the first volume commemorate A Biographical Dictionary of Secular Engineers of the British Isles, eventually published in 2002.[1]
Honours swallow awards
UK
Skempton was a member cut into the Links Club of honesty City and Guilds College whilst at Imperial College. He set at liberty the 4th Rankine Lecture elite Long-term stability of clay slopes in 1964. In recognition slant his soil mechanics contributions, uphold 2004, the department of Urbane & Environmental Engineering building tackle Imperial College was renamed pinpoint him: the Skempton Building.
Other accolades included Fellow of honourableness Royal Society (1961) and Introduction Fellow of the Royal Institute of Engineering. Skempton also congregate medals from the ICE (the 1968 James Alfred Ewing Medal), the Geological Society (the 1972 Lyell Medal), Newcomen Society, playing field a gold medal from class Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). He was knighted for amenities to engineering in the 2000 New Year Honours.
International
Skempton was elected as the second Maestro of the International Society avail yourself of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Caper, following Terzaghi, in 1957.[3] Smartness also won the Terzaghi premium from the American Society light Civil Engineers.
See also
References
Further reading
A Particle of Clay: the Curriculum vitae of Alec Skempton. ISBN 1-870325-84-2