Alan Muir Wood

Sir Alan Marshall Muir Wood ( born August 8, 1921 in Hampstead, London, † 1 February 2009) was a British civil engineer for geotechnical engineering, which is primarily known as a tunnel builders.

Wood completed his engineering degree at the University of Cambridge ( Peterhouse College) and then served from 1942 to 1946 as an engineer and officer in the Royal Navy. He then worked until 1950 as a civil engineer in the UK rail, including in the rehabilitation of landslides in southern England ( Folkestone Warren, Kent) and bridge construction. He then worked for the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive, for he set up a hydraulic laboratory. In 1952 he went into the engineering firm Sir William Halcrow and Partners, where he became a partner in 1964, 1979 and 1984, senior partner was retired, but continues remained active as a consultant and expert. 1993 until his death, he was a visiting professor at the University of Bristol.

Wood dealt primarily with coastal protection and tunneling. In coastal protection, he worked on various projects in South West England, including in the annexes to the protection of the Dungeness nuclear power station. In the tunnel he was instrumental in preliminary studies to the Channel Tunnel. He already led a team that in 1960 a feasibility study completed, the further study of the next 20 years followed, in which he played a key role. In the late 1960s he was responsible for the planning of the freight tunnel, which was created under a relatively flat further used takeoff and landing runway at London Heathrow airport in London with sound shield tunneling. Further tunnel construction projects were the Clyde Tunnel in Glasgow ( from 1957 ) constructed the railway tunnel in Potters Bar, the Jubilee Extension Line of the London Underground ( opened in 1999 ) and the 80 km long Orange -Fish River Tunnel in South Africa, which is used for water supply. He engaged in a campaign against a reorganization of the historic Thames Tunnel by Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( the first tunnel, which was built with shield tunneling ), which would have to strongly intervene in the historical substance.

1977 to 1978 he was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE ), whose fellow he was. He was in 1973 one of the founders and first president (later Honorary President for Life ) of the International Tunneling Association. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering.

In 1991 he was made an honorary Doctor of Bristol University ( Civil Engineering) and the University of Dundee ( Jura). In 1982 he was knighted. In 1981 he became a Fellow of Peterhouse College, Cambridge and Imperial College.

His son David Muir Wood is also geotechnical engineer and is now professor emeritus at the University of Bristol, author of Geotechnical Modeling ( Spon 2004).

Writings

• Coastal Hydraulics, London, Macmillan 1969, 2nd edition with CA Fleming, Wiley 1981
• Tunneling - management by design, Spon, London 2000