A paper co-authored by CSIC colleagues and Industry Partners, has been awarded the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) prestigious Russell Crampton Prize, the prize for the best paper in the journal Geotechnical Engineering.
The paper, titled Fibre optic monitoring of a deep circular excavation, appeared in Geotechnical Engineering (Vol 167 Issue GE2) in January 2014, has secured the 2015 prize. Its authors, CSIC Head, Professor Robert Mair, CSIC Co-Investigators Professor Kenichi Soga and Mohammed Elshafie, former CSIC PhD student Tina Schwamb (currently Safety Risk Analyst at Arthur D. Little’s risk practice in Cambridge), Design Manager for the Project Management Team on the Lee Tunnel Project, Richard Sutherden, Clotilde Boquet (Bachy Soletanche), and John Greenwood (until recently Senior Technical Consultant, Thames Tideway Tunnels), will receive the award at a presentation ceremony at the Institution of Civil Engineers, in London, in October this year.
The paper will be made free-to-all to read on the ICE Virtual Library as part of the organisation’s commitment to furthering knowledge and best practice in civil engineering.
CSIC Head and ICE Vice President, Professor Robert Mair, said: “CSIC is proud to have been awarded the ICE Crampton Prize for the paper describing the innovative use of fibre optic monitoring of the deepest shaft ever constructed in the London area. This was an exciting example of CSIC collaborating closely with the client, the designers and the contractor - resulting in a completely new understanding of shaft performance."
Each year, ICE Publishing acknowledges the best work published in its journals at the ICE Publishing Awards ceremony, to award authors from both industry and academia who have produced work judged by their peers to be of exceptional quality and benefit to the civil engineering and science community.
CSIC’s winning paper describes part of the monitoring undertaken at Abbey Mills shaft F, one of the main shafts of Thames Water's Lee tunnel project in London. This shaft, with an external diameter of 30m and 73m deep, is one of the largest ever constructed in the UK and consequently penetrates layered and challenging ground conditions. Fibre optic instrumentation was used to measure bending and circumferential hoop strains and the findings from this case study provided valuable information for future deep shafts in London.
CSIC was also awarded the Fleming Award from ICE, in 2014, in collaboration with its industry partner Thames Water and MVB JV, AECOM, CH2M HILL, Bachy Soletanche and UNPS, for this innovative monitoring work carried out during the construction of the Lee Tunnel Abbey Mills Shaft F.
The Lee Tunnel project showcases the impact of CSIC’s ongoing EPSRC and Innovate UK-funded emerging technology work, designed and developed at CSIC, as part of its remit to transform the future of infrastructure.