New Civil Engineer
Mike Chrimes
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Hungary's appreciation of William Clark
24 May 2012
William Tierney Clark (1783- 1852) is one of the unsung heroes of early nineteenth century engineering. -
Chrimes watch: Peter Barlow, British engineering pioneer
26 April 2012
1 March marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Professor Peter Barlow (1776-1862). Father of William Henry Barlow, ICE President and designer of St Pancras train shed roof, Barlow can be regarded as the pioneer of modern British engineering science. -
Chrimes Watch: Celebrating Australian civil engineering in Tasmania
2 February 2012
In November I was invited by the conference organising committee to lecture at the 16th Engineering Heritage Conference in Hobart, Tasmania. The conference was ‘conserving our heritage - make a difference’, and covered all engineering disciplines, with representations from across Australia and New Zealand. One of the most moving presentations was by Andrew Marriott on the ‘performance of heritage buildings in the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake swarms’. Over 40% of the heritage buildings ... -
A healthy Victorian attitude to profit
03 November
A chance referral from independent consultant Chris Binnie prompted me to look at the organisation of Britain’s water supply a century ago, particularly in the London area. -
Making pylons prettier: the energy minister’s challenge
29 September 2011
As pylons proliferate, a competition aims to find an aesthetically pleasing solution -
Chrimes watch: A liberal or conservative education?
8 September 2011
The June Vancouver conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASCE)provided an ideal opportunity to find out how North American universities are addressing issues of civil engineering education. -
Rennie’s magnificent legacy 250 years on
09 June 2011
This Tuesday (7 June) marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Rennie, the great contemporary, and at times rival, of Thomas Telford. -
Chrimes watch: Digging up the past reveals a wealth of forgotten knowledge
12 May 2011
Amidst the news of war and devastation of the past few weeks there was an interesting news item about an archaeological dig in Shropshire. -
Chrimeswatch: Will the new rail academy produce another Lennox?
20 January 2011
On 1 December, one of those strange coincidences found me listening to Pete Waterman promoting the National Railway Skills Academy at the National Railway Heritage Awards just after I had read Peter Alsop’s account of the early life of David Lennox (1788-1873). -
California holds the key to Bazalgette’s legacy
11 November 2010
Nearly 20 years ago, when organising an exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the death of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, pictured right, I visited the then offices of Thames Water at New River Head to locate archival material and photographs relating to Bazalgette’s main drainage scheme in London. Mike Chrimes reports. -
Engineers’ longstanding talent for adjudication
23 September 2010
In recent years ICE has led significant changes in dispute resolution. In 2008 a process was introduced to set up and run adjudication panels tailored to the needs of large infrastructure projects, with the first panel established for London 2012. -
Myths and Victorian realities
05 August 2010
“Myth” is not a term that one would normally associate with geotechnical engineering, a discipline only established in the twentieth century. -
Chrimes watch: San Sebastian builds a light rail system
17 June 2010
Regular readers of this column will recall that I wrote a couple of years ago about work underway in Nice to introduce a light rail system there. During my recent visit to San Sebastián, I saw evidence of the plans underway to introduce a metro there as part of a major investment in rail infrastructure in the Basque Province. -
Looking after the Forth Road Bridge
29 April 2010
At the start of April I was honoured to chair Barry Colford’s paper on maintenance work on the Forth Road Bridge. -
Archives reveal past poet engineers
11 March 2010
Most people, if asked to name an engineer with literary connections, would struggle. -
How the past dealt with economic difficulties
28 January 2010
There has been a spectacular start for construction in 2010 with the completion of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa at 828m (NCE 7 January). -
Early civil engineering photography on display
10 December 2009
Anybody with an hour to spare in central London over the next six months could do worse than visit the British Library’s latest exhibition Points of View. -
Great engineers Smeaton and Stephenson remembered
12 November 2009
The last few weeks of ICE News has reported on two anniversaries. It was my privilege to be present at the wreath laying ceremony on Robert Stephenson’s grave in Westminster Abbey, and to light the first candle in Smeaton’s Tower on Plymouth Hoe. -
ICE acquire Telford letters and drawings
1 October 2009
With the help of the Museum, Libraries and Archives Association (MLA) PRISM Fund, the ICE has recently bought a collection of five important letters from the Bloomsbury Auctions. -
Alois de Negrelli remembered
9-Jan-2009
Those contemplating a winter holiday in the Alps or central Europe may be interested in the career of Alois de Negrelli, the Italian engineer who died 150 years ago. -
World's first Civils textbook
27-Feb-2008
Mike Chrimes Head of Knowledge Transfer, ICE -
What's to celebrate this year?
15-Jan-2008
The last two years featured anniversaries of the birth of two great engineers – Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford and provided a focus for year-long celebrations. These attracted media attention and raised the profile of civil engineering in a positive way. -
America's history goes digital - Mike Chrimes Head ofKnowledgeTransfer, ICE
29-Nov-2007
I recently visited the United States to receive the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) History and Heritage Award, an honour that I believe reflects as much on my library colleagues as myself. It provided an opportunity to visit colleagues in Washington and discuss 'knowledge transfer' and 'heritage' issues. -
Thomas Hawksley: a hero to remember
23-Sep-2007
This summer not only saw the 250th anniversary of Thomas Telford, but an equally significant date for Thomas Hawksley, former ICE president and co-founder of consultant MWH. -
Steeped in history
1-Jun-2007
ICE news - Many breakthroughs in slope stability research were made by engineers little known outside the geotechnical community, says Mike Chrimes. -
CHRIMES watch
7-Dec-2006
ICE news - The contractors who laid the water and gas mains of early 19th century London are unsung heroes, says Mike Chrimes. -
CHRIMES WATCH
1-Oct-2006
Victorian engineers showed tunnel vision on East London extension, writes Mike Chrimes -
CHRIMES WATCH
7-Sep-2006
Victorian engineers showed tunnel vision on the East London line, writes Mike Chrimes. -
CHRIMES WATCH
1-Sep-2006
What does GWR's nomination as a World Heritage Site say about railways' historical context? Mike Chrimes investigates.
