Halcrow’s Robert Milner has won the 2011 British Tunnelling Society Harding Prize competition.
The biennial Harding competition is open to young engineers aged 33 or under. The paper competition is named in honour of the British Tunnelling Society’s founding chairman, Sir Harold Harding.
The entrant’s papers could address any aspect of tunnelling they considered of interest to the tunnelling industry, with the winning paper selected by the British Tunnelling Society committee. The three papers for this year’s competition focused on different techniques for predicting ground movement and the monitoring of settlement on soft ground tunnelling projects.
Robert presented his winning paper, Settlement due to tunelling on the West Ham flood alleviation scheme, at the final, held at the ICE on 14 April 2011. Robert was awarded two tickets to the annual British Tunnelling Society dinner, Harold Harding’s book and a cheque for £500.
After graduating from Warwick University in 2001 with a MEng in civil engineering, Robert went on to work for WS Atkins Metronet Alliance. Since joining Halcrow in March 2007, the tunnel engineer has worked on an array of high-profile schemes including the London Underground’s air handling unit project, Highbury and Islington Step Free Access feasibility study, and the Category III Checking of the King Cross Underground Station Redevelopment. Robert is currently working on the London Tideway Tunnels, managing three external consultants producing detailed assessments for 50 tunnel crossings.
Halcrow’s tunnelling team leader Colin Rawlings said: “Congratulations to Robert on this excellent achievement. It’s great to see our young engineers winning industry recognition and serving as outstanding role models for Halcrow.”