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INVITED SPEAKERS
Prof David Potts
BSc PhD DSc FICE FCGI FREng
Emeritus Professor, Senior Research Investigator
Imperial College London
David Potts started his academic career in 1979. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the City and Guilds of London Institute, and of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
David is internationally renowned for his research on the development and application of computational analysis methods in geotechnical research and practice, authoring more than 450 technical publications and supporting industry in the UK and abroad. Many of his research outputs have been pioneering and have received numerous accolades. Among these is his extensive work with Peter Vaughan on earth dams, embankments and cut slopes, with early discoveries of the role of progressive failure and climate effects on the stability and serviceability of these infrastructure assets.
In his career David was Head of the Geotechnics Section and Deputy head of the Department of Civil Engineering. He has served on many editorial boards, national and international committees and advisory panels. He was co-editor of the Computers and Geotechnics journal and Editor-in-Chief of Geotechnique and has consulted widely in the UK and overseas.
Dr John Perry
BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, CGeol, FICE, MIMMM
Independent Consulting Engineer
John is a national and international expert in earthworks with over 40 years experience.
In the first half of his career he was a researcher at TRL assisting with the development of the earthworks and drainage specifications (500 and 600 Series). In addition, he developed the basis of geotechnical asset management, highlighted the financial benefits of GI and established empirical slope stability design.
He then spent three years as a Client at the Highways Agency as its Geotechnical Leader and was author of their standards for earthworks, including HA44 Earthworks design and contract documents, HA 70 earthworks construction and HA74 on Lime/cement stabilisation.
In the latter half of his career, he moved to Mott MacDonald where he worked for 20 years. In consultancy and practice he designed many major earthworks schemes in transport, water, maritime and energy in the UK and overseas. He became MD of the geotechnical business from 2005 to 2011 before moving into business development and the global role of transport sector leader. Since semi-retiring in 2017, John has been an Independent Ground Engineer working on earthwork expert panels including HS2 and a reviewer of major projects.
Rodney Bridle
BScTech (Manchester, 1964) MSc(Eng) (Soil Mechanics, Imperial, London, 1970) CEng FICE CGeol FGS
Retired (from Dam Safety Ltd)
Rodney Bridle is a civil engineer, specialising in earth dams, pore pressures and internal erosion. Rod was introduced to earth dams when, as a student, he worked for two summers at Derwent Dam near Consett in County Durham, where innovative approaches, described in Ron Williams’ book on Rudolf Glossop, were deployed to get the job done. After graduating, he worked on Glen Finglas concrete dam and on design of oil separators at Didcot Power Station and dock walls in Mumbai. Deciding to specialise in Soil Mechanics, Rod learned at the feet of giants – Bishop, Skempton, Vaughan, Fookes to name a few – at Imperial College. As the course was ending, Rod had the great good fortune to be invited to work with Professor Alan Bishop and Dr Peter Vaughan, advisers to Mr Thomas E Hawksley, of T & C Hawksley, eminent dam engineers, on the design of Empingham dam, the one that now retains Rutland Water.
As Resident Engineer – Dam, he supervised construction of ‘his’ dam and wrote it up with Professor Vaughan and Howard Jones, in ‘Empingham Dam – design, construction and performance’ which won the 1986 ICE Telford Gold Medal.
Staying with Hawksley colleagues, Rod became a Partner, Director and Leader of the Earth Science and Dams Group at Watson Hawksley. Among their projects were Queen’s Valley asphalt core rockfill dam in Jersey, Pollan concrete and till core rockfill dam in Ireland, Tees Barrage and dams on soft and not so soft clays in Brunei. There were also numerous Reservoirs Act inspections, many at old canal dams, often followed up by safety works.
As the UK Member of the ICOLD Technical Committee on Embankment Dams; Rod wrote much of ICOLD Bulletin 164 on Internal Erosion, and Bulletin 134 on Weak Rocks and Shales in Dams.
Rod was a member of the BC Hydro Expert Engineering Panel with Dr Kaare Hoeg and Professor Robin Fell investigating the seepage control capacity of high dams in Canada.
While Chair of the British Dam Society, Rod encouraged and enjoyed positive interaction with the World Commission on Dams. This perhaps led to London being the venue for the launch of its report in 2000 – by Nelson Mandela, who said in different words, what Rod thinks civil engineers have a duty to do – look after folks by providing infrastructure – dams in his case – to sustain lives and livelihoods and the environment.