Smith, who was previously vice-chair, was elected at the BTS’s AGM on May 21. He takes over from John Corcoran who held the post for three years.
The new vice-chair is Richard Sutherden, engineering director at Murphy.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Smith said it was an honour to start his tenure as BTS chair and thanked Corcoran for the “brilliant job” he had done in the role.
He also acknowledged the part members play in the organisation.
“The BTS would not be the vibrant society it is without the members, and I look forward to the continued knowledge contributions, enthusiasm and support for our activities and not forgetting the ‘craic’ and camaraderie during the post-meeting socials,” he said.
“I also want to recognise the exceptional support of our corporate members for supporting the committee members, providing topics and presenters for our evening meetings, sponsorship of our events and willingness to share knowledge, innovations and ideas so we continually improve tunnelling to meet the challenges we face.”
During his time as chair, Smith hopes the MSc in Tunnelling will be reinstated to train young tunnellers and he called on the industry to commit to supporting this.
Smith said the BTS could also progress its proposal to hold WTC2031 in Glasgow, which would coincide with the BTS’s 60th year.
He thanked Jacobs, and in particular Rebecca Reynolds, head of tunnelling and ground engineering Europe and client delivery director civil nuclear, for providing him with the time and support to take on the chair role.
