BTS CHAIR: JOHN CORCORAN
The idea of the BTS & BTSYM chairs putting together some words every few months was suggested at a recent review with the editorial board of Tunnels & Tunnelling (T&TI). The brief was pretty fluid, the intent being to provide a quick update to Society members on what the BTS Committee have recently been involved in.
When you get appointed as Chair, one of the most frequent questions is what are your plans? I can relate to a previous Chair who said they wanted to survive! It does require a good deal of time and I’m very grateful to the support that my employer Morgan Sindall are giving me. My aims are to more closely align the BTS with the Young Members BTS (BTSYM). I also want to fully support the BTS Net Zero group, headed up by Richard Sutherden. I want to encourage more applications to join the Committee and obtain more feedback from BTS members on what they want from the Committee.
Our evening presentations at the ICE, in London, remain extremely popular, with in-person attendances regularly above 150. There’s always a buzz in the bar after, with sausages, pasties, chips and beer, all in liberal quantities. Grateful thanks go to our sponsors. I’m pleased to say that this September’s evening presentation will be combined with the BTSYM and will be chaired by myself and Arabel (Chair, BTSYM).
Bookings on the BTS website are now open for the excellent BTS Design & Construction Course at Warwick University, from 30 June to 4 July. Places are rapidly filling up, so apply early to avoid disappointment. Dates for this year’s Health & Safety course, at the ICE, are 24- 25 Nov.
The Committee continues to promote links to university courses and is assessing the implications of the government concerning decision to review funding for Level 7 apprenticeships. Work is also in place to reinstate a university course offering an MSc in tunnelling. This course was held for many years at Warwick University and was an excellent breeding ground for many of the tunnel engineers now working in our industry.
In March this year, several members of the Committee and the Society attended the Cambourne School of Mines 47th Intercollegiate Mining Games. Despite the wet weather, the event was very successful.
The annual Harding Prize Competition award was made at the March evening meeting. This award recognises outstanding achievement of young tunnel engineers. This year it went to Sidhant Kaul, an engineer at Hochtief-Murphy JV on LPT2 tunnels, for his paper on ‘TBM transition through Kidbrooke Shaft’. Well done also to Chris Prince of Align JV, HS2 C1 Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct who presented his paper on ‘Water Treatment in Tunnelling drawn from experiences of recycling water whilst constructing the Chiltern’. There were several engineers who wanted to submit papers but could not get client approval. This was a real shame. Early engagement with clients, and support from senior managers, is strongly advised.
Nominations were received for the annual James Clark Medal award. This prestigious award recognises outstanding lifetime contribution to the tunnelling industry. Last year’s worthy winner was Dave Hindle. This year’s winner will be announced at the May meeting. I attended the annual James Clark medal lunch last year. This was a wonderful event at the ICE bringing together many of the previous medal winners, and some of the families of those now deceased. I have a personal connection with the late Tommy Talbott, so was delighted to see his daughter Jennifer in attendance. I met regularly with Tommy’s family whilst working on his story for the ‘BTS at 50’ book.
The Committee has used Society funds to sponsor several activities in the past year in line with the Constitution statement to “foster understanding, experience, interest and research of the art and science of tunnelling”. Activities sponsored include: PhD research into causes of Bone Necrosis; a CIRIA report on chalk; and, rewriting of the CIRIA report on the observational method R185. Details of the Society’s accounts can be found in the Annual Report.
The Technical and Health & Safety sub-committees remain actively working on publications including: BTS SCL Best Practice guideline; BTS Monitoring Underground Construction – A best practice Guide; BTS Segmental lining production control guidance. Work is also now starting on the 5-yearly update to BS6164. The Committee continue to be actively involved in the development of CEN standards (European Committee for Standardisation). Work is also about to start on a new initiative, championed by Charles Allen, to offer industry guidance on biogenic corrosion in sewer infrastructures. This is estimated globally to cost the industry billions of pounds.
Roger Bridge has taken on the role of lead for the T&TI Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). This group meets several times a year to review the T&TI magazine with the editors, to ensure content remains relevant and of interest to the Society. It has been noted that the personprofiles are particularly interesting with more to follow including miners, young tunnellers and those who have a lifetime of experience.
Many thanks to Martin John from T&TI who has been a great help with the BTS LinkedIn page which now has over 13,000 followers.
The book celebrating 50 years of tunnelling has been a huge success with great feedback from many happy purchasers. Great credit goes to the book subcommittee, chaired by Ken Spiby, who for six years worked through the challenges to make the book happen. Copies are available via the website. The Committee is also working with many universities and international tunnelling societies to provide them with a copy of the book. An excellent way to promote tunnelling and foster links to other organisations.
The Annual Dinner is again at The Brewery, in London, on 23 May. This is a slight alteration from our usual first Friday in May date, as the venue had allocated that date to others. The date for 2026 has been booked for 8 May. Our guest speaker is the Rt Rev Richard Coles, of Communards fame and someone with an extremely interesting story. I have started thinking about my speech as well. Tickets are selling extremely fast with 600 reserved already. Please act quickly to avoid disappointment as we are limited on our numbers.
The Committee has close links with the International Tunnelling Association (ITA) and is working towards putting a bid in to hold the 2031 World Tunnelling Conference (WTC) in the UK. Previous bids to do this were unsuccessful but I’m confident the experience learnt will mean we have a very good chance of success this time.
I have tried to be brief for this first ‘letter’ to the BTS Society and I am conscious that I have not mentioned many of the activities the BTS Committee and subcommittees have been involved in. I will, however, recommend you read the BTS Annual Report, due to be published shortly, which contains a lot more information on exactly what each of the sub-committees have been involved with. This is available on the BTS website.
I am always open to suggestions on what Society members want to be informed about. I’ll finish off by encouraging members to get involved, make a difference and apply to join the Committee. The three successful applicants for 2025 will be announced at the May AGM. I look forward to them joining and getting involved. I am extremely grateful for all the hard work Committee members put in, which is all voluntary. I am somewhat in awe of the range of skills Committee members exhibit, and their can-do attitudes. I’m now eight months into my two-year term, and with each passing month I get to enjoy the role more and more. I hope I can say the same after my speech at this year’s Dinner.
BTSYM CHAIR: ARABEL VILAS SERÍN
Hello everyone.
For those who don’t know me, I’m Arabel Vilas, a Tunnel & Geotechnical Engineer with a background in Mining Engineering—officially turned tunneller when I moved to London in 2018.
The past five months as Chair of the British Tunnelling Society Young Members (BTSYM) have been an exciting and intense journey, filled with energy, collaboration, and impactful events across London, Birmingham, and Leeds. Our Committee has been working tirelessly to expand our reach and bring fresh perspectives to the tunnelling industry.
One of my key objectives was to strengthen our collaboration with the main BTS, aligning our goals while also pushing boundaries to create a more inclusive, forward-thinking, and engaged community. This term, I wanted the BTSYM to be a welcoming space where all young professionals from all over the UK— whether members or non-members—are encouraged to bring fresh ideas forward and can take an active role in shaping the future of our industry from the early years of their career.
To achieve this, I refreshed the structure of the main BTSYM Committee to emphasise sustainability, innovation, and inclusivity by creating new dedicated committees: Innovation & Sustainability, Diversity, Inclusion and Women in Tunnelling, and Industry & Partnership.
My main objective for 2025 has been clear from the start: focus on people, and the numbers speak for themselves—attendance at our events is growing, and our Committee is incredibly engaged with our mission and goals.
One of our key goals was to increase in-person participation at lectures, workshops and social events. After Covid, I noticed a drop in attendance at BTSYM events, and I wanted to change that. We want young engineers to know that there is a group of us meeting at the ICE and other parts of the UK every now and then, creating opportunities to connect, learn, and grow together.
For that purpose, and since many tunnellers are based outside of London, another priority was to expand our reach across the UK. We are fostering a sense of belonging and we wanted to make sure everyone felt an integral part of the BTSYM community. For that, I appointed representatives in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester under the Industry & Partnership Committee and we have already hosted several successful events in the north—with more to come. Though, as Dr. Donald Lamont jokingly reminded me, we may need to push further, because “Leeds isn’t north enough!”
We all, including the main BTS, share a common belief: fostering the next generation of tunnelling professionals is crucial.
Our Professional Development & Mentorship Committee is dedicated to addressing today’s challenges while also engaging with students and young engineers to understand their concerns and aspirations. To strengthen this connection, we have been actively collaborating with Imperial College, Cambridge University, UCL, and Leeds University. As part of our Youth Outreach & Education Committee, we now have two official Committee members who are current students, ensuring that their perspectives are heard and that BTSYM remains a bridge between academia and industry.
Also, we are collaborating with Harris Futures to arrange school activities with the BTSYM; we have assisted in recruiting volunteers for STEMFest 2025 as they collaborate with professional clubs and charitable partners to promote STEM in local communities and we are also collaborating in the upcoming Inspire Education Group at Stamford and Peterborough Colleges.
One of our main objectives is to create an environment where young engineers feel encouraged to present their work and seek mentorship in a supportive and welcoming environment. I have to say, our first lecture of 2025 was a great example of this in action. Strabag’s presentation was delivered by three engineers in the early years of their careers, with two presenting in person at the ICE and one joining remotely from Yorkshire. To ensure a seamless experience, we adapted the audio-visual setup at the ICE to accommodate a hybrid format, allowing the remote presenter to participate while also celebrating the Chinese New Year. The lecture was broadcast at Arup’s office in Birmingham with an attendance of 25 people—a small but meaningful example of how we can make professional development more accessible and inclusive.
Our Sustainability and Innovation Committee has been incredibly busy coordinating workshops and lectures, ensuring that we continue driving important conversations in the industry. We have also collaborated closely with the British Geotechnical Association Early Careers Group (BGA-ECG), as we believe that joining forces is the best way to reach and engage as many professionals as possible and strengthen the connection between tunnelling and geotechnics.
We champion efforts to build a more inclusive community, and this joint effort of the Committee and the main BTS made the International Women’s Day Celebration an authentic success. Around 50 people attended Ramboll’s lecture and joined the IWD event afterwards. I participated in the ITA35 International Women’s Day activities and went to Harris Academy Bermondsey, in London, to present my experience as a professional engineer and as part of the BTS. Our commitment to inclusivity does not stop there—we have also been involved in supporting Neurodiversity Week with the BGA-ECG, and there’s more to come.
Our Social Media Committee has been working hard to engage with as many people as possible, ensuring that young engineers stay connected and informed. Beyond that, we also make it a priority to meet in person and network, with our most recent social gathering taking place at the Acton Depot Museum, in London.
On an international level, we’re focused on strengthening ties with tunnelling associations worldwide. We have been actively connecting with young members from various countries, and this effort led to our first official webinar with the French Tunnelling Association. Upcoming collaborations with the Italian and Australian associations are already in the works.
Our workshops and lectures have been a great success, and I’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsors for their support in making all of this possible.
We have an exciting line-up of events:
- Applications for the Doug Allenby Memorial Medal 2025 open until 13th April 2025. Applicants must be 33 or younger as of Jan 1, 2025.
- Some of our committees are attending WTC 2025, in Stockholm, in May – let’s connect!
- Workshop on 15 May 2025 at the ICE by Si Shen (Head of Tunnelling at TYPSA and creator of www.si-eng.org blog) – Connecting the Dots: A Tunnel Engineering Knowledge Framework.
- Lecture on 5 June 2025 at the ICE – Topic TBC
- Workshop on 18 September 2025 by MAXAM – Drill and Blast. Methodology and Design.
- 2025 BTSYM Conference on 24 October at Arup’s Office in London.
We are actively looking for sponsors and abstracts for the BTSYM Conference. If you’re interested in presenting or becoming a sponsor, contact us at btsym@ britishtunnelling.com. Sponsorship opportunities are available at Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers.
To wrap up, I want to highlight how important it is to be surrounded by incredible people and have good synergy among our Committee members for things to materialise. I can tell this group has a lot to contribute and I am happy I could bring these people together as they are shining individually and collectively.
There’s still plenty of work to do, but I’m excited to keep this momentum going. I look forward to continuing our work in fostering growth, engagement, and positive change within the tunnelling community. I want to see BTSYM thrive and expand in the years to come, reaching even more young professionals and creating opportunities for all.
Whether you’re in London or anywhere else in the UK, the BTSYM is here for you—and we’d love for you to be part of it. Stay updated—check our website, follow us on social media, and sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on our events.
