It is announced with sadness that Mike Duggan died suddenly in early August. Mike was a well known personality in the UK tunnelling industry and a tunnelling engineer with a busy career.
Mike worked mostly for contractors starting his career on the Kielder hydro project in the early 1970s, and continuing to the Heysham power station tunnels; the Redcar ocean outfall project; as site agent on the NATM trial tunnel for the Saltash road tunnel project, in Cornwall; and the Piccadilly Line extension to Heathrow Terminal 4 as an agent for the Taylor Woodrow/Thyssen GB JV – where he was responsible for spoil handling works and the procurement of rolling stock, this, coupled with his enthusiasm and energy, contributed much to the success of the project. He worked as contract manager for Donelon in the later 1980s on the challenging Royal Docks Drainage tunnels and subsequently moved to the Bristol interceptor scheme.
Mike then moved onto the Channel Tunnel Project where he mobilised the UK undertaking from the office at Ashford before moving onto site at Shakespeare’s Cliff to oversee removal of the old TBM from the aborted 1974 heading as a starter. A recent contribution from Mike to T&TI in the July issue (p43) was a testimonial about his association with Mühlhäuser and his selection of rolling stock and equipment for the Channel Tunnel UK operation.
Following Channel Tunnel, Mike was project manager on the Cromer long sea outfall tunnel contract, in Norfolk, for Sir Robert McAlpine and worked with Jeff Aslett at Molegrove on shaft sinking projects in London.
Most recently and before retiring in April, he worked for TubeLines, the company in charge of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines of the London Underground.
Mike is missed by his wife, Michelle, by his two daughters Helen and Ruth, and by so many in the UK tunnelling society.
Mike’s hobbies were sailing and restoring vintage Triumph TR2s
