Sir Alan James Harris CBE (8 July 1916 – 26 December 2000) was a British

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...

Early life and education

Harris was born in 1916 in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, and started working at the age of 16 taking evening classes in engineering at Northampton Engineering College now City, University of London.

Career

From 1940 to 1946 Harris served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

as an officer in a Port Construction and Repair Company, landing at Port-en-Bessin in Normandy on D-Day + 1. He was officer in command of diving on Mulberry B at Arromanches, working from a small fleet of French fishing boats, as a result of which he was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. He later joined the Royal Engineers in the Territorial Army where he attained the rank of Colonel. After World War II Harris went to Paris to work for Eugène Freyssinet, the pioneer of

prestressed Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...

and

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

and in 1949 became Freyssinet‘s representative in England. In 1955 Harris, his brother John, and James Sutherland set up the consulting business of Harris & Sutherland. Among other things, they designed aircraft hangars for Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Later, they expanded their work to infrastructure projects and had branches in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Harris & Sutherland was acquired by

Babtie, Shaw and Morton Babtie, Shaw and Morton was a firm of civil engineers based in Glasgow, Scotland, and noted for its work on bridges, dams and reservoirs. History It took its name following the 1906 merger of Babtie & Bonn (a partnership founded by John Babtie ...

in 1997, and since 2004 has been part of Jacobs Engineering. Harris was a vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1978-9 and was awarded its

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in 1984. Harris was appointed a professor of concrete structures at Imperial College London in 1973.

Awards and honours

* Awarded CBE in

1968 Birthday Honours The 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplemen ...

* Knighted for services to Civil Engineering in

1980 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1980 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

* The Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1984. * Hon DSc by the University of Exeter in 1984. * Ordre du Mérite of France in 1975

Selected projects

* Prestressed concrete hangar at Heathrow Airport for BOAC maintenance headquarters 1950–55 * Spekeland Road Rail Depot

References

External links

Institution of Structural Engineers

Obituary in New Civil Engineer, 11 January 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Alan Presidents of the Institution of Structural Engineers Structural engineers Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Commanders of the Order of the British Empire IStructE Gold Medal winners Knights Bachelor Engineering educators 1916 births 2000 deaths