Peter Rolfe Vaughan ACGI, DIC,
FREng
Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...
, FICE, FCGI, MASCE, FGS, (born 10 March 1935; died 16 May 2008) was
Emeritus Professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of Ground Engineering in the Geotechnics department of
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
.
Biography
Vaughan was born in
Limbury
Limbury is a suburb of Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, and was formerly a village before Luton expanded around it. The area is roughly bounded by Bramingham Road to the north, Marsh Road to the so ...
near
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
in the UK on 10 March 1935, the son of Ernest Alfred Vaughan, a civil servant, and Clarise Marjory Ward, a school teacher, and was educated at Luton Grammar School before going on to do a BSc at
Imperial College
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. He played rugby for his school, the college and for the Luton Grammar School old boys team.
He graduated in 1956 and went to work for two years for Sandeman Kennard & Partners as an assistant engineer on the design of various dams in the north of England before returning to Imperial to do a diploma course in
Soil Mechanics
Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and wat ...
. He received his PhD in 1963 at Imperial College for his research on the instrumentation of earthworks (thesis title ''Field measurements in earth dams'' under the supervision of
Alan W. Bishop) before going to work in Africa in 1964, where he was supervising engineer on the construction of the embankments of the
Kainji Dam
Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. Construction of the dam was carried out by Impregilo (a consortium of Italian Civil Engineering Contractors) to designs by Joint Consultants, Balfour Beatty and Nedeco, ...
in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
He continued to mix working in the academic environment of Imperial College with working on engineering projects in the real world for his entire career. He was project engineer for
Cow Green Embankment Dam and the
Balderhead Dam in the late sixties and lecturer, senior lecturer then reader in the Soil Mechanics Section of Imperial College in the seventies and eighties, becoming Professor of Ground Engineering in 1987 and emeritus professor on his retirement in 1996. During this time he carried out extensive research in subjects such as the properties of weak rocks, stiff clays, residual and other structured soils. He was an internationally recognised expert in the design and deterioration of earthworks and fills, embankment dams and natural or man-made slopes. His expertise also included
seepage
Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and wat ...
,
residual strength
Residual strength is the load or force (usually mechanical) that a damaged object or material can still carry without failing. Material toughness
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb ene ...
and
pore pressure
Pore water pressure (sometimes abbreviated to pwp) refers to the pressure of groundwater held within a soil or rock, in gaps between particles ( pores). Pore water pressures below the phreatic level of the groundwater are measured with piezometer ...
measurement and its interpretation. His academic post at Imperial included supervising more than twenty PhD programmes and publishing some 80 papers on technical subjects. He was also an acclaimed and amusing lecturer, having given numerous lectures to international conferences and the
Rankine Lecture
The Rankine lecture is an annual lecture organised by the British Geotechnical Association named after William John Macquorn Rankine, an early contributor to the theory of soil mechanics.
This should not be confused with the biennial BGA Géotec ...
to the
British Geotechnical Association
The British Geotechnical Association is a learned 'Associated Society' of the Institution of Civil Engineers,ICE Associated Societies newsletter, Spring/Summer 2011 (Accessed: 19 July 2013) based in London, England, and a registered UK charity (N ...
in 1994. An example of his style is given in an article published in the
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
on Wednesday 1 February 2006:
''"Much seems to depend on words; many people seem to think "reservoir" a rather unpleasant one, and Hattersley admits that he was one. My advice to any reservoir promoter is never say "reservoir", say "lake". Even better, say "wetland habitat". Better still, promote it as a leisure amenity. ("There will be bird watching, cycling, fishing, picnicking, sailing and walking and you can get it all for free if we sometimes sell some of the water to the local water undertaking.") If all else fails, ask for some extra land beside it, cut the grass short, plant 18 little flags and call it a "lateral water hazard"."''
Peter Vaughan was an active consultant throughout his career. One of the founding members of Geotechnical Consulting Group he gave specialist advice to consulting firms, contractors, utilities and public authorities on a wide range of problems, such as the reconstruction of
Carsington Dam after its failure during construction, and
Roadford Dam, where he was a member of the Advisory Panel. He was involved with a review of dam performance for
Ardleigh Dam, Essex, a safety review for
Mica Dam
Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning the Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operate ...
, Canada, and the rehabilitation of the three dams of the Cascade of Dauga in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
for which he was a member of the Advisory Panel. He was involved extensively with the rehabilitation of old clay embankments for
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
Limited.
He travelled widely on both consultancy work and giving lectures to international engineering bodies. His spare time was taken up with
fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...
and enjoying fine wines, good food and better company. A very generous associate, colleague or friend, he never married and he died of a heart attack at his home in Suffolk on 16 May 2008.
Academic qualifications
* 1956: BSc (Eng) ACGI,
Imperial College, London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
* 1965: PhD, DIC
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
* 1991: DSc, University of London
Professional qualifications
* 1991: Fellow,
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...
* 1978: Fellow,
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
* 1970–1973, 1977–1980, 1981–1984: British National Committee on Large Dams
* 1971–1974, 1975–1977:
British Geotechnical Society Committee
* 1975–1977: Geotechnique Advisory Panel
* 1972–1973: Organising Committee, British Geotechnical Society Symposium on Field Instrumentation
* 1975–1977: Chairman, Organising Committee, Institution of Civil Engineers Symposium on Clay Fills
* 1977–1980: Chairman, Organising Sub-Committee, Technical Sessions & Papers, 7th European Conf. Soil Mech. & Foundation
Engineering
* 1981–1984: ICOLD Sub-Committee Materials – Drafting Guide on Geotextiles in Dams
* 1986–1988: Working Party on Tropical Residual Soils,
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
* 1989–1997: Technical Committee on Tropical Soils, ISSMFE
* 1994–2008: Technical Committee on Tailings Dams ISSMFE
Prizes
* 1956 – Unwin Medal, Imperial College
* 1959 – Unwin Postgraduate Prize, Imperial College
* 1962 – Trevithick Premium, Institution of Civil Engineers
* 1986, 1991, 1998 –
Telford Gold Medal,
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
* 1992, 1997:
Telford Premium, Institution of Civil Engineers
* 1994 – Cooper Hill Memorial Prize, Institution of Civil Engineers
* 2001 – Geotechnical Research Medal, Institution of Civil Engineers
* 1964, 1973, 1997 – British Geotechnical Society Prize
* 1994 – Fellow of the
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
Major published works
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Peter Rolfe
Academics of Imperial College London
English civil engineers
1935 births
2008 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Alumni of Imperial College London
Alumni of the University of London
Rankine Lecturers
People from Luton