Adrian Ernest Long (15 April 1941 – 23 April 2022) was a civil engineer from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. A professor at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, he had a particular interest in concrete structures and patented FlexiArch, a pre-cast concrete arch product. He served as president of the

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 ...

for 2002–03, the first Northern Irish engineer to do so.

Biography

Long was born on 15 April 1941 in

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

in Northern Ireland. He stated that he came from a carpentry and blacksmithing background. In 1959, Long entered

(QUB) to study civil engineering. He graduated with first class honours and then took a PhD at Queens. In 1967, he moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, working as bridge designer for Fenco Engineering in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. However, he spent only a year in Canada, returning to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in 1968 to become an associate professor of civil engineering at

(QUB). In 1976, he was promoted to a full professorship. His work was largely in the field of concrete structures, particularly in chloride resistance, maintenance problems and arch bridge structures. Long published 20 papers in journals managed by the

(ICE) and won eight of the institution's medals for these, including the ICE Gold Medal. By 2002 Long was appointed dean of the faculty of engineering at QUB. In November of that year he was appointed president of the ICE for the 2002–2003 session; the first Northern Irish person to hold that position. Long was also a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and 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 and from aroun ...

and of the

Institute for the Advancement of Engineering An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. Long was appointed an

officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 2006 New Year Honours for services to higher education and civil engineering. He resigned as professor at QUB in 2006 but remained there as an emeritus professor in the School of Natural and Built Environment. Since 2015, the ICE Northern Ireland awards the Adrian Long medal to the best paper in an ICE journal to be authored by a Northern Ireland member. The medal features a bust of Long. Long was married to Elaine and had two children,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and Alison. Michael served as the 80th

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...

from 9 May to 1 June 2022. He also served as

High Sheriff of Belfast The High Sheriff of Belfast is a title and position which was created in 1900 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with Sir James Henderson the first holder. Like other high sheriff positions, it is largely a ceremonial post today. The ...

in 2021 and served on

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

since 2001, where he was the Alliance group leader from 2015 to 2021. He is married to Alliance Party leader and justice minister

Naomi Long Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party ...

. Long died at the

Ulster Hospital The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the Ulster, is a teaching hospital in Dundonald (at the eastern edge of Belfast) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road. It provides acute services ...

on 23 April 2022, at the age of 81.

FlexiArch

From 1997 Long worked on the FlexiArch, a pre-cast concrete arch in which the individual

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s are joined by a flexible polymeric membrane. The arch arrives to site flat packed and when lifted into position by a crane the gaps between the voussoirs close under gravity and form the correct arch profile. Long patented the product, which is produced by Irish pre-cast manufacturer Macrete, in 2004. The product can be constructed within a day and, containing no corrodable elements, has been stated to have a design lifespan of 300 years. More than 50 FlexiArch bridges have been constructed in the UK and Ireland and spans up to 30m are possible.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Adrian 1941 births 2022 deaths Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Academics of Queen's University Belfast Officers of the Order of the British Empire Civil engineers from Northern Ireland People from Dungannon Expatriates from Northern Ireland in Canada British bridge engineers Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Engineers from County Tyrone