Colin is Emeritus Professor of Earthquake Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol. At the age of 8, he visited the Forth Road Bridge whilst it was under construction in the early 1960s. Awed by the scale of it and the bustle of activity, he marvelled: How could people build something so elegant across such a vast expanse of water? Following this childhood inspiration, he studied engineering at Leeds University, before joining the consulting engineers, Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners. They sponsored Colin on a PhD at Bristol to look at the design of dams for earthquakes, including the 120m high Victoria Dam in Sri Lanka. Settling in Bristol, Colin became a lecturer at the University in 1983, a Professor in 2004 and was Head of Department for 5 years from 2006. His research and practice has covered dams, long-span bridges, nuclear power plants, utilities, buildings, geotechnical engineering and the design of major research laboratories around the world, including the unique earthquake shaking table in Bristol.
“I hope that young people will be inspired by Clifton Suspension Bridge as I was by the Forth Road Bridge. The Bridge is still at the cutting edge of technology in that it is one of the first to reach its age – we still have a lot to learn about it. Bristol University is working with the Trust using the bridge as a national research and teaching testbed as part of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities initiative. This £138 million research programme will enable us to learn how to manage the performance of infrastructure into the far future.”
“It is a great privilege to be a Trustee of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and to be part of the team that provides a key part of Bristol’s transport communications whilst preserving a fascinating and beautiful structure.”