Mike King awarded James Clark Medal

1 July 2019


Great Britain – On 16 May Mike King was awarded the James Clarke Medal. This medal is an annual award for a major contribution to the tunnelling industry. King received the award for his work on the Tunnel Lining Design Guide.

Paul Perry from Hewson Consulting Engineers introduced King and gave a precis of his 35 years of experience on tunnelling projects.

This started with working for contractors on projects covering shaft sinking and tunnel construction using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), drill & blast and hand mining techniques. 

King then moved into consultancy to work for Halcrow on the Channel Tunnel project and then on other major projects such as the Jubilee Line Extension. 

King has particular experience in the design, specification and testing of tunnel linings in a range of materials that includes reinforced/unreinforced concrete, steel fibre reinforced concrete and in spheroidal graphite cast iron (SGI) and steel for soft ground and rock applications, and in the design of Sprayed Concrete Lined (SCL) tunnels. 

Many of the urban projects King has worked on included the assessment of ground movements caused by underground construction, and the impact of these on other surface and buried structures and services.

His most recent major project was on the GBP 15.9bn (USD 20bn) Crossrail project where he was seconded into the Client’s organisation as Head of Underground Construction with technical authority for all tunnel related works including 21km of twin bored tunnels, five new SCL stations and several shafts, turn-out caverns and cross passages.

King has had corporate responsibility in technical and managerial lead roles in tunnels and geotechnical departments, including responsibility for staff recruitment and development, project delivery, departmental financial control and business development.

As an inspirational and passionate leader in the tunnelling community he has inspired many young engineers, technicians and colleagues. He would always find time in his busy schedule to mentor the next generation of critical thinkers and bright engineers by sharing his vast experience and help apply it to their new-found challenges. 

Perry concluded, “King offers solutions to the seemingly endless questions or problems on your tunnelling project and his solutions would be based on straight, simple, supreme engineering logic and methods cutting through any mist of politics, company, organisation or contracts.

“Once you looked past the early morning appearance of the man in motorbiking gear, and listened past the early morning greetings, you soon found you were dealing with a true tunnelling treasure.

“His technical excellence and track record of working on some of the most challenging projects around the world means he has delivered a significant contribution to the industry, delivering complex infrastructure.”

In his new venture, MK Tunnelling Limited, started this year, Perry suggested that he continues to offer such excellent, dependable, technical advice and he commended him to the meeting as a worthy James Clark Medallist.