THE MAN WITH TUNNEL VISION

摘要

Few people can boast the right to drive their sheep across a bridge in the Croatian city of Sarajevo, but Halcrow's Martin Knights can after being presented with an honorary presidency of the Croatian Tunnelling Association. It's just one of many accolades Knights has earned in his career in tunnelling. And despite current economic difficulties, he believes there has never been a better time to be working in the sector. "It used to be a boom and bust industry, but now we seem to be on a track of continuous growth," says Knights, who is Halcrow's global practice leader for tunnelling and earth engineering and sciences. "More and more infrastructure investors are turning to tunnelling to overcome urban issues and, with the forecasted growth in city-dwelling populations over the next 20 years, I can see the demand for tunnelled solutions increasing further. "Tunnels offer efficient land use for transport, utilities and public health systems, which are all key to modern urban developments. Tunnels are starting to be included in masterplans to overcome the scarcity of space - if it isn't needed at the surface then it should be placed underground." As an example, Knights points to the development in Abu Dhabi that is transferring the city centre from the downtown area to a new sustainable development. "They are a starting from below ground as the masterplan," he says. "Tunnelling really plays into the Arab culture of wanting to create a great environment and caring about the legacy that it leaves."