The Institution of Royal Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers Joint Professional Meeting

摘要

The Institution of Royal Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers annual Joint Professional Meeting took place in London on Thursday 24 May 2018 and the packed out Telford Theatre was addressed by industry experts and leading military figures who sought to offer their views and address the question which had been set by the President of the InstRE. Brigadier Eldon Millar MBE, Commander 8 Engineer Brigade, gave the introduction and explained that the "golden thread" for the event was innovation and tunnelling. He explained that during the First World War the British exploited industrial techniques and used lessons gleaned from Sir John Norton- Griffiths in developing tunnelling techniques. Sir John, known as "Empire Jack",had vast engineering experience from around the world. He claimed to have overseen the development of the "Clay-Kicking" technique to rapidly construct tunnels during the construction of the Manchester sewers. The application of this technique on the Western Front, which proved to be quieter and hence more difficult to detect than the German method, offered the Allies a marked tactical advantage in the subterranean war that took place under the trenches. He explained that the Royal Engineers increasingly find themselves operating in an ever more dynamic strategic context and complex battlespace, within which adversaries are adept at improvising and adapting rapidly to changing environments. Three enduring themes to the military experience of tunnelling were singled out as a basis for wider innovation: ? Firstly, the benefit of challenging the "impossible" led to rapid innovation within British tunnels. British miners developed a method of sinking shafts through soft sandy soil that was not self-supporting. By using steel tubing into the soft layer and then digging out from within - this worked like a caisson in water, ensuring the ability to tunnel forward very quickly.