Rory O'Grady worked on the Thames Barrier in London for five years as a young civil engineer. Since retirement, he has written three books on other subjects, and spent a year researching 'We Gave a Dam', making contact with a wide range of colleagues to amass this collection of unique stories, which give tribute to the many that worked on this amazing structure.
A long battle was fought to win approval for the Thames Barrier, with construction finally starting in 1974. The bold, revolutionary design required some of the best engineering brains to build it, and the most innovative fabricators and manufacturers of the time, to achieve the standards required of them. Inspiring leadership from the international consortium of contractors overcame industrial unrest, major technical problems and the extremes of nature, to make this masterpiece a reality.
Triumphantly the Thames Barrier held back a major surge tide within a year of it becoming operational in 1982, and will continue protecting London from flooding for decades into the future.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Illustrationen
74 photographs, some colour some black and white
Maße
Höhe: 196 mm
Breite: 129 mm
Dicke: 21 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-916966-45-1 (9781916966451)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Rory O'Grady has been writing books for over fifteen years, specialising in biographies and non-fiction. 'We Gave a Dam' is his fourth. Rory has travelled extensively, working in civil engineering management in the UK, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, and spent twenty years in Hong Kong.
The five years he spent working on the Thames Barrier as a young civil engineer were life changing, and inspirational. 'We Gave a Dam' is a tribute to the numerous engineers, managers and workers he was lucky enough to work with, and to the many he never met.
Rory retired to Canterbury, in Kent in South East England, and continues writing.
LIST OF PLATES 11
Fig 1. Location of The Thames Barrier 16
Fig 2. Geological section at the barrier 17
PREFACE 19
1. THE INTERVIEW 22
2. HISTORY 26
3. 1973 - 1975 44
4. 1976 67
5. 1977 - PART 1 90
6. 1977 - PART 2 115
7. 1978 131
8. 1979 151
9. 1980 - 81 167
10. 1982 - 84 182
EPILOGUE 197
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 203
THAMES BARRIER FACTS 205
GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS 207
BIBLIOGRAPHY 209
INDEX 211
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 223
