Four industry heavyweights have joined hyperTunnel’s new Technical Board as inaugural members to provide specialist advice and guidance on the technologies the company is developing. They each bring extensive expertise in tunnelling and underground construction.
Chair Peter O’Riordan is a Chartered Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in civil and structural engineering, including more than 15 years in rail infrastructure. He led the development of London’s Crossrail 2 scheme while at Arcadis, the London section of the HS2 high-speed rail project at CH2M and the redevelopment and refurbishment of London’s St Pancras Station as part of the HS1 scheme at Arup. During his 18 years at Arup, he was also involved in a broad range of structural design projects ranging from buildings, bridges and underground stations to specialist blast design and heritage building refurbishment.
Benoit Jones is Managing Director at thermal imaging technology company Inbye Engineering which provides a new method for monitoring the early strength development of sprayed concrete. A Chartered Civil Engineer, he has over 20 years of tunnel design and construction experience using all kinds of methods, including technical and engineering leadership roles at OTB Engineering, Morgan Sindall and Mott MacDonald, as well five years in academia, delivering the Tunnelling and Underground Works MSc course at Warwick University.
Mike King is an independent tunnelling consultant and Director of MK Tunnelling who has been involved in underground construction projects for over 35 years, working on numerous rail and metro projects around the world. His leadership roles include Head of Geotechnical and Tunnels at WSP and Director of Halcrow/CH2M and he recently completed seven years as Head of Underground Construction on the Crossrail project. In 2019 he was awarded the James Clark Medal for his contributions to tunnelling by the British Tunnelling Society.
Dr Kurt Zeidler, who also sits on hyperTunnel’s Advisory Board, has over 35 years of experience in underground construction, with particular expertise in tunnels and complex underground structures in urban areas. He is a principal and co-founder of specialist international subterranean engineering consultancy Gall Zeidler Consultants and has been an expert advisor on numerous high-profile construction projects, most recently including the Western Rail Link to Heathrow Airport, HS2, the London Underground, the Riyadh Metro, New York’s Trans Hudson Express and the State Railway of Thailand. He holds a doctorship in Philosophy, Geology and Engineering Geology from the University
hyperTunnel’s Technical Board, which will meet monthly, is briefed to steer, monitor and challenge the output of the company’s engineering development team as well as assisting with brokering relationships across the geotechnical engineering industry.
Further sector experts will be invited to join the Board in due course.
