BTS - 50 YEARS | BOOKS


Above: The book is packed with information and older images....


It was when I got to page 727 that I was reminded


of the book that really got me into tunnelling: David Morrell’s ‘Indictment: Power and Politics in the Construction Industry’. This is a hard-hitting book on the Kariba Dam Project and the problems arising around the formation of the power cavern on the scheme. I remember thinking that this was a real adventure story, thrilling and captivating in the struggle between contractor and engineer and the drama about keeping the company solvent. Having said that, ‘Tunnelling Tales’ does it for me. Ken


Spiby and team have compiled a celebratory work of stories associated with people, projects, places and, of course, tunnels over the 50 years since the inception of the British Tunnelling Society.


The book starts with a history lesson set around


the Brunel family. Throughout the book the approach has been to include archive drawings, cherished photographs, helpful figures, hand sketches and informed pieces from various experts. These are intertwined with stories from the tunnel face, the material conveyor and even the tunnel boring machine, as well as the design office. Here, Jane Stancliffe, former Trustee of The Brunel Museum, takes us through the history of the Thames Tunnel, the Brunel Museum and its association with the British Tunnelling Society. The reader is then taken through the founding of the


British Tunnelling Society, the before and then as the book progresses all through the various aspects of its structure, its Past Chairs, the Medal winners,


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