CAROLINE BEIRNE

Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Bio

Caroline Beirne is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer with 25 years’ experience in her field. Caroline’s areas of practice include mined and bored tunnels, particularly in the context of urban environments where there is interaction with existing structures.

Caroline has also worked on several cut-and-cover underground structures as well as dive structures for transport projects. Her experience spans across a wide range of ground conditions, from soft ground to rock.

Caroline has worked on numerous transport projects in the UK, China, the Middle East, Singapore and Australia. These have generally been high profile transport projects including London’s Crossrail project.

OTHER SPECIAL INTERESTS

Caroline enjoys safely delivering challenging projects with a high risk profile, particularly in difficult ground conditions and where there is a high degree of interaction with existing structures. The use of appropriate numerical modelling to support robust and efficient engineering in these contexts is another area of interest.

Other areas of interest include underground applications of shotcrete. For example, the use of shotcrete in the permanent works and the associated waterproofing, testing and durability issues.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Caroline is a member of, National Engineering Register (NER) , the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), and Chartered Engineer (UK). She has published several technical papers covering topics, such as urban tunnelling and contractor selection for Queensway’s upgrade.

SKILLSET

Caroline specialises in the design of mined tunnels, mainly for transport-related projects. Her Fields of special competence include:

Design of both primary and permanent linings for mined tunnels
Waterproofing aspects of mined tunnels
Testing and specification for shotcrete in permanent underground applications
Assessing the interaction between existing structures and the construction of new underground works.