Education This article is more than 22 years oldObituarySir Alec Skempton
This article is more than 22 years oldBritain's leading authority on soil mechanics for half a centurySir Alec Skempton, who has died aged 87, was a professor of soil mechanics and civil engineering at Imperial College, London; the leading British figure in his area of specialisation for half a century; and a hugely influential figure in the world of civil engineering who transformed its attitude to its own history.
Born in Northampton and inspired by his science teachers at Northampton grammar school, in 1932 Skempton went to the City and Guilds College, then a separate part of London University's Imperial College, to study civil engineering. Encouragement from his professor, Sutton Pippard, and a Goldsmiths' Company bursary allowed him to begin work on a PhD. Having obtained a post at the Building Research Station (BRS) in 1936, Skempton developed his work on reinforced concrete - an area in which Britain lagged behind the United States.
By January 1937, his love of geology guided him to the neighbouring soil mechanics laboratory. In joining that section of the BRS, Skempton began a lifelong involvement in soil mechanics.
The importance of Skempton's field immediately became apparent with the failure, under construction, of the earth embankment for a reservoir at Chingford, in north-east London. Skempton's analysis revealed that the speed of construction had imposed too great a load on the clay strata before they had gained strength from a consolidation process. His work at the BRS continued until 1946, encompassing Waterloo Bridge, the Muirhead dam (near Largs, in Scotland), Gosport Dockyard and the Eau Brink Cut channel of the river Ouse, near King's Lynn.
In 1945, Sutton Pippard invited him to establish a soil mechanics course at Imperial. Initially a part-time BRS secondment, the post became a full-time senior lectureship the following year. Assisted by Alan Bishop, Skempton built an international reputation for Imperial, which was consolidated by his introduction in 1950 of the first postgraduate course in soil mechanics. Skempton was elevated to the chair of soil mechanics in 1955. Two years later he succeeded Pippard as departmental head - a position he held until 1976 - and professor of civil engineering; from 1981, he was professor emeritus and senior research fellow.
For the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), in 1947 he was a founding member of the soil mechanics and foundations committee - first contributing to the Rotterdam international conference and then establishing what is today the British Geotechnical Association.
His ICE work saw him named as the first chairman of the civil engineers archive panel in 1975. During a 21-year tenure, he oversaw a reorganisation of the archive's collections. As chairman of the panel for historical engineering works (1982-90), he raised the professional standards of its work and publications.
His dedication was matched by his willingness to understand and contextualise the work of others. Challenging orthodox assumptions, he played a guiding role in developing intellectual and academic rigour in his field. Predecessors in civil engineering whose work had been ignored found a new champion in Skempton.
The work he edited on John Smeaton (1981), today recognised as a founder of modern civil engineering, his papers on the early fen drainage engineer John Grundy, and the biography he co-authored of William Jessop (1979), typified his thirst for, and dedication to, re-understanding his professional ancestors. The dissatisfaction with the work of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and others that drove his work on the origins of modern skyscrapers in the late 1950s typified his success in finding a fresh perspective. Active in publishing until the end of his life, Skempton had been working on a biographical dictionary of civil engineers of the British Isles, the first volume of which will be published this autumn: his zest for knowledge and learning was unsurpassed in civil engineering.
A keen amateur flautist, he performed at one of the first Imperial College lunchtime concerts, in 1950; he and his wife, Nancy, were avid croquet-playing members of the Hurlingham Club. His many honours included the vice-presidency of the ICE (1974-76), the fellowship of the Royal Society (1961) and a knighthood in the millennium honours, but he had a great dislike of formal gatherings.
During his time at the BRS he married Mary Wood, known to everyone as Nancy. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, she became his constant companion and supporter until her death in 1993. He is survived by his two daughters.
Alec Westley Skempton, civil engineer, born June 4 1914; died August 9 2001
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