Sir Douglas Edwin Oakervee CBE FREng FICE FHKIE (born December 1940) is a British civil engineer who is a past chairman of both High Speed 2 and Crossrail,[1] and was the 139th president of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[2] He was awarded the CBE in 2010 for his contributions to civil engineering and appointed Knight bachelor in 2022 for services to transport and infrastructure delivery.[3]

Early life and education

Oakervee was born in 1940 in northwest London[4] and attended Willesden Technical College.

Civil engineering projects

Oakervee first worked as an apprentice joiner on London tower blocks. He attended night school to obtain his first engineering qualifications.[5] His first management role was supervising construction for Dublin's Grand Canal Tunnel drainage project.[4]

In 1975, he moved to Hong Kong to work on the development of the MTR underground network.

In 1982, he founded Oakervee Perrett and Partners, an engineering design and project management company, later one of the key designers of London Underground's Jubilee Line Extension.

In 1991, Oakervee was appointed as project director for the Hong Kong International Airport project, built on a man-made island in the South China Sea. Before that he was the chief tunnel engineer on the Hong Kong mass transit railway project. From 2012 to 2014 he was chairman of the company constructing the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway in England.[6]

HS2 review

Further information: High Speed 2 § Oakervee Review

In June 2019, Boris Johnson, then a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, said he would ask Oakervee to lead a review of the plans for HS2.[6] In August, with Johnson now Prime Minister, the review was announced[7] and terms of reference were published by the Department for Transport.[8] Work was completed in November but its report – known as the Oakervee Review – was not published until February 2020. The report concluded that the original rationale for HS2 was still valid as "there is a need for greater capacity (both more trains on tracks and more seats on trains and reliability on the GB rail network)".[9]

Irish Sea tunnel

In October 2020, it was announced that Sir Peter Hendy would lead an independent review into the feasibility of various projects designed to improve the UK's infrastructure, among them a potential fixed link between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[10] This could take the form of a bridge (referred to as the Irish Sea Bridge) or a tunnel, and investigation of a potential rail tunnel would be undertaken by Oakervee. He observed that the collapse of Flybe had reduced opportunities to fly into Northern Ireland.[11]

Honours and awards

References

  1. ^ Stephen, Paul (28 August 2019). "Industry and business leaders back HS2 as review launched". Rail. 886: 28.
  2. ^ a b "Institution of Civil Engineers - Past presidents". 22 August 2010. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Douglas Oakervee knighted by Queen in New Year Honours". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Douglas Oakervee: 'I think the name HS2 is unfortunate'". The Independent. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ^ "The Lighthouse Q3 2022". issuu.com. 13 October 2022. pp. 16–21. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b Walker, Jonathan (17 June 2019). "Former HS2 chairman to lead review of new rail line". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Government announces independent review into HS2 programme". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  8. ^ "HS2 independent review: terms of reference". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Oakervee Review". Department for Transport. Retrieved 12 February 2020. original rationale for HS2 – still holds: there is a need for greater capacity (both more trains on tracks and more seats on trains and reliability on the GB rail network)
  10. ^ "Study to explore feasibility of fixed link across the Irish Sea". Bridge Design & Engineering. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. ^ Webster, Laura (6 November 2020). "Boris Johnson 'now considering rail tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland'". The National. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. ^ "New Year Honours: Diplomatic and Overseas". BBC News. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  13. ^ Lynch, Andrew (7 April 2013). "Leading edge: Douglas Oakervee". Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Birthday Honours 2010: CSV - GOV.UK". assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Presidents". The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  16. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N2.


Professional and academic associations Preceded byAdrian Long President of the Institution of Civil Engineers November 2003 – November 2004 Succeeded byColin John Clinton
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