Ian Firth

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Ian Firth FREng [1] FICE, FIStructE, Hon FRIBA [2] is a British structural engineer and bridge designer.

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Ian Firth
Born17 February 1956
England
NationalityBritish
Education The Pilgrims' School, Marlborough College, University of Bristol, Imperial College London
OccupationEngineer
Engineering career
Discipline Structural Engineer, Civil Engineer
Institutions Institution of Structural Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Royal Academy of Engineering
Royal Institute of British Architects
Practice nameIan Firth
Projects Stonecutters Bridge Hong Kong, Strait of Messina Bridge Italy, Strengthening West Gate Bridge Melbourne, Pont Schuman Lyon France, [3] University Swing Bridge Malmö Sweden, [4] Ting Kau Bridge Hong Kong
Significant designBridge of Aspiration Covent Garden, [5] Sail Bridge Swansea, [6] Third Way Bridge Taunton, [7] Lockmeadow Bridge Maidstone, [8] Inner Harbour Bridge Inderhavnsbroen Copenhagen, [9]

Early life and education

Born in Sussex into a Royal Navy family, Firth was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral before going to Marlborough College [10] and then to the University of Bristol [11] where he secured a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering in 1979.[ citation needed ]

Career

Firth joined specialist consulting engineers Flint & Neill [11] in London upon graduation, and initially worked on a variety of projects including tall radio masts and towers, chimneys and steel buildings, as well as the aerodynamic stability of box girder bridges. He then attended Imperial College [ citation needed ] and obtained a further degree in Structural steel Design in 1982. Returning to Flint & Neill, he worked on the complex strengthening and upgrading of the Wye Bridge, a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge and part of the M48 Severn crossing. [12] Since then he has directed several other similar projects involving strengthening of such structures, including the Erskine Bridge in Scotland and the West Gate Bridge in Australia. His other work on major long span bridges includes the independent design checks and investigations for the Tsing Ma Bridge, Kap Shui Mun Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge, all in Hong Kong. He was appointed as special advisor to the client for the longest span of them all, the Strait of Messina Bridge in Italy, which when built will have a main span of 3,300m.

Firth led the team which won the Poole Harbour Crossing bridge design competition in 1997, [13] working with Danish architects Dissing+Weitling, and has subsequently won many other bridge design competitions. These include Lockmeadow Bridge in Maidstone, [8] the Bridge of Aspiration for the Royal Ballet School in London, [5] the River Oise bridge in Compiègne, France, [14] the Pont Schuman in Lyon, France, [3] and Inderhavnsbroen in Copenhagen. [9]

He became partner in Flint & Neill [11] in 1990, and when the firm joined COWI in 2008 he was appointed a director. [15] He retired from full-time employment in 2018 and now works as a consultant, continuing to provide bridge design and engineering advice, training and education.

Firth was president of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2017 [16] and is chairman of the British Group of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering. [17] [18] He is also a trustee of bridge building charity Bridges to Prosperity. [19]

Awards and honours

Firth is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. [2]

Selected projects

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References

  1. ↑ "List of Fellows". Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 "RIBA Honorary Fellowships 2018 announced". www.architecture.com.
  3. 1 2 "Construction du pont Schuman, Lyon (69)". 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  4. ↑ University Swing Bridge, Malmö, Sweden Retrieved June 2018
  5. 1 2 Bridge of Aspiration Covent Garden Retrieved June 2018
  6. 1 2 Sail Bridge Swansea, Retrieved June 2018
  7. 1 2 Third Way Bridge Taunton Retrieved June 2018
  8. 1 2 3 Lockmeadow Bridge Maidstone Retrieved June 2018
  9. 1 2 3 Inner Harbour Bridge Inderhavnsbroen Copenhagen, Zweite, de:Hinterrheinbrücke Switzerland Retrieved June 2018
  10. ↑ "Marlburian Club - Marlborough College Alumni". www.marlburianclub.org.
  11. 1 2 3 "Ian Firth, CEng, FREng, FICE, FIStructE - Bridges to Prosperity".
  12. ↑ "Articles - Copenhagen's 'kissing' bridge". www.ingenia.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Poole Harbour Crossing Retrieved June 2018
  14. 1 2 River Oise Bridge, Compiègne, France Retrieved June 2018
  15. ↑ "Judging - Awards - The Institution of Structural Engineers". Istructe.org. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "The Institution of Structural Engineers announces 2017 President: Ian Firth FREng FIStructE FICE - netMAGmedia Ltd". www.architectsdatafile.co.uk.
  17. ↑ Inc., Advanced Solutions International. "Bulletin Board". www.iabse.org.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  18. ↑ Bristol, University of. "2016: Civil Engineering students and alumni awarded runner-up prizes at the Young Desi - Faculty of Engineering - University of Bristol". www.bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  19. ↑ "TED Talk: Bridges should be beautiful - Bridges to Prosperity". 27 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "Halgavor Bridge (Bodmin, 2001) - Structurae". Structurae.
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