Opening address

Civil engineering is as old as civilization. Today1s civil engineers stand in direct line of descent from the irrigators of the Middle East, the builders of the Roman roads, the Suez Canal and the great 19th century railway constructors. Here in Britain has been celebrated in 1987 the 150th anniversary of the first major passenger railway in the world - the Liverpool and Manchester. Other countries around the world have been celebrating their 150th anniversaries. It is fitting that this conference should be hosted by this prestigious Institution whose own evolution has so closely paralleled that of the railway industry. Indeed, the development of engineering as a profession may be said to have started with the foundation in 1818 of this, the oldest engineering institution in the UK and in the world. That event took place just as the railway evolved from a primitive mineral tramway to a mechanically-powered means of conveying passengers.