Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University; Head, Division of Civil Engineering, 1989–2001; Chairman and Honorary Editor, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Bridge Engineering, 2003–2006.
The Editorial Advisory Panel of Bridge Engineering and his many friends and colleagues were deeply saddened to learn of the death of its first Honorary Editor, Professor Ben Barr, who passed away on the 28th September after a typically courageous fight with cancer.
Ben graduated from University College, Cardiff in 1964 with a first-class honours degree in civil engineering. This was followed by brief spells with the civil engineering contractors Taylor Woodrow Construction and consultants Freeman Fox & Partners before returning to University College to undertake a PhD in fracture mechanics with Professor Gurney, with which he graduated in 1968. He then worked as an engineer for a short period with Glamorgan County Council before becoming first a Senior Lecturer and then Principal Lecturer in civil engineering at the Polytechnic of Wales (now the University of Glamorgan). During this period he also spent five months as a visiting academic in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA.
Ben returned to University College, Cardiff in 1980 where his primary research interests were the application of experimental strain analysis methods and numerical techniques in fracture mechanics, developing fracture tests for concrete in the various fracture modes including mixed-mode fracture, fibre-reinforced concrete, high-performance concretes and the toughness of concrete and fibre-reinforced concrete. Ben also had an interest in novel construction methods (soil nailing and artificial islands), polymer concrete and the use of waste materials in concrete, and, perhaps above all, a passion for bridges and the history of bridge building, particularly in Wales.
This passion was given an outlet when Ben became the initial Chairman of the Editorial Advisory Panel and Honorary Editor of the Institution of Civil Engineers' Bridge Engineering journal when it was first published in March 2003. The author of many a perceptive editorial, he was both a regular contributor himself and an enthusiastic supporter of those who sought to do likewise. He was Chairman of the ICE's International Bridge Design, Construction and Management Conferences in 2003 and 2005 held in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, respectively, and worked unstintingly to encourage the dissemination of leading practice in bridge engineering throughout the world.
Ben retired from the university in 2005, although he continued his work with the ICE right through to 2009. Known both locally and nationally, he worked tirelessly for his profession. He represented the South Wales Association and subsequently ICE Wales, Cymru first as Honorary Secretary, as Chairman in the 1988–1989 session and as their Council Member from 1999 to 2002. He was a member of the Joint Board of Moderators from 1999 to 2008, the Chairman of its International Sub-Committee from 2002 to 2007 and an ICE representative on the Quality Assurance and overseas accrediting committees of the Engineering Council between 2002 and 2008. At all times Ben conducted himself with conviction, good humour and with a particularly good eye for detail. Always eager to highlight the positive, he was a gifted and talented communicator, which was reinforced by his love of poetry from which he would always find a discerning and often amusing quote to illustrate his point.
Ben was also passionate about his rugby and his tales of the exploits of ‘The Sombreros', as they followed his beloved Wales home and away, could keep an audience entertained whatever the outcome of the match. Indeed it often seemed that he saw life like a rugby match – hard fought on the pitch but at the end of the match you shake hands and have a pint together.
Ben was fair and considerate in all of his dealings and a great leader who would support and defend his team at all times. Everyone who worked with him knew they could (and did) let off steam with Ben and he would never bear a grudge. It is no coincidence that it was during his tenure as the Head of the Civil Engineering Division at Cardiff that it became recognised as the academic success story of the University. He cared passionately about all aspects of his work, a passion that was founded and supported by his unerring belief in the importance of family and family values. Colleagues across the civil engineering profession as a whole will greatly miss him. He will be remembered as a good, kind and extremely caring individual to whom, as he would always remind us, ‘these are the good old days'.
ROBERT J. LARK
