tunnelling-journal (1)
tunnelling-journal (1)
  • Home
  • Print
    • Subscribe
    • Tunnelling Journal
    • Breakthrough
    • ITA Activity Report
    • A&NZ Journal
    • WTC Preview
    • Media Kit
  • Digital
    • Newsletter
    • E-Shots
    • TJ Digital edition
    • Products Page
    • Media Kit
  • Conferences
    • BTS Conference and Exhibition
    • Cutting Edge 2022
  • Buyer’s Guide
  • Events Diary
  • Jobs
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Podcast

Home > Remembering John Foster 1947 to 2022

Remembering John Foster 1947 to 2022

Tris Thomas

Written by Tris Thomas on 18/01/2023 in News

Tagged:

John Foster began his career with a steel company in Workington where his student apprenticeship included an honours degree in mechanical engineering.

John Foster

After graduating in 1969 he joined Edmund Nuttall and worked on a number of projects including the Foyers Pump Storage scheme, 100 inch tunnels for the Ely-Ouse Aqueduct and the Second Mersey Tunnel.

Following his work on the experimental bentonite tunnelling machine at New Cross he moved to Nuttall’s subsidiary R L Priestley where he was involved in the design of numerous tunnelling machines for use in the UK, Italy and Czechoslovakia and also the first Channel Tunnel TBM in 1974 which was proven to be successful before the project was abandoned.

 When it was decided to close Priestley in 1980, John moved to Markham along with Richard Lewis where he was instrumental in the design and construction many open-face and semi-mechanised shields for contractors in UK and also for several projects in Italy.

In 1985 John became Managing Director of Decon and in cooperation with James Howden & Company he used the unique experience gained from the 1974 Channel Tunnel project to lead the design team for the four UK Channel Tunnel machines supplied to Trans Manche Link.

In 1987 he set up Mechanised Tunnelling Services as his own consultancy to provide an independent and specialist service in respect of tunnelling equipment to the contractors, consultants and insurers worldwide.

In the following 31 years John used his expertise to provide consultancy support on projects in Europe and Asia. Along with extensive work in South America.

By the time that he closed MTS and retired in 2018 John had been involved with more than 250 tunnelling machines during his career.

John was a most honest man whose integrity, skills and expertise were recognised and respected throughout the tunnelling industry.

He was a keen golfer and very competitive to the extent that he always won the MTS Golf Days that he organised!

Most people will remember John as a jovial character who always had a broad smile in every photograph.

He was a very strong family man who put his family before everything, and he will be sorely missed by his family and many tunnellers all around the world.

Comments:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Mike Vassallo says:
    31/01/2023 at 8:04 pm

    Thank you John for everything you left us, thanks for the apprenticeship. You will always be a reference for many of us, as an honest person, as an excepcional professional, worthy of admiration and respect.

    Reply
  2. Tony Ridley says:
    26/01/2023 at 8:45 am

    John was a real gentleman, friendly, outgoing and extremely knowledgeable, he gave us a lot of assistance to secure contracts in south america when the company was very young

    Reply
  3. Ermin Stehlik says:
    26/01/2023 at 8:14 am

    Thanks for remembering John, my friend for many years. He did not advertised his work, but in my opinion was one of the best TBM expert in the word. And very good friend. John and myself were born only few days apart, for our 70th birthday he came to Prague with his wife for celebration. I will miss him this year…

    Reply

Search

Digital Edition

More Like This

25/01/2023

Major breakthrough for Broadway Subway Project

Major breakthrough for Broadway Subway Project

Work on Vancouver’s $1.728bn Broadway Subway project has reached another milestone with the first of two 6m diameter Herrenknect TBMs…

05/04/2023

Requests for Proposals Issued to teams for Ontario Line

Requests for Proposals Issued to teams for Ontario Line

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) for two major works packages for the Ontario Line:…

19/04/2023

Hudson Tunnel Project announces revised contract packages

Hudson Tunnel Project announces revised contract packages

The Civil Works portion of the Hudson Tunnel Project will now be divided into four contract packages, rather than the…

  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Magazine Archive

Newsletter

The latest from the Tunneling Journal direct to your inbox.

Social



Enquiries

TGS Media Ltd
The Old Library
Webster House
Dudley Road
Tunbridge Wells
TN1 1LE
United Kingdom

© Tunnelling Journal. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy / Terms & Conditions. Admin

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more