Telford Medal


The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold, silver or bronze; the Telford Gold Medal is the highest award the institution can bestow.

History

In 1834 Scottish civil engineer and the Institution of Civil Engineers' first president, Thomas Telford died, leaving in his will his library of technical works to the Institution of Civil Engineers, as well as a bequest of £2000; the interest from which was to be used to for the purpose of "Annual Premiums". The council of the institute decided to expend the premiums on both honorary and monetary rewards, the honorary awards being named Telford Medals, which would be awarded in gold, silver and bronze forms. Suitable candidates for the awards were submitters of drawings, models, diagrams or essays relating to civil engineering or any other new equipment of invention relating to engineering or surveying in general, which is regarded as most seminal and influential. The awards were to be open to both Englishmen and foreigners equally. After provision for the Telford Medal, the remaining income is used for up to four annual prizes for papers presented to the institution.
The inaugural gold award was given in June 1837 to John Timperley for his account of the history and construction of the town docks of the Port of Kingston upon Hull, published in volume 1 of the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers; the medals carried an image of Telford on one side, and of his Menai Bridge on the reverse. The bust of Telford was a design by William Wyon and the medal is also signed "J. S. and A. B. Wyon" a collaboration of Joseph Shepherd Wyon and his brother, Alfred Benjamin Wyon. John Macneill, James M. Rendel, Michael A. Borthwick, Peter Barlow, and Benedetto Albano received silver awards in the same session.

Recipients

Telford Medal

The Telford gold medal is issued generally once a year. See below for the Telford Premium of which a larger number.

21st century

YearNameMedalPaper
2024B. Cerfontaine, M.J. Brown, J.A. Knappett, C. Davidson, Y.U. Sharif, M. Huisman, M. Ottolini, J.D. BallControl of screw pile installation to optimise performance for offshore energy applications
2023S. Nagula, M. Nguyen, J. Grabe, J. Kardel, T. BahlField measurements and numerical analysis of vibroflotation of sand
2022S. Kaminski, R. Henly, N. Ciuffetelli and othersStrengthening the 1960s UK Commonwealth Institute hyperbolic paraboloid roof
2021Z. Zhou, C.D. O'Loughlin, D.J. WhiteAn effective stress analysis for predicting the evolution of SCR–seabed stiffness accounting for consolidation
2020M.S.P. Wan, J.R. Standing, D.M. Potts, J.B. BurlandPore water pressure and total horizontal stress response to EPBM tunnelling in London Clay
2019N.M. Pinyol, M Alvarado, E.E. Alonso, F. ZabalaThermal effects in landslide mobility
2018M.S.P. Wan, J.R. Standing, D.M. Potts, J.B. BurlandMeasured short-term subsurface ground displacements from EPBM tunnelling in London Clay
2017Rainer Barthel, Joram Tutsch, Joseph JordanThe Gothic tower of Freiburg Minster, Germany: analysis and repair
2016Alba Yerro, Eduardo E. Alonso, Nuria M. PinyolThe material point method for unsaturated soils
2014R. Kerry RowePerformance of GCLS in liners for landfill and mining applications
2013Brian A. Giannakopoulos, Nigel B. Kaye and Gary R. HuntThe influence of room geometry on the overturning of smoke owing to a floor fire
2012Deric J. Oehlers, M.S. Mohamed Ali, Michael C. Griffith, Matthew Haskett, Wade LucasA generic unified reinforced concrete model
2011Victoria B. Ashley, John E. Earp, David J. Coates, Roger AshworthThe accelerator-driven thorium reactor power station
2010Santiago HuertaThe safety of masonry buttresses
2009Neil Hoult, Paul Fidler, Campbell Middleton, Kenichi SogaWireless sensor networks: Creating 'smart infrastructure'
2008Alan E. VardyGeneration and alleviation of sonic booms from rail tunnels
2007Michael B. AbbottManaging the inner world of infrastructure
2006Eduardo E. Alonso, Antonio GensAznalcóllar Dam failure
2005H. SharmanWhy wind power works for Denmark
2004Robert H.J. Sellin, David P. van BeestenConveyance of a managed vegetated two-stage river channel
2003Simon J. Wheeler, Marc S.R. Buisson, Radhey S. SharmaCoupling of hydraulic hysteresis and stress–strain behaviour in unsaturated soils
2002Lidija Zdravković, David M. Potts, David W. HightThe effect of strength anisotropy on the behaviour of embankments on soft ground
2001Melanie Batten, William PowrieMeasurement and analysis of temporary prop loads at Canary Wharf underground station, east London
2000Scott W. SloanARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Science and Engineering, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
2000Hai-Sui YuProfessor of Geotechnical Engineering and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham

20th century

YearNameMedalPaper
1999Graham W Plant and Douglas E OakerveeHong Kong International Airport – civil engineering design
1998David Potts, Peter Rolfe Vaughan, Nebojsa KovacevicDelayed collapse of cut slopes in stiff clay.
1997Alistair BiggartStorebaelt Tunnel
1995R.P.J. Clarke and Colin Norman Paterson MackenzieOvercoming ground difficulties at Tooting Bec
1994R.P.J. Clarke and Colin Norman Paterson MacKenzieOvercoming Ground Difficulties at Tooting Bec.
1994Eduardo E. Alonso, Antonio Gens, A. LloretThe landslide of Cortes de Pallas, Spain
1993A.R. Flint Strengthening and Refurbishment of The Severn Crossing
1991David Potts, Peter Rolfe Vaughan
1989Nick Shirlaw
1986D. Droy, A. McGowan, D.C. MannA8 Port Glasgow Eastern Section: Design and Construction.
1985Rodney C. Bridle, Peter Rolfe Vaughan, Howard N. JonesEmpingham Dam – Design, Construction and Performance
1984Jayanta K. Mitra, J. H. Tetlow, and N. EllisHutton Tension Leg Platform – The Hutton Tension Leg Platform
?Terence W. Hulme
1982Nigel Ruffle
1981Roy Severn, Alan Jeary, Brian EllisForced vibration testing of embankment dams using an eccentric mass exciter system
1978David BlockleyAnalysis of Structural Failures
1976Sir Alan Muir Wood
1973Alistair BiggartThe Bentonite Tunnelling Machine
1973John Vernon Bartlett
1971John Vernon Bartlett
1968Letitia Chitty
1968Peter Walter RoweSummary. The Influence of Geological Features of Clay Deposits on the Design and Performance of Sand Drains
1968Geoffrey Binnie
1965Bill CarlyleLlyn Brianne Water Scheme, River Towy, Wales
1964Mary Kendrick'Reasons for siltation in the Mersey estuary' First female medallist
1962Henry Chilver, Baron Chilver
1962Stanley Bernard Warder'Electric Traction in the British Railways Modernization Plan'
1958Gerald Lacey`regime theory' for the design of major irrigation canals and Stable Channel Flow.
1949C.B.H.Colquhoun, Terence Patrick O'SullivanThe Brabazon Assembly Hall at Filton
1948Alexander MitchellScrew-piles
1935B. M. Hellstrom
c.1934J.J.C BradfieldThe Sydney Harbour Bridge and Approaches
1932John Fleetwood BakerDesign of steel-framed buildings
1930William Thomson HalcrowLochaber scheme.
1928Sydney Lionel RotheryA.M.I.C.E., paper describing the salient engineering features of an international irrigation project in California, United States, and in Lower California, Mexico.
c.1928Oscar FaberPlastic Yield, Shrinkage, and Other Problems of Concrete, and Their Effect on Design
1927Oswald Longstaff ProwdeThe Gezira Irrigation Scheme, including the Sennar Dam on the Blue Nile
1926John Arthur SanerThe most efficient & economical means of overcoming differences in level in canals and inland navigations
1924Charles InglisThe Theory of Transverse Oscillations in Girders and its Relation to Live Load and Impact Allowance
1921Ernest George Coker
1918Edward Sandeman'Derwent Valley Waterworks'
1915James R. ForgieThe Laxaxalpam Aqueduct Tunnels in Mexico
?William Wright Harts
1911Francis CollingwoodRepairs to the Allegheny Bridge
1911William J. WilgusDetroit River Tunnel
1910Adam Hunter and Francis Charles BuscarletQueen Alexandra Bridge over the River Wear, Sunderland.
1910George Robert Graham ConwayChief Engineer, Monterrey Railway, Light and Power Company, Mexico
1910Charles Mattathias JacobsTunnelling the North River
1907–1908William Barclay Parsons'The New York Rapid Transit Subway.'
1906–1907Dugald Clerk
1906–1907Edward John Way
1905–1906George Alfred Denny'Design and Working of Gold-Milling Equipment, with special reference to the Witwatersrand.'
1904–1905Lord Brassey'Shipbuilding for the Navy.'
1904–1905Charles Stuart Russell Palmer'Coolgardie Water-Supply.'
1904–1905Major Sir Robert Hanbury Brown
1901–1902John McFarlane Gray'Variable and Absolute Specific Heats of Water'
1901–1902William Morris Mordey′Electrical traction on Railways′
1901William T.C. BeckettThe Bridges over the Orissa Rivers on the East Coast Extension of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway.
1900Edmund Wragge and George Andrew HobsonThe Metropolitan Terminus of the Great Central Railway
1900Llewelyn Birchall Atkinson and Claude William Atkinson 'Electrical Mining Machines'