IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador Section

Please join us for this fascinating presentation on The Newfoundland - Labrador Fixed Link, discussing the need for detailed Federal / Provincial studies into all aspects ofthe project being proposed by Mr. Kierans' group to physically connect the two separate regions of the province. Specifically the proposal calls for detailed studies into the idea of connecting the Northern Peninsula to Southern Labrador via a tunnel under the Strait of Belle Isle, and the building of a TCH standard road link along the Quebec North Shore of St.Lawrence. Both are required to make both projects viable.

Tom Kierans started in mining by prospecting across Canada by canoe and bush aircraft. A McGill graduate Mining Engineer, he worked in Sudbury mines, specializing in industrial safety and rock mechanics. In 1960 he designed a system to alleviate drought in North America by recycling James Bay Basin's huge freshwater run-off. From 1967 to 1973 he was responsible for mining at Labrador's Churchill Falls underground hydropower project. He was responsible for the then new and very innovative design and rock-bolt construction techniques used in the massive underground tunnels and rock cavities of that project. His design saved millions on the project over the then conventional rock / concrete construction method. He was professor of engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland until 1978 where he continued work as an editor of the American Society Of Civil Engineers Manual on Structural Analysis and Design of Nuclear Plants. In 1978 he was engaged as Director of the College of Cape Breton's Alexander Graham Bell Institute. He was advisor to the Northumberland Strait Fixed Link Environmental Review Panel. He is a life member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland, and Canadian Institute Mining and Metallurgy. He received APEGN's Order of Merit for 2000 and a CSCE fellowship in 2001. The straits Fixed Link is just his current project of which he is the initiator, architect and chief proponent.

Following Mr. Kierans' presentation, we will have a wine & cheese reception in the Faculty Lounge. Spouses, friends, and/or "significant others" are more than welcome.

Please contact Gerard Dunphy (Phone: 737-1323, Email: gdunphy@nlh.nf.ca)for further information.

Note that attendance at IEEE Technical Meetings normally counts for "Informal Activity" hours under the PEG-NL Professional Development Program.

For information on this and other IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador section activities, visit our web page at https://www.ieee.nfld.net/.

Last modified: Thu 2004.05.06 at 22:28 NDT by Dennis Peters