WILLIAM GEORGE NICHOLAS GEDDES CBE, BSc, HonDSc(Edin), FEng, FICE, FIStructE

With the death of W G N Geddes on 10th November 1993 the civil engineering profession lost one of its most distinguished and respected members of the post war years. George Geddes was born in the village of Oldhamstocks, East Lothian on 29th July 1913 and was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1975. His schooling was at Dunbar Grammar School where he was Dux in 1931. His parents died in his infancy, his father, an architect being killed in the First World War. He was brought up by his grandfather and two aunts and he often expressed how fortunate and indebted he was to them for the guidance, care and affection he received from them. He entered the University of Edinburgh in 1931 and graduated in 1934 with a degree of BSc in Civil Engineering with First Class Honours. He played an active part in University life as a distinguished member of the University football team being awarded 'Blues' in 1933 and 1934. When he first matriculated at the University, the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald had just opened the new King's Buildings accommodating the Engineering Department. The Regius Professor of Civil Engineering, Sir Thomas Hudson-Beare, when addressing the first year students painted a gloomy picture of the prospects of employment for graduates, a situation not unlike the present day, when employment opportunities for civil engineering graduates are limited. However, on graduation he obtained an opportunity for training in the City Engineer's Department in Edinburgh. Unlike some offices at that time no premium had to be paid, but there was also no remuneration and the only perquisite was free transport on the city tramway system by virtue of an issue of travel tokens. Thereafter he became an assistant in Sir William Arrol and Co Ltd Glasgow, the famous bridge and structural engineering firm. An appointment with F A Macdonald & Partners (now W A Fairhurst and Partners) followed where the influence of Dr Fairhurst stimulated his great interest and enthusiasm in reinforced concrete. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War he was seconded to Imperial Chemical Industries and later to the Shell Oil Company where he was involved in the design and construction of major projects related to hydrogenation and oil refining. He joined the Glasgow based consulting engineering firm of Babtie, Shaw & Morton in 1942, was appointed a partner in 1950, and became senior partner in 1975. He made a major contribution to the firm's expansion and to its present position among the leaders of consulting civil engineers at an international level. He retired from the partnership in 1978 but continued to serve as a senior consultant to the firm until 1984. His career embraced a remarkable collection of challenging engineering projects. He was involved in work for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electic Board and was engaged on the design and construction supervision of a variety of civil and structural projects for reservoirs. One of the most notable was the Allt-na-Lairige Dam in Argyllshire in the 1950s, this being the first concrete dam in Western Europe, and possibly the world, to be pre-stressed with high tensile steel bars at the time of its construction. Later he was the partner in charge of Backwater Dam, the first in the UK to use a chemical grout cut-off. His extensive experience in dam design and construction led him to be appointed to Panel 1 of Inspection Engineers under the Reservoir (Safety Provisions) Act. His firm of Babtie Shaw & Morton had been involved in shipbuilding and ship repairing establishments and in marine works since the beginning of this century, and it is an area with which he was closely associated for almost all his professional life. He described it as a bitter sweet experience particularly when seeing famous shipyards disappear under the pressures of economic change. He regretted that of over 20 shipbuilding firms bordering the Clyde in the immediate post-war period, all reasonably prosperous and apparently providing a future for both management and men, only three or so survived into the 1990s. He and his firm participated in the various phases facing the shipbuilders after the war, the rebuilding of the mercantile fleet, the introduction of prefabrication associated with the developments in welding, the tenfold increase in the size of ships within a comparatively few years and the creation of facilities to provide for all these developments. One of his outstanding achievements for which he was responsible was the major shipbuilding dock at the head of the Musgrove Channel in Belfast for Harland and Wolff. He described the unusual start to this project when Harland and Wolff had the opportunity to build two supertankers but had no facilities large enough. The dock, the largest in the world when completed in 1970, was notable for the speed at which it was designed and constructed, being ready for use scarcely two years after the decision to proceed. His expertise in shipyard problems led to his advice being sought at home and overseas and he travelled extensively in connection with this specialised field. He was a member of the British Mission which advised the Government of India on the development of shipyards in that country. Despite his busy professional career, George Geddes gave unstinting service to the various professional societies of which he was a member. He progressed from Chairman of the Scottish Branch of the Institution of Structural Engineers to President of that Institution in 1971-72, the first Scot based in Scotland to hold that office. He was President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland from 1977 to 1979. He was elected to a Vice-Presidency of the Institution of Civil engineers in 1977, with no intention of proceeding to the Presidency. However the unexpected death of the incoming President led to Geddes being invited to accept the Presidency of the Institution in 1979-80. During his term of office he and his wife travelled extensively in the United Kingdom and overseas visiting Branches of the Institution and meeting with corresponding Engineering Institutions. His conduct and bearing as President was greatly admired and respected and he brought to the office his own high standards and quiet dignity. He also served on the council of the CBI in Scotland, and on the committee of the British section of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering. He was the author of many papers on the projects with which he was associated, and the recipient of a number of awards including the Lewis Kent Award of the Institution of Structural Engineers, the highest distinction given by that Institution for personal services. The high regard in which he was held was recognised by the award of the CBE in 1978 the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Edinburgh and his election to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1979. He served for a number of years as a visiting Professor at Strathclyde University. Apart from his professional and professional society activities, he had a wide range of other interests. After leaving University he continued his participation in football. He became a first eleven member of Queens Park Football Club, and later President and eventually Patron of the Club, an appointment in which he took great pride. He was an active golfer and hill-walker until he suffered a stroke in 1990. A dedicated angler, he landed his last salmon only seven weeks before his death despite suffering a second stroke in 1993. George married Margaret Gilchrist Wilson, also an Edinburgh graduate, in 1941. She survives him along with his son, also a chartered civil engineer and a Director of a large contracting firm, and his daughter, a solicitor in Edinburgh. George and Margaret were a devoted couple who shared many interests and she supported him resolutely in all his activities. They both took pride in that not only their son, but a grandson and granddaughter are following George in the profession of civil engineering. As Sir Alan Muir Wood, a former President of the Institution of Civil Engineers has written, George Geddes was a man of great achievement, of dignity and a man of honour.