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The charismatic “father of engineering geomorphology”

Peter began his career in the 1950s in chemistry, but soon changed to geology and, after graduation, entered the world of civil engineering as a young geologist. Under the influence of Professor Skempton, Peter studied for a PhD at Queen Mary College, London, which led to a lectureship at Imperial College London in the developing engineering geology group. From there he never looked back, using his commercial experience to build up the first MSc programme in Engineering Geology, before developing his consultancy in 1971.

Peter became a pioneer in the application of geology to civil engineering and, using his chemistry background, in the influence of desert materials on concrete durability. He was affectionately called the “father of engineering geomorphology” because he was a great supporter of the use of geomorphology in engineering projects. He never lost his links to academia, continuing to lecture, lead field courses and initiate ground-breaking research, while playing a leading role in the Engineering Group of the Geological Society of London.

Image left, On the edge of the Grand Erg, Algeria (Photo by Mark Lee, 2010)

Influence

Peter was a prolific writer, publishing some 200 papers and ten books, including many seminal works. His contributions spanned the full range of geological application and resulted in awards in many disciplines, including the Glossop Medal (engineering geology), Honorary Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (engineering geomorphology), Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (civil engineering), as well as Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology (concrete). Peter held several visiting professorships, was awarded Doctor of Science (Engineering) from Imperial College London and was a recipient of the William Smith Medal of the Geological Society of London.

If anything sums up Peter’s approach to the worlds of geology and engineering it is the ground model, which so logically brings the two disciplines together. His approach was to characterise a site by considering its historical development from the original depositional environment, through global tectonic changes to the geomorphological processes that have most recently shaped the near-surface landscape.

From the 1970s, economic expansion in the Middle East provided many opportunities for European and American engineers with little experience of engineering in hot, dry climates. Peter identified inadequacies in the aggregates used in the concrete, pioneered the concept of salt attack resulting from high rates of evaporation and was at the forefront of developing guidelines for good practice that now embody regional standards.

The person

Peter Fookes died in September 2020 after a long illness. He is survived by his wife and soulmate Edna, five children and twelve grandchildren. Peter was passionate about steam trains, and was a fan of West Ham United football club, as well as the television soap ‘Neighbours’—even ending his field trips in time for the 5.30pm episode.

Peter’s charisma was huge. He brought many of his colleagues and students into his extended family, providing them with continuous support.  Uncannily, Peter’s theories, which initially seemed far-fetched, often became the key to the successful progress of a project. It is this knack, the logical way Peter engaged the client, and above all his friendship that I will remember. He will be sorely missed.

By John Charman

(The full version of this obituary, as well as some recollections of Peter's life appear below. Editor.)

Peter George Fookes (1933 – 2020)

Peter Fookes died in September 2020 after a long illness, although he didn’t allow this to get the better of him until the later months. His career began in the 1950s in chemistry, but he soon changed to geology, and, after graduating from Queen Mary College, London, he entered the world of civil engineering as a young geologist. Coming under Professor Skempton’s influence, he studied for an external PhD at Queen Mary College, London, which led to a position as a lecturer at Imperial College London in the developing engineering geology group. From there he never looked back, helping with his commercial experience to build up the world’s first MSc in Engineering Geology, before moving on to develop his consultancy in 1971.

Over the following years Peter was a pioneer in the application of geology to civil engineering and, using his initial chemistry background, in the influence of desert materials on concrete durability. He was affectionately called the “father of engineering geomorphology” because he was a great supporter of the use of geomorphology in engineering projects. Alongside his busy commercial consultancy, he never lost his links to academia, continuing to lecture, lead field courses and initiate ground-breaking research while playing a leading role in the Engineering Group of the Geological Society of London.

Academic influence and publications
Peter was a prolific writer, publishing some 200 papers and ten books, still writing until the time of his death. Many of his publications have been seminal works. His writing was hallmarked by its pragmatic approach allied to the use of easy-to-understand graphics. He helped to set up and was a chair of the Engineering Group of the Geological Society of London, and chaired many of their working parties.

Peter’s contributions spanned the full range of geological application and resulted in awards in many disciplines, including the Glossop Medal (engineering geology), Honorary Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (engineering geomorphology), Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (civil engineering), as well as Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology (concrete). Peter also held several visiting professorships, was awarded Doctor of Science (Engineering) from Imperial College London and was a recipient of the William Smith Medal of the Geological Society of London.

Ground models
If anything sums up Peter’s approach to the world of geology and engineering it is the ground model, which so logically brings the two disciplines together. His approach was to characterise a site or infrastructure route by considering its historical development from the depositional environment of the original rocks and soils, through global tectonic changes to the geomorphological processes that have most recently shaped the near-surface landscape. This philosophy was brought together in the first Glossop Lecture he presented in 1997, the resulting publication virtually a manual in its own right with many illustrations becoming standard references for widespread use.

Concrete in hot deserts
The economic expansion of the Middle East from the 1970s and the development that accompanied it provided a huge workload for European and American engineers that had little previous experience of engineering in hot, dry climates. Peter identified inadequacies in the aggregates used in the concrete, pioneered the concept of salt attack resulting from high rates of evaporation and was at the forefront of developing guidelines for good practice that now embody regional standards. The five articles comprising Concrete in the Middle East, published in Concrete in 1977, are still widely referenced. One of his last papers was “The Engineering Geology of Concrete in Hot Dry Lands” published in 2019.

The person
Peter is survived by his wife and soulmate Edna, together with five children and twelve grandchildren. Edna, or ‘Sir’ to numerous students and close colleagues, was his organiser, Personal Assistant, secretary and driver, enabling him to combine a busy commercial life with a full personal life. Peter and Edna designed their own narrowboat (the “Buffoonery”) and used it across the UK’s inland waterways. Peter was passionate about steam trains and model railways, he was a fan of West Ham United football club, as well as the television soap ‘Neighbours’—even ending his field trips in time to settle down with a gin and tonic to watch the 5.30pm episode.

Peter’s charisma was huge. He brought many of his colleagues and students into his extended family, providing them with continuous encouragement and support throughout their careers. I have received many personal anecdotes of Peter over the past few weeks that pay tribute to this characteristic.  He would quietly use his powers of observation and tremendous recall to assess a new situation before summing up the site in terms of a model and the potential issues to be addressed. Uncannily, on several occasions theories that seemed initially far-fetched became the key to the successful progress of the project. It was this knack, the logical and simple way in which Peter engaged the client, and above all his friendship that I will remember. He will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him.

SOME RECOLLECTIONS ON THE LIFE OF PETER FOOKES

By John Charman

with extracts from contributions from Andrew Hart, David Shilston, Dick Martin, Gareth Hearn, Jim Griffiths, Kevin Privett, Mark Lee, Mike Sweeney, Rod Bridle, and based on many other conversations.

In 1969, as a second-year undergraduate at Imperial College London (IC) I knocked on Peter Fookes’ door. I was determined to find a practical application for my geology training and wanted to explore the third-year engineering geology option. On my first meeting, Peter’s enthusiasm for the subject and apparent delight that I had gone to see him to find about it was my immediate impression. Several colleagues have mentioned this infectious enthusiasm, and that was part of the mood at IC at the time, when soil mechanics, rock mechanics and engineering geology were all developing apace. Rod Bridle recalls “When a few years ago, I belatedly thanked him for the inspiration of his lectures, he was very modest about it, but in his vote of thanks to Mike Sweeney for Mike’s Glossop Lecture in 2018, he was again generous, mentioning that 1969 -70 was a vintage year as Mike, Prof John Atkinson and me were fellow students at Imperial then.”
    
I didn’t know at the time but for me that was the start of a career-long relationship. The last time I saw him was when my wife and I, together with Mike Sweeney and his wife, met Peter and Edna for lunch late last year. We had arranged another date for a repeat lunch early this year, but unfortunately the developing pandemic curtailed that.

Peter’s contribution to the science and practice of engineering geology was immense. It is well documented and many members of the Engineering Groups of the Geological Society (EGGS) knew him well enough for me not to review this in detail here. He helped to set up the Engineering Group, the Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, the Engineering Group Annual Conferences and he is a past Chairman of the Engineering Group. He has also chaired or served on numerous working parties and has contributed to many others. He was probably unique in having been honoured with major awards not only in Engineering Geology with the William Smith medal of the Geological Society and the first Glossop Lecture of the Engineering Group, but across all the disciplines where geology and engineering interact. These included the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society and Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology.

This wide acceptance didn’t happen by accident and I have been reflecting on what it was about him that contributed to such wide recognition. The first thing that struck me was his tremendous enthusiasm for the subject, and his support and encouragement to students and colleagues. When I walked through his door over 50 years ago, he was lounging back in his chair, shoes off, feet on the desk, selecting lecture slides in a very casual manner. But once he started talking, it became obvious that he loved and lived the subject, and he sold me on it. Wherever you were with Peter, there would be a relevant geological anecdote. He loved teaching and injected enthusiasm into his students, and he displayed a lifelong loyalty and generosity to those students and colleagues.

One example for me was his phone call out of the blue in the late 1990s encouraging me to put myself forward for Chair of the EGGS committee. It was something I had not previously considered, but I found it very rewarding and it started off a closer association with the Geological Society, moving on to join Council and to work on various working parties.

David Shilston also recalls that “In the wider world outside Atkins, he introduced me to various roles in connection with university courses, and he suggested that I stand for membership of the Geological Society’s Council – so starting me on a path that led to me being elected the Society’s 106th President and thereby becoming the first engineering geologist to be President.”

Jim Griffiths remembers “A flight to Liberia in 1983. Peter always flew first-class whilst the rest of us were in economy. On this flight before he went off to the first-class lounge at Heathrow, Peter asked me what seat I was in. On the fight, just as the ‘plastic’ economy class dinner was being served this very elegant stewardess came up to me and asked if I was Dr Griffiths. She then presented me with two cans of lager and a proper glass and said, ‘Professor Fookes in First Class thought you might like these with your meal.’”

Dick Martin remembers seeing “Peter, head down in paper spread all over his tray table, scribbling furiously, and telling me he drafted most of his publications on planes, but then readily breaking off and asking how my research was going. At Kathmandu, I was shocked to find that I’d been booked to share a hotel room with him, but his friendly manner quickly made me feel very comfortable, and of course it didn’t take me long to notice his irreverent wit. A few days later he joined Denys Brunsden, David Jones, myself and a few Rendal Palmer and Tritton site staff at our tented camp as we started the walkover survey of the Dharan-Dhankuta road trace. I recall a memorable first night under canvas – for the amount of beer and scotch consumed, intensive discussions with Peter on pros/cons of different cross-section designs along the trace, him regaling us with jokes and reminiscing about times spent in the desert in Iran, and also the local porters nearby practising English phrases Peter had taught them on the march during the day (e.g. ‘Mr Cross is my boss’ – after Ken Cross the RPT engineer in charge). Camp conditions were pretty basic, especially re ablutions (generally around the corner out of sight in the nearest gully), but I never heard him complain.”

Kevin Privett remembers that “Peter's Glossop Lecture (the first, in 1997) set the scene for others to come and was a typical Fookes magnum opus that has stood the test of time. His early days recollection paper was the inspiration behind my own Glossop Lecture, some 21 years later. Sadly, poor fitness prevented him from attending the lecture, but he wrote me a very kind letter when he read the published paper; ending with the comment that engineering geology must be one of the most interesting subjects and that ‘I would do it all again’ – proof, if it was needed, of his enduring support of others and enthusiasm for his subject.”

He also possessed a phenomenal memory recall and command of his subject. I lost count of how many times I rang him to talk through a certain problem and he would rattle off, off the top of his head, a number of names and references for me to follow up……...and he would ring back a few minutes later with others he had missed. I remember his lectures at college were always thoroughly prepared, accompanied by copious and detailed worksheets and diagrams. Revision as a student was made easier as a result and his professional papers reflect the same degree of thoroughness. This was also reflected in his project field work where initially he would spring (sometimes quite awkward) questions on his companions. Before too long he would assimilate the various comments into a summary picture of the characteristics of the site and the problems that needed to be resolved. It was all so logical and brought everything together so well.

Gareth Hearn recalls that “When we were in the field together or driving to some destination, he would not stop observing things and asking difficult and searching questions. ‘Gareth, what do you think those hills are made of…?’ You would answer and then there would be silence, and you never knew whether you had got the answer right until Peter then explained the geology later to a wider audience. I suppose this sums up his tremendous field observational strengths. Within minutes of arriving on site he would be able to explain most of what he could say and provide insight into what it might mean for a project and the engineers around him. Everyone would be taking copious notes to record his pearls of wisdom. He would command the respect of all in his presence, take control of complex technical situations and develop plans and explanations, taking into account all contributions, from the tea lady to the CEO, and deliver an output that seemed to integrate everything and everyone. I remember it was actually quite thrilling to be in some of these meetings, watching the story unfold, and hoping that Peter wouldn’t ask me any awkward questions in the process.”

He also remembers “At work, Peter used to ‘interview’ all project players in isolation. He would talk to managers, then engineers, then geologists, each on their own, in order to piece together a jigsaw, which he then explained to everyone at the wrap-up meeting on the last day. He was a little like the Detective in ‘Death in Paradise’.”

Jim Griffiths remembers that “One of Peter’s skills was the ability to ask questions of people on the ground. It was the Aristotle concept that we have all the answers but do not know it – Peter would draw out a person’s observations by careful questioning and then be able to weave them into an overall pattern. How often have we stood back after Peter pointed out something and thought, yes that is obvious now!”

Andrew Hart recalls “Peter was always asking questions, getting you to think about the ground model and the engineering problem we were there to work on, and then picking up on those answers and observations and weaving them together to demonstrate a key issue that, in hindsight, was obvious, but we’d all been missing it. You would sometimes wonder where he was going with the questions, but then realise what you’d been missing.”

With this ability, intuition and attention to detail he was a natural leader, blending multidisciplinary teams, instilling a working framework and always aware of the need to fine-tune and clearly present the results to the client. When he was focussed on a particular point, project or research, he was like a dog with a bone. More times than I care to remember the phone would ring and I would hear a drawn out ‘Joh----n’ and I knew that there would be a request for something to do. Or, as part of a project team overseas I had just got back to my room after a long day in the field when there was a knock on the door with a request to follow something up.

Mike Sweeney’s memory is that “Peter excelled as a team leader and introduced a unique team discipline to the early recce trips. In advance, building on his experience and desk study, mainly the satellite imagery, significant terrain features would be given a simple scoring and ranking system for visual logging. The terrain features were systematically allocated around the field team, and each observer allocated a window in the jeep, light plane or helicopter. The drive, or flyover, was an almost military process, requiring intense concentration and callout of terrain descriptors and severity grades, with frequent stop-offs and set-downs to calibrate the visual impressions with close examination. Working in this way, an extraordinary amount of useful information was produced in a very short time, and then converted into measures of cost and risk. The information was of course judgemental. Many geotechnical engineers will resist making such judgements, but Peter had a talent for articulating the accuracy of the judgements in a way that project engineers understood. In the event the judgements proved to be of great value, they were always an order of magnitude better than anything the project had, and often stood as the key reference throughout.”

Andrew Hart’s “first experience of Peter’s scoring systems was in Romania in 2004. Myself and Ivan Hodgson were driving across the country with Peter looking at a route for a new oil pipeline, and he quickly devised a scheme covering likely ground conditions, geohazards, routing, etc. Those of us in the back of the vehicle were quickly tasked with scoring what was happening on our side of the vehicle as we made our way through Romania. I then had to plot up the scores into a series of GIS maps as part of the reporting. It was the only way we could have completed the work in the time we had. They quickly became a key part of whenever I was lucky enough to work with Peter – Sakhalin, Guinea, Algeria and Turkey.”

Mark Lee adds “An abiding memory is of Peter’s ‘scoring systems’ whereby he would subjectively rank everything on a 1-to-5 scale (e.g. soil aggressivity) – we had numerous such tables to score the landscape as we drove around or flew across the desert. I suspect that Peter was one of the last of the ‘expert-judgement’ engineering geologists, with the subject having moved closer towards ‘expert systems’ that rely far less on experience and intuition, computer modelling at the expense of conceptualising the situation.”

These are all examples of a practical, no-nonsense approach and an ability to communicate at all levels. All his publications were down-to-earth and are easy reference works for the reader to follow. Many remain standard texts. The publication of the First Glossop lecture in 1997 remains a state-of-the-art text that sets out fundamental principles in a logical manner with many simple accompanying graphics. It was this ability to break a complex subject down into understandable and logical components that I think set him apart from his peers and allowed him to be so effective in communicating geology to other professions. I can remember a particular occasion in eastern Turkey when our 8-man team was carrying out a helicopter reconnaissance and were set down and left on a remote hilltop while the helicopter flew off to refuel. On a cold day, with wintry flurries of snow, Peter gathered the team together, comprising engineers, geologists and geomorphologists, from Britain, the USA, and Turkey and set the scene, summarised the object of our work, detailed how it should be carried out and what key problems should be addressed. He brought the whole team onboard, and a lively discussion ensued while inquisitive local villagers stood bemusedly around us.

Mike Sweeney recalls that “His natural authority, humour and clarity were a great asset in selling the messages to senior project management. Whenever Peter was due to deliver a trip debrief, the word got out and the conference room at the base camp would fill to overflowing. Everyone would understand the concepts very well, such that even the pipeliners often learnt some of the approaches and joined and contributed to the field traverses.”

Dick Martin recollects “I spent 3 years (1977-80) working on construction of the Dharan-Dhankuta road and benefited hugely from Peter’s wisdom and experience during his bi-annual site visits. These usually lasted about a week at a time and, during days in the field, an entourage would often gather in his wake, either on foot or via a small fleet of L/Rs, depending on the position of the roadhead and state of the access track. I noticed his working style was typically a combination of quiet observation on works progress in general, occasional detailed inspections (of cuts and foundations, etc.), probing questions to us site staff on all manner of topics, then every hour or two a halt would be called and he’d lean on his walking stick and make an impromptu mini-lecture to present his findings and thoughts. He was full of pithy comments (e.g. ‘conditions are rarely unforeseeable, only unforeseen’), some of which have stuck with me ever since. Despite some long and tiring days on site, Peter was usually very sociable in the evenings, mucking in with canteen meals and events around the base camp, and offering to give extra summaries of what he’d seen during the day to anyone interested.”

Running through all of Peter’s work was an irreverent sense of humour. I can remember on several occasions when helping to run week-long field trips with Peter for undergraduate and post-graduate students that he always managed to set the students off on a two-hour exercise when there was a convenient café close by serving a cream tea that the ‘staff’ then enjoyed – always having been reviewed beforehand as part of his meticulous pre-trip planning. Edna, his wife, or ‘Sir’, often accompanied us on field trips and was set with tasks such as organising a funny hat competition for the final night dinner. I can also remember the immoveable priority was to be back to the hotel by 5.20pm so he could pour a gin and tonic and settle down to watch ‘Neighbours’ on the telly or, of course, if Edna had stayed at home there was the daily postcard to ‘Sir’.

Mike Sweeney recalls “I’ve never been any good at remembering humorous anecdotes. But, goodness knows, with Peter around there was always chuckling and laughing. We all knew he was a great man, with a unique personality, and he had inspired great loyalty from all of us, his old students and co-workers. It was difficult to capture his unique personality if you’d never worked with him. He was huge fun to work with, but it wasn’t just the fun, the teasing and the humour, we always learnt such a lot, he was one of the great teachers, a rare gift. There were times when Jim Clarke and myself would gently tussle over who was going to go with him on a field trip.”

Mark Lee remembers that “Peter would sign into meetings as I P Standing, saying that ‘this is the worse run project I have ever been on’ and the endless questions about geology (I refused to answer them as they were bear traps for an unwise geographer to fall into). He would ask everyone which University/Course they had done and then sigh.”

Gareth Hearn recalls that “Whether it was really the case or not, Peter seemed to have a problem remembering names of people and places, and would modify names given to him in a really funny, and sometimes quite embarrassing, way. This used to have me in stitches, especially when people present, who had never come across Peter before, didn’t know which way to look.”

Ian Sims was reminded “of regular meetings with a Korean client at Sandberg (in Victoria) that I was required to attend. Many Koreans have names, such as ‘Park’. The boss in this case was one, ‘S S Park’, whom Peter christened ‘Steam Ship’. I don’t think ‘Steam Ship’ ever understood why Peter referred to him as such! At these meetings, in Sandberg’s ‘Dining Room’, Peter would remove his shoes and then pad around the room lecturing ‘Steam Ship’ and his younger team about the various issues that arose with the concrete pipes and their installation. There are so many of these wonderful memories of previous and different times.”

Finally, I am sure that we all, as close colleagues and/or friends over many years, can identify with some of these characteristics and there are many more stories each of us could tell. He was a very special teacher, pioneer researcher and field observer in full command of his subject. He instinctively knew what his client required and how to pitch his report. He had a generous and paternal instinct and above all had an infectious enthusiasm and sense of fun. His was a big act to follow and he will be sorely missed by everyone who was fortunate enough to know him.