David Lees
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UALIFICATIONS• Bachelor of Science, Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall, UK, 1983
• Master of Science, Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, 1989
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ROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS• Member, Institution of Engineers, Australia • Member, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, UK • Member, Australian Underground Construction and
Tunnelling Association • Member, British Tunnelling Society
Key skills and experience
David Lees has more than 30 years’ experience with particular expertise in tunnelling and
underground works. After beginning his career as a mining engineer in the South African mining
industry, David married and returned to the UK in 1988 and commenced a new career in civil
engineering with piling works for Canary Wharf in London and the design of tunnel projects for
London Underground. He was the Client’s Representative for the construction of a large cavern
in Jersey before migrating to Australia in 1995. He was a site engineer for the Elgas Storage
Cavern, Technical Advisor to the FAC for the New Southern Railway and carried out an
inspection of the Snowy Eucumbene Tunnel for Snowy Hydro. In 2000 he sarted his own
consultancy carrying out projects such as developing a low pressure jet grouting system for
Sydney Airport repairs, Blasting Consultant for Northside Storage Tunnel and PRL, Design
Manager for the Delhi Metro, EIS for Lane Cove Tunnel, development of non-explosive blasting
techniques, Designer’s Representative for the soft ground NATM excavation of the Deep Tunnel
Sewer System in Singapore, aswell as a number of legal appointments as expert witness. In 2002
he joined KBR as their National Tunnelling Manager and was later appointed as NSW Civil
Manager – projects included Metro West, Bondi Turnback, Busby’s Bore scheme, Otira Tunnel
inspection and banks engineer for Lane Cove Tunnel. In 2004 he started Grouting and Foundation
Works Australia – a specialist grouting.ground improvement contractor whilst continuing as an
engineering consultant. He has been responsible for Ranger Mine, Shannon Creek and Westcliff
Colliery Dam Grouting, permeation grouting projects, energy cable grouting for AusGrid and
Endeavour Energy and cleaning of the TransGrid Tunnel. As a consultant he has performed many
tunnel inspections for Sydney Water, been Banks Enginneer for the Airport Link, designed an
LNG tunnel, and been appointed as an expert witness on a number of legal cases. He has been the
editor of the Australasian Tunnelling Society Journal since 1997 and in 2009 he was appointed as
a Director of Engineers Media. Recent experience includes:
Blasting consultant NW RailLink
Sewer tunnel inspections for Sydney Water
Design of LNG tunnel for Origin Energy
Bank’s Engineer for the Lane Cove Tunnel and Airport Link;
Grouting Engineer Ranger Mine, Shannon Creek and Westcliff Colliery
Designer’s Representative for the soft ground NATM excavation for DTSS in Singapore;
Expert witness major arbitrations for tunnelling projects and and geotechnical cases;
JUNE 2004 TO PRESENT
GROUTING AND FOUNDATION WORKS AUSTRALIA, SYDENY
David is a founding member of Grouting and Foundation Works Australia and has been responsible for all project work carried out. This includes:- backfill grouting for the Cross City Tunnel, stabilisation for a prospect shaft in New England, dam grouting at Ranger Mine, underpinning at Austral Brick Works, Shannon Creek foundation grouting, Newpac Colliery shaft grouting, pcf blasting Port Kemblar, tailings dam stabilisation Cobar, bore grouting for Energy Australia and bentonite injection for Endeavour Energy, cleaning TransGrid tunnel, and inner city underpinning.
JUNE 2002 TO JUNE 2004
KELLOGG BROWN AND ROOT (KBR), SYDNEY
David was appointed Manager, Tunnelling, in KBR’s Sydney office in July 2002 and set about re-establishing KBR’s presence in the tunnelling industry with work for Perth City Council on proposals for tunnel extensions between Northbridge and the CBD, as Bank’s Engineer for the TunnelLink Consortia for Lane Cove Tunnel Tender, work for RIC on the Metro West proposals through Sydney, assistance with determination of support requirements for the Inner Northern Bus way in Brisbane, blasting consultancy for the Parramatta Rail Link Project at Macquarie University and Epping Stations.
In February 2003 David was appointed as Manager for the Civil Group in NSW, and was appointed as Project Director for the design of Taxiway G for Sydney Airport, and the site supervision of the Gungahlin Drive Extension in Canberra. He has also played a significant role in the development of the Busby’s Bore Project to develop a drought-free irrigation system for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.
Since leaving KBR , David has continued to provide expertise as a consultant in particular for the inspection of Sydney Water sewer tunnels and for the design of a LNG tunnel to Curtis Island for Origin Energy, and a Banks Engineer for Brisbane’s Airport Link.
1999 TO JUNE 2002
DAVID LEES & ASSOCIATES, SYDNEY
David established his own consultancy in 1999. Appointments included Design Manager for the tender design for the Delhi Metro in India, Blasting Consultant for Northside Storage Tunnel, initial tunnel design for the M2 Lane Cove Tunnel EIS, Designer’s Representative on the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System in Singapore, design for tunnel linings and waterproofing for the Parramatta Rail Link tender design, and 40-year inspection of the Snowy–Geehi Tunnel. He assisted Brandrill in developing the non-explosive blasting technique pcf. He was appointed as Australian Rep for Rascor waterproofing in 2006 and DryTech in 2011. He was appointed expert witness for the Hydrogeological case for Melbourne City Link arbitration, and Port Headland Harbour dolphin demolition.
1995 TO 1999
SNOWY MOUNTAINS ENGINEERING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA
As Tunnelling Engineer, David was performed a range of roles:
• Site supervision of the Sydney LPG Cavern, with particular responsibility for the control of blasting; • Technical Adviser to the FAC for the 11 m diameter tunnel (slurry tunnel boring machine) beneath the
• Carried out the 30-year inspection of the Eucumbene–Snowy tunnel, and the design review of several design and construct tunnel projects throughout Australia.
1994 TO 1995
GEO ENGINEERING, JERSEY, UK
David was appointed Resident Engineer (Client’s Representative) for the construction of the Jersey Stormwater Cavern.
1991 TO 1994 BABTIE GROUP, UK
Principal Tunnelling Engineer responsible for the detailed design of Southwark Station and running tunnels for the Jubilee Line Extension and Farringdon Station. Other projects included the Ipswich Relief Sewer, Kwai Chung Park Tunnel on the Hong Kong Airport Project, the Ramsgate Wastewater Project and the Newton Street Tunnel Refurbishment.
1988 TO 1991
OVE ARUP & PARTNERS, LONDON, UK
As Senior Geotechnical Engineer, David was responsible for the construction supervision of piling and foundation works in London, particularly on the Canary Wharf project.
1983 TO 1988
JOHANNESBURG CONSOLIDATED INVESTMENT CO., SOUTH AFRICA
As a mining engineer, David managed production teams in both narrow seam gold and platinum mines and wide ore body gold mines (on which he wrote his MSc thesis).
PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
‘NATM is not appropriate for London Clay’—Discussion presentation ‘From deep, hard rock excavation to London Clay—use of Hoek & Browns Underground Excavation Support Design’. British Tunnelling Society, London, February 1994.
‘Drainage as a Means to Stabilise Underground Works’, Tunnels & Tunnelling, March 1995. ‘Sydney LPG Cavern’, Tunnels and Tunnelling, July 1996.
‘Historic Uses of Underground Space’ and ‘Planning Issues in Underground Space Development’ as part of The Warren Centre Underground Space Project presented at the Warren Centre Underground Space Seminar on 18 July 1996
‘Controlled Blasting for Hard Rock Cavern Construction in an Urban Environment’, IX Australian Tunnelling Conference, August 1996.
‘Modern Design and On-Site Supervision Techniques in Tunnelling Engineering—Geotechnical Design Techniques for Lar Lavarak Underground Power Station and Remote Blast Monitoring for Sydney LPG Cavern’, 1st International Symposium on Modern Tunnelling Technology, Beijing, November 1996. ‘Underground Space in the Urban Environment—Development and Use’, ‘Chapter 2—Potential in the Underground’ and ‘Chapter 3 ‘Planning the Underground’, A Report of the Warren Centre Underground Space Project—Technical Papers, The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, The University of Sydney, June 1997.
‘Sydney LPG Cavern’, Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine No 1/97, August 1997.
‘Design Requirements of Soft Ground Tunnelling in Urban Areas’, Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine No 1/98, April 1998.
‘Tunnel Maintenance and Refurbishment’, 2nd Annual Asia Tunnelling Summit, Kuala Lumpur 25 & 26 August 1998. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
‘Blast monitoring at Sydney LPG Cavern’, Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine No 2/98,September 1998.
‘Design of Smooth Blasting for Underground Excavation in Sydney Sandstone’(Prepared for the X Australian Tunnelling Conference, March 1999, but withdrawn).
Predicting the Effects of Ground Movements Associated with Soft Ground Tunnel Construction in Urban Areas—A Procedure for Engineering Evaluation’ X Australian Tunnelling Conference, March 1999. ‘Constraints for tunnel excavation in the urban environment and how to overcome them’. Planning for Urban Tunnels, AUCTA workshop at GEO Eng 2000 Melbourne November 2000.
‘Controlled blasting in soft rock’ (Prepared for International Conference on Tunnels and Singapore November 2000, but withdrawn).
‘PCF (Penetrating Cone Fracture).’ International Conference on Tunnels and Singapore November 2000. ‘Soft Ground NATM’ Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine No. 2/2001, November 2001.
‘The state of Underground Construction and Tunnelling in Australia’ Tribune – ITA Newsletter N0 21 February 2002
‘Australian Tunnelling – The State of the Industry’ Tunnels and Tunnelling March 2002
‘The application of holistic safety and risk management techniques to the mining industry’ Mining Risk Management Conference AusIMM Sydney September 2003 (Republished in Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine October 2003 No 4)
“The Otira Rail Tunnel – New Zealand” Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine March 2004 No 5
‘Busby’s Bore Project’ Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association Magazine March 2004 No 5
‘Financial aspects of Underground Development & the Changing Role of the Bank’s Engineer’ The 6th
“The Art of Grouting” 2nd AUCTA Tunnelling Course. Melbourne University November 2004 ‘Busby’s Bore Project’. 12th
Australian Tunnelling Conference, Brisbane, April 2005
“Recent experiences in grouting Sydney Sandstone” AGS Symposium, Sydney October 2005.
“Transportation of dangerous goods in tunnels – The effect of fires and explosions on tunnel structures” – Australasian Tunnelling Society Journal No 1 March 2006
“The art of grouting and ground treatment” – RTA Geotechnical Seminar, Hawks Nest 22nd March 2006
“Prediction and control of settlement associated with urban Tunnelling” - Australian Geomechanics Group and the Australasian Tunnelling Society, Brisbane June 15th 2006
“The development and application of grouting and ground treatment” - 3rd AUCTA Tunnelling Course. Brisbane Institute of Engineers September 2007
“Terror Under Sydney” - Amazon, October 2008
“The design and construction of a Bat Cave”, 13th Australian Tunnelling Conference, AUCTA, Melbourne, May 2008
“History of Tunnelling in Australia”, ATS Brisbane, July 2009
“Bore Grouting”, Energy Australia Trenchless Technology Seminar, August 2009
“The Art of Grouting”, “The History of Drill and Blast”, “Freezing”, Australasian Tunnelling Society Tunnel Design and Construction Course, Sydney, September 2009
Chairman - IBC 9th Tunnelling Conference, December 2009
“The History of Australian Tunnelling”, Paragon Press, Australasian Tunnelling Society, February 2010 “Burrows Road EA Tunnel – GFWAust stops the leaks”, ATS Journal October 2010
“The History of Australian Tunnelling”, ATS Sydney Group December 2010 “Historic tunnels of The Hook”, ATS Journal March 2011
“Grouting electrical underbores”, AusGrid Alliance, September 2011 “History of underground wine storage,” ATS Journal October 2011 “The Power of Water”, Equilibrium Books, March 2012
“Automation in Underground Tunnelling,” ATS Journal Special Feature, March 2012 “Grouting in tunnels”, Leighton Contractors, August 2012
“Control of Groundwater”, Australasian Tunnelling Society Tunnel Design and Construction Short Course, Sydney, September 2012
“Metro moves to plug leaks in City Loop tunnels,” ATS Journal October 2012 “Old Sydney sewers – drill and blast tunnels,” ATS Journal October 2012
“Japan Tunnel Collapse”, ATS Journal – Special Feature, March 2013 “New York’s flooded tunnels”, ATS Journal - Special Feature, March 2013 “Tunnelling in Australia”, World Tunnelling, October 2013
“Sydney CBD and South East Light Rail,” ATS Journal October 2013 “The Scenic Railway Upgrade,” ATS Journal October 2013
“Soft Ground Grouting”, ATS Sydney, November 2013
“National Tunnelling Code of Practice”, Safe Work Australia, November 2013 “The Age of Steam”, Equilibrium Books, December 2013
