William Gordon Harris

Sir William Gordon Harris (10 June 1912 – 20 February 2005) was a British civil engineer. His early career was with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and in the Sudanese Irrigation Department before he began a 26-year spell with the Admiralty Civil Engineers Department. Harris rose to become Civil Engineer in Chief in 1959 and was responsible for building facilities to cope with the change in focus of the Royal Navy from gunnery ships to aircraft carriers and submarines, including the nuclear submarine docks at Faslane. Harris was later made director-general of highways in the Ministry of Transport during which time he was responsible for the construction of the 650 miles of motorway, a focus on ground investigation at pre-tender stage and the development of new motorway signalling and telecommunications systems. He later entered private practice as a consulting engineer and was chairman of the Port of Dover. Harris also served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers.

Early career

Harris was born in Liverpool on 10 June 1912 to Captain James Whyte Harris and Margaret Roberts Buchanan Harris (née Forsyth). His father was a captain in the Royal Naval Reserve. Harris was educated at Liverpool College before studying the Mechanical Sciences Tripos at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. and also became Director-General of Works at the Ministry of Public Building and Works. From 1965 Harris was the Director-General of Highways at the Ministry of Transport (later the Department of the Environment). During this time he was responsible for all design, construction and maintenance of roads in England. He was responsible for securing agreement from the county councils and the Association of Consulting Engineers on road schemes and for presenting these to the secretary of state, Barbara Castle. Harris was the chief British delegate to the Permanent Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC) from 1969 until 1985 and from 1970 to 1971 was the country's chief delegate to the Permanent Association of Roads Congresses. He also updated the ICE's contract documentations (including the 5th edition of ICE Conditions of Contract published in June 1973) and its standard method of measurement.

Later career In 1973 Harris left the Department of the Environment and became a partner at Peter Fraenkel & Partners, a position he held for the next five years. In 1984 he was elected president of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers.