Digging for net zero: how PAS 2080 applies to tunnelling and geotechnical engineering

David Porter

David Porter is director of engineering with the Department for Infrastructure, which is Northern Ireland’s highways authority. In this role, he is also the chief highways engineer and head of the civil engineering profession in the Northern Ireland civil service.

Porter is responsible for the development of the department’s professional and technical staff, engineering policies and standards, and health and safety. He also leads on procurement and the internal consultancy.

Previously, he was chief executive of the Rivers Agency, Northern Ireland’s flood defence and drainage authority.

Porter has served on the ICE Council three times, twice as the Northern Ireland representative and once as a general member. He is a trustee who, until recently, held the learning society portfolio. He has also served on several institution committees and panels.

A fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering, Porter was awarded the Poskitt Medal by ICE Northern Ireland in 2017 and the President’s Award by Engineers Ireland in 2018.

Lewis Barlow

Renowned for his work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on construction projects, Lewis Barlow provides expert advice on whole-life decarbonisation to developers and governments.

With more than 25 years’ experience of managing environmental risk, he is responsible for several internationally recognised advances in tackling the climate crisis.

Barlow and his team won New Civil Engineer’s NCE100 Low Carbon Leader Award two years running for their work to reduce infrastructure assets’ lifetime emissions and share best practice across the sector.

Skilled in applying climate change projections to ensure project resilience, Barlow wrote and presents the ICE’s Carbon Management in Infrastructure course. He was a member of both the steering group and the technical advisory panel for the revised carbon management standard PAS 2080:2023.

Dr Asha Panchal

Asha Panchal leads a small team working on expanding the reach and application of distributed fibre-optic sensing instrumentation. She is also involved in undertaking the monitoring and analysis of structures to understand their short- and long-term performance during construction and occupation respectively. Previously, she was pivotal in leading the development of ultra-sustainable, low-carbon innovative technologies in deep foundations.  

Panchal is a chartered civil engineer, specialising in geotechnical engineering. She maintains strong links with academic and research institutions to promote innovative practices and tangible opportunities to achieve a circular economy across the civil engineering industry.

Panchal received a PhD at City, University of London, where she is an honorary visiting research fellow, and has extensive experience in physical modelling relating to piled foundations and deep excavations in clays. She has published a range of geotechnical papers and presented at numerous international conferences. Her practical experience and technical background enable her to implement research-based innovations to benefit live projects. She is also a director of the International Press-in Association, Japan.

Dr Keith Bowers

Dr Keith Bowers has worked in civil engineering and transport infrastructure for 35 years and has extensive experience in the maintenance and operation of assets. Previously, he served as head of profession for civil engineering and built environment discipline at Transport for London and as head of tunnels for London Underground (LU), where he played a leading role in developing LU’s risk-based engineering management to support successful delivery of its capital programme. He has also promoted technological development and more efficient construction through the controlled adoption of new technologies.

While working on the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC), Dr Bowers utilised competitive dialogue in the procurement process and championed early contractor involvement (ECI). He has led the tunnels contract towards lower carbon construction and the drive for LTC to become a pathfinder project towards net zero. This encompasses all aspects of the construction and maintenance of low carbon infrastructure.

Dr Bowers is a steering group member of the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, which specialises in adopting a whole-life, multi-disciplinary systems approach.  He also collaborates across disciplines and with industry to drive pragmatic solutions to real-world challenges.

Dr Neil Phillips

Dr Neil Phillips has worked in tunnelling for 17 years. He is currently a principal engineer at COWI and client project engineer for Lower Thames Crossing (on behalf of National Highways). He has worked on the initial carbon baseline model for the development consent order (DCO) and procurement. Dr Phillips has also incorporated carbon calculations in the early stages of optioneering as a deciding factor and is a founding committee member of the Net Zero Tunnelling Group.

Dr Phillips is vice chair of the Consortium for Research into Congested Underground Space (CoRCUS), led by City St George’s University, where he also sits as an honorary visiting lecturer. The group undertakes research and shares knowledge about reducing the impacts of construction in underground spaces, driving for more sustainable solutions.

Matthew Gregory

Matthew Gregory is a Senior Project Manager at Cementation Skanska, leading piling and ground engineering projects across the UK with nearly 20 years’ experience. He has led major teams on projects including HS2, the Heathrow Kilo box and the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade. Matthew combines strong operational and technical expertise with a focus on low carbon delivery — leading the rollout of technical low carbon concrete, HVO fuel trials and the world’s first deployment of a fully electric piling rig powered by renewable energy, achieved through collaboration across supply chain, technical teams, main contractors and clients.