Randy Essex honored by International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association

At this year’s World Tunnel Congress (WTC) in Stockholm, Sweden, Mott MacDonald’s Randall (Randy) Essex was honored as an inaugural Fellow of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA). This recognition was given in acknowledgement of his exceptional contributions to the tunneling industry and his unwavering dedication to the advancement of the ITA over nearly three decades.

Randy joined Mott MacDonald in 2001 as Director of Tunneling in North America until his transition to in-house consultant in 2019. With almost 50 years of experience in planning, design, construction engineering, and dispute resolution of tunneling projects worldwide, Randy is renowned for his expertise in managing construction risks associated with underground projects.

Randy's involvement with the ITA dates back to the 1990s, when he collaborated with esteemed industry leaders in Working Group 3 - Contractual Practices, helping to shape better contractual terms and conditions for tunnel construction projects. He served for more than five years as the United States' voting representative. In this role, he helped develop, market, and win the bid to host the 2016 WTC in San Francisco — and then helped plan and deliver the event as the Program Chair. In 2017 he was elected to the ITA Executive Council (EXCO), and in 2019 was elected to the position of ITA Vice President.

During his EXCO tenure he led the development of a 35-page WTC Planning Guide to help newly elected host countries deliver complex WTC events. He also served as tutor to the same WG3 committee that he had joined some 25 years earlier. He also helped educate ITA member countries in the purpose and application of Geotechnical Baseline Reports (GBRs), a contracting approach intended to avoid disputes and litigation on tunneling projects, an effort that he helped advance in the US previously.

Among his 50 publications, he led the development of three American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publications on the preparation and application of GBRs (1997, 2007, and 2022), and served as a principal author of CIRIA Report C807 in the UK (2023). He also introduced GBRs in New Zealand on the Second Manapouri Tailrace Tunnel Project and in Chile on the El Teniente Mine Access Project. These collective efforts to improve risk management and avoid disputes have enabled owners and contractors to better focus on project safety and quality.

Commenting on this award, Randy said, "It was always my goal to improve ITA's guidance and publications, ensuring they are in a better place than when I joined. I have fond memories of the incredible people I have met and the experiences we shared around the world while achieving this. I am humbled and honored to be recognized by the ITA for my contributions."