Kasun Kariyawasam has won a prestigious rising star award for his work on bridge longevity.
The judges were also impressed by the skills and knowledge of the early career professionals who competed for the Bridge Engineer Rising Star award. This made them optimistic that the sector will be able to tackle any future challenges.
Sotiris Kanaris
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been selected as one of 17 winners of the New Civil Engineer Bridges Awards 2025 by New Civil Engineer.
Kasun Kariyawasam won the Bridge Engineer Rising Star Award. New Civil Engineer is the monthly magazine for members of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the UK chartered body that oversees the practice of civil engineering in the UK.
Kasun [2016], who is a Principal Engineer at global engineering firm WSP, “impressed judges with his groundbreaking PhD research, leadership and technical excellence”. The judges praised his holistic approach and said his work on fibre optic monitoring and infrastructure projects like Hammersmith Bridge, along with mentoring and team building, “positioned him as a future global expert in bridge longevity”.
Kasun’s PhD focused on a new vibration-based approach for monitoring bridge scour, the erosion of soil around a bridge’s foundations. This accounts for 50% of bridge failures around the world.
The prize ceremony took place in London on 17th July. The winners were selected from 129 entries across 17 categories.
New Civil Engineer features editor Sotiris Kanaris said: “Companies involved in bridge construction and maintenance have been working hard to improve project delivery, through innovation and collaboration. Consultants and architects have been elevating bridge design, paying particular attention to embodied carbon and climate resilience. The achievements at company and project level made it extremely hard for our judges to pick a winner.
“The judges were also impressed by the skills and knowledge of the early career professionals who competed for the Bridge Engineer Rising Star award. This made them optimistic that the sector will be able to tackle any future challenges.”
Richard Salter, Technical Director at WSP, said: “It was a privilege to nominate Kasun for the NCE Bridges Rising Star award. Kasun has been a key player for the National Highways Scheme Delivery Framework, where he has used the opportunity to combine his academic knowledge with real-world bridge maintenance challenges while building extremely strong links with National Highways and our WSP teams. Kasun has successfully and passionately led our teams on schemes such as the A14 Orwell Joints Replacement scheme, so it was only natural that he should be recommended for this award.”
Kasun’s PhD supervisor, Professor Campbell Middleton, was also recognised at the awards for outstanding contribution to the industry. Kasun collected his award on his behalf and gave a short speech of acceptance. Professor Campbell is Laing O’Rourke Professor of Construction Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. The citation praised him for being “a tireless champion of collaboration and knowledge sharing across the bridge industry” and for bringing together people from different parts of the industry in his role as Chairman of the Bridge Owners Forum.
*Top photo courtesy of New Civil Engineer
