Professor Martin Crapper

Professor

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

Throughout my career as a consultant engineer in industry, then an academic, I have sought to deploy Civil Engineering thinking to make the world a better place.

In my most recent research, I have sought to understand our Civil Engineering heritage, using modern thought and techniques to interpret the achievements of the past, and communicate their continuing value, both practically and inspirationally, over succeeding generations.

I was a leader of the interdisciplinary project Engineering the Byzantine Water Supply, examining the construction and operation of the aqueducts supplying the Roman city of Constantinople, which was the longest water supply system in the ancient world and I was Northumbria's Principal Investigator on the follow-up project Water in Istanbul: Rising to the Challenge. I have collaborated with engineering modelling of the water supply and drainage of Pompeii, as well as investigating the hydraulic performance of Roman water pipes excavated from Corbridge.

My latest project is entitled Life Stories of Infrastructure, and is an interdiscplinary study examining how the use and loading of infrastructure, and stakeholders' attitudes to it, changes over its long life and how we might better understand this process to help us design future infrastructure to last longer, saving carbon and cost.

When not working I fire steam engines on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, I build and operate model trains and boats, and I am a fan of Yorkshire and England cricket.

Campus Address

303c Wynne Jones Building

Email Martin

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Civil engineering hydraulics; civil engineering infrastructure assets; the longevity and value of civil engineering infrastructure

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
‘You’ve got to have a bit of nous really’ – competence management for UK heritage railways, Baughan, R., Crapper, M., Sherratt, F., Smith, S. 19 Jun 2026, In: Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering History and Heritage
Ground-Penetrating Radar Application for ‘Water in İstanbul’ Project, Özkan-Aygün, Ç., İmren, C., Karadöller, B., Vandeput, L., Crow, J., Bordoni, S., Crapper, M., Monteleone, M. 21 Feb 2024, Recent Research on Geotechnical Engineering, Remote Sensing, Geophysics and Earthquake Seismology - Proceedings of the 2nd MedGU, Marrakesh 2022 Volume 3, Cham, Switzerland, Springer
The discharge of the pipelines supplying public fountains in Roman Pompeii, Monteleone, M., Crapper, M., Motta, D. 1 Feb 2023, In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Approaches for Modelling Historically Observed Seasonal Flooding in a Low Slope River, Mamo, G., Motta, D., Crapper, M. 24 Jun 2022, Proceedings of the 39th IAHR World Congress (Granada, 2022), Madrid, Spain, International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research
Hydraulic engineering analysis of Roman water infrastructure: a review of practice and possibilities, Crapper, M., Motta, D., Keenan-Jones, D., Monteleone, M. 1 Apr 2022, In: Water History
The hydraulic characteristics of Roman lead water pipes: an experimental investigation, Crapper, M., Motta, D., Sinclair, C., Cole, D., Monteleone, M., Cosheril, A., Tree, J., Parkin, A. 2022, In: International Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology
Laboratory Investigation of Geobag Revetment Performance in Rivers, Khajenoori, L., Wright, G., Crapper, M. 22 Jul 2021, In: Geosciences (Switzerland)
The supply of the public lacus of Pompeii, estimated from the discharge of their overflow channels, Monteleone, M., Crapper, M., Motta, D. 1 Jul 2021, In: Water History
Evaluating the performance of geobag revetments in rivers, Khajenoori, L., Wright, G., Crapper, M. 2020, River Flow 2020, London, Taylor & Francis
Self-propelled nanofluids: a coolant inspired from nature with enhanced thermal transport properties, El Hasadi, Y., Crapper, M. 1 Sep 2020, In: Journal of Molecular Liquids

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Life Stories of Infrastructure, Crapper, M. (Principal Investigator), The Leverhulme Trust, 03/04/23 - 02/04/26, £183,539.00

Further Information

I was member of the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) from December 2018 to October 2021.

I served on the Fellowship Panel of the ICE from 2011 to 2019.

I serve on the Academic Panel of the Permanent Way Institution (PWI).

I am a Reviewer, carrying out Chartered Professional Reviews, for both the ICE and the PWI.

I am an End-Point Assessor for the University of Birmingham's Railway Systems Engineering and Integration Level 7 Apprenticeship.

Qualifications