Civil engineer;
Born July 17, 1927;
Died December 4, 2007.

John Logie, who has died aged 80, worked on some of the country's most important transport schemes of the late twentieth century and was highly regarded throughout the civil engineering industry in Scotland.

He was one of a family of three born in Stirling where his father, William, had a draper's business. He was educated at Stirling High and Dollar Academy where he played rugby and was a noted cross-country runner.

On leaving school in 1945, he did his national service in the Royal Engineers where, thanks to retraining programmes available after the war, he was able to attend classes at Manchester University. This sparked his interest in civil engineering. Thereafter, he studied civil engineering and obtained a BSc from Glasgow University.

His first job was a short spell with East Kilbride Development Corporation, followed by a period in the water department of Fife Council.

In 1958 he moved to Paisley Corporation, where he worked on road projects. There followed several years with Babtie Shaw and Morton before joining Bullen and Partners in 1969 at its newly-opened office in Royal Terrace, Glasgow. This move, from a large established firm, was a bold step and he worked initially on his own.

However, with typical determination and perseverance, he built up a sound business from small beginnings and in 1973 he became a partner; by the time he retired in April 1990, staff numbers exceeded 70 and he had an impressive list of clients.

One highlight was work on the Clyderail project which opened up old railway lines connecting into the low level of Central Station in the late 1970s and involved an early use of the bentonite diaphragm-wall technique. Another was a commission in 1983 from the Scottish Development Department for a road and bridge scheme on the A828 at Creagan Narrows on Loch Creran, south of Oban.

He was a keen and active member of the Rotary Club of Glasgow and through this he took an interest in the welfare of overseas students in the city. In 1976 this connection took him to Lagos where one of these former students introduced him to the Nigerian Port Authority. In due course, this led to work on a design and construct project building a six-berth port at Sapele on the River Benin in Nigeria.

He was an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, becoming chairman of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Association in the 1982-83 session.

He published two papers, one on the Kelvinhaugh Burrowing Junction section of the Clyderail project and a second on the Sapele Port project for which he was awarded the institution's Robert Alfred Carr Premium in 1985.

Civil engineering was only a part of John's life. He had a very wide range of interests. He played golf from his early days in Stirling; it was his main recreational activity. A low-handicap player, he was always a keen competitor who took part regularly in the institution's national competition, the Thomas Telford Trophy.

Curling was another of his pastimes and, typical of his enthusiastic approach to life, he mustered a team from his office, none of whom had previous experience but who went on to compete to a high standard in the Construction Curling league. In more recent times, he and his wife, Alison, had a regular winter week curling in Wengen.

For 20 years from 1987, he was a governor of Dollar Academy, a role to which he devoted a lot of time and effort. He was responsible for several large building projects as the school expanded.

He enjoyed music and was a member of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus for 15 years, during which time he toured to Israel, America and Hong Kong.

Photography was another of his interests and he always had a camera close at hand. He kept up with new developments and made an early transition to digital equipment. He taught himself computer skills which not only complemented his photography but also gave him another means of keeping in touch with his expanding family.

His faith was central to his life and he was a Sunday school leader for many years and an elder in the Church of Scotland from 1956, laterally in St Columba, Kilmacolm.

Alison's family had lived next door to the Logie family in Stirling and, although the families moved to different parts of the country, John and Alison met again and were married in1954. They moved from Paisley to Kilmacolm in 1982 and they also have a house in Elie which is much used by his family.

Logie is survived by Alison, his daughter Sheila, his sons George and Brian, his nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.