Ken Bilston
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Ken Bilston | |
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| Citizenship | Australian |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | Skitube development, Australian pipeline design standards |
Notable work | Skitube Alpine Railway |
| Awards | Order of Australia Medal (1990), Australian Standards award for pipeline standards |
Ken Bilston is an Australian engineer who conceived of, developed, and was part owner of Skitube and was chairman and contributed to the Australian standards for pipeline design and construction [1] [2] Bilston received an Order of Australia Medal for Services to Engineering in 1990 and an Australian Standards award for pipeline standards in 1997.
Career
Bilston’s early career involved a dual role managing the materials laboratory of the Snowy Mountain Hydroelectric Authority and investigating and then proposing solutions for major issues in the scheme as they arose.[3][4]
In 1981, Bilston conceived of Skitube while skiing along an overlook of the Thredbo valley and noted that a relatively short tunnel could provide a connection from snow free Bullocks flat and the ski fields of the Perisher Range. Between 1981 and 1987, Bilston was the key proponent for the project, funding an environmental study, organising partners, and obtaining funding. He then became technical manager for the project.[5] The first train ran in 1987 to Perisher and the project was completed to Blue Cow in 1988 [5]
Bilston's most long lasting impact was his contributions as chairman of ME 38, the Australian standard committee responsible for developing pipeline standards[6], AS 1978 (pressure testing pipelines) [7] and AS 2885 (design and construction of pipelines carrying hydrocarbons) [1]. AS 2885, completed in 1994, is still considered to be the most advanced standard for design and construction of pipelines to safely carry hazardous materials. [6] [7] Bilston's contributions to the safety section of these standards[8] are a key reason why Australia has the safest pipelines in the world with no examples of failures since the standard was implemented.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "AS 2885: the Standard for High Pressure Pipeline Systems - Australian Pipelines and Gas Association". apga.org.au. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ Bilston, KM; Fletcher, Lee (October 21, 2016). "The Australian Petroleum Pipeline Code AS 2885 - 1997". 1998 2nd International Pipeline Conference: 625–630. ISBN 978-0-7918-4023-8.
- ↑ Jackson, Tim (2016-03-16). "Ken Bilston OAM". The Australian Pipeliner. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ Jackson, Tim (2010-05-02). "Pipeline Pedigree". The Australian Pipeliner. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Churchman, Geoffrey (1995). Railway Electrification in Australia and New Zealand. IPL Books. ISBN 0-646-06893-8.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Evie (2019-02-07). "Summarising the changes to Australia's pipeline standard". The Australian Pipeliner. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "AS 1978-1987 Pipelines - Gas and liquid petroleum - Field pressure te". www.intertekinform.com. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ Jackson, Tim (2015-01-10). "AS 2885 risk process: history and some thoughts". The Australian Pipeliner. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
- ↑ Cunha, S.; Tuft, Peter (October 2013). "Comparing international pipeline failure rates". The Journal of Pipeline Engineering. 12 (4).
External links
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