A. Clive Houlsby, a leading authority on cement grouting methods in dams and large structures who maintained a widely consulted internet site called Rockgrout, died on Sept. 24 in Sydney. He was 82.

HOULSBY

Houlsby suffered from cancer, says a colleague, U.S.-based engineer Jim Warner. A former dam safety chief of the Water Resources Commission in New South Wales, Australia, Houlsby became a global consultant and lecturer in the 1980s.

In the 1970s, he advocated for what was then a controversial change in the water-cement ratio for structural grout. While critics deemed his recommendation as a “heresy,” Houlsby's formula is now standard practice, says Warner.

A fellow of U.S. and Australian civil engineer societies, Houlsby will be named in February as a “grouting great” at the International Conference on Grouting and Deep Mixing to take place in New Orleans, a gathering held every 10 years.