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Frank Graham – a Reading-based group with over
500 staff-have carried out an unusual task for
consulting engineers, that of setting up a locally
run master of science course at an overseas
university, sustainable without outside help.
This began as a World Bank-funded scheme
launched by Bina Marga, Indonesia’s Ministry of
Works, to train staff by establishing a highway
engineering course at the Institute of Technology,
Bandung. When the initial contract ended in l985,
Frank Graham took over with a new management team
headed by Dr Scott Younger.
The course provides state-of-the-art knowledge
of highway and traffic engineering while stressing
the importance of highways to the economy and
society .A specific aim of the re-launch was to get
local Indonesian staff to take over most of the
teaching and course management. Another was to
bring staff members from Bina Marga on to the
course. The Institute of Transport Studies at Leeds
University joined in, and the British Government
put up extra money.
Over 130 students have now graduated and many
have obtained higher-paid jobs as a result. The
course, which is up to international standards,
produces about 25 new graduates a year. As one
objective is to improve the students’ English, some
use of English continues though most of the
teaching is by local staff.
The teaching is fitted to Indonesian conditions
and the students research into lndonesian
problems.
One concerns minimising traffic delays at
junctions. Swedish and American calculations proved
inappropriate because drivers behave differently,
road surfaces allow different acceleration, and
there may be no white lines. Frank Graham are now
involved in a SweRoad contract to produce an
Indonesian highway capacity manual, the first such
manual in a developing country.
In another project, research into the properties
of soft lndonesian volcanic clays helped save money
on the construction of a Bandung bypass.
Dr Scott Younger, with the University of
Strathclyde, has proposed a similar course for
Malaysia’s technological university at Johor
Bahru.
Frank Graham are also discussing with Malaysians
the establishment of a new university.
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