Civil Engineering January/February 2021 | Vol 29 No 1

Civil Engineering January/February 2021 49 On Sunday, 4 October 2020, a railway engineering career spanning nearly 40 years came to an end. On that day, after a prolonged two-year struggle with dia- betes, one of the giants in the field of geo- technical engineering, Heinrich (Heinie) Pietersen Rauch passed away. He had been retired from active career participation since April 1991. Heinie’s fascination with trains began at the age of about three when he was standing alongside the railway fence in Trompsburg in the Free State, his home- town, watching a goods train drawn by a steam locomotive from Bloemfontein en route to Springfontein. This vivid experi- ence was engraved in his soul and would determine his destiny. At the age of seven he started collecting O-gauge Lionel model trains and building stations, signal cabins, bridges, and tunnels for his model train layout. He expanded his model railway collection to include HO and OO-gauge tracks, locomotives and rolling stock up to the point where he built a complete model railway layout in a room dedicated for this purpose. STUDIES AND EARLY CAREER Heinie’s family moved to Johannesburg in 1933 because of the devastating impact of the Great Depression in rural areas. He completed his matric year at Germiston High in 1946 at the age of 16 and in 1947 enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand for a degree in Civil Engineering. Heinie also applied for a South African Railway and Harbours (SAR&H) bursary and when asked at his bursary interview why he believed he should be receiving a bursary, he responded in no uncertain terms that he loved trains. The rest is history. Heinie completed his BSc (Eng) degree in Civil Engineering in 1950 at the University of the Witwatersrand and commenced his railway career at SAR&H in November 1950. One of his first projects was the construction of the railway bridge over the Vaal River near Vereeniging where he was supervising the construction of one of the first caisson designed foundations. He quickly realised his love for geology and geotechnical engineering and in 1959 was awarded an MSc (Eng) degree for his dissertation titled The Significance of Poisson’s Ratio in the Determination of Stress and Settlement in Soils . His work was carried out under the auspices of his career mentor Professor JEB Jennings. For the next quarter century Heinie would be external examiner of the final year soil mechanics course at his alma mater, the University of the Witwatersrand. INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTIONS That quarter century ushered in growth and expansion and the debut of large construction companies. To facilitate both the performing of, as well as the control of, construction activities across the land, Heinie was entrusted with the es- tablishment of the SAR&H Geotechnical Department. Here he developed technical standards for soils and materials testing In memory of Heinrich Pietersen Rauch 1 April 1930 to 4 October 2020 One of his first projects was the construction of the railway bridge over the Vaal River near Vereeniging where he was supervising the construction of one of the first caisson designed foundations. Heinie Rauch and his family. Front L to R: Heinie and his wife Elmine, Estelle Rauch (daughter- in-law). Back L to R: Leon Rauch (son), Elsabe Rauch (daughter-in-law), Bannie Rauch (daughter- in-law), Johann Rauch (son), Andre Rauch (son)