Tom Kierans turns 100
Storied engineer still passionate about fixed link to connect island to Labrador
Going from double digits to triple digits in age does not appear to faze Tom Kierans.
An engineer well known for his work on the original Churchill Falls hydroelectric project and for being a vocal proponent of a NewfoundlandLabrador fixed link, the St. John’s resident turned 100 years old Wednesday.
“When you’re going up to 100, it’s like climbing a teeter-totter,” said Kierans, speaking with The Telegram by phone from his home in the east end of St. John’s. “You get to the 100s, and suddenly the teeter-totter is on the downside again.”
Sounding lively during his chat with The Telegram, Kierans remains passionate about building things. He was expecting a visit from former premier Clyde Wells Wednesday morning and intended to give him a pitch on the merits of creating a fixed-link connection between Newfoundland and Labrador.
“Clyde Wells is going to be here in a few minutes. … I can tell you this — that’s what I’m going to tell him.”
Born in Montreal in 1913, Kierans is a graduate of McGill University, where he earned a degree in mining engineering in 1939.
According to a 20 Questions feature published by The Telegram in 2004, Kierans started out as a prospector. He prospected from British Columbia all the way to Labrador by bush aircraft and canoe.
Kierans moved to St. John’s in the early 1950s.
I would like people to say that Tom Kierans did as much as he could towards building a fixed link.
Tom Kierans
Kierans was responsible for underground design work at the Churchill Falls site in the 1960s and became a professor of engineering at Memorial University in the following decade.
Upon his retirement from MUN, he took a position as director of the Alexander Graham Bell Institute at the University of Cape Breton.
His knowledge of fixedlink projects is informed by his own experience as a technical consultant for two years with the federal Department of Environment on the Confederation Bridge project connecting New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island.
“That’s my main concern,” he said.
“I would like people to say that Tom Kierans did as much as he could towards building a fixed link.”
Given the province’s push to promote tourism in recent years, Kierans says there is a need for a fixedlink to provide an alternative for travel to and from the island that does not involve a ferry.
“I don’t think I’m crazy about this — I just think it’s common sense.”
He said Prince Edward Island’s tourism sector has benefited a great deal from its fixed link to New Brunswick.
Private investment should drive project
Kierans also has thoughts on the latest hydroelectric development project in Labrador. He said private investors, and not the provincial government, should drive development of the Muskrat Falls project.
“We use investors to support the iron ore industry. We use investors to support the oil industry. We use investors to support the paper industry.
“We use investors to support almost everything.”
He has ancestors within the Kierans family who have come close to reaching his age, but his longevity is otherwise unparalleled in his family.
His grandfather did live to the age of 99, but did not make it to 100. Kierans also has a grandmother who lived until she was 95.
Poetry an indulgence
His main indulgence at this stage in his life is poetry (he writes poems) and literature.
Kierans is an admirer of John Keats and can recite Shakespeare — he shared some lines from The Bard’s tragic comedy “The Merchant of Venice” over the phone.
Kierans was planning to celebrate his birthday with close friends Wednesday evening.