A CIVIL engineer from the North-East who designed a number of bridges and buildings that have become landmarks has died.

Frank Rowley, who was born in 1940 in West Hartlepool, designed the 800m long Dornoch Firth Bridge in the north of Scotland and the river crossing that carries the M180 over the Trent in Lincolnshire.

He also created the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong where his technical solutions allowed work to start on the steel structure above ground while the deep basement was being dug.

Mr Rowley, who died after a stroke, aged 62, also designed the Eurostar International Terminus at Waterloo Station. Between 1994 and 1996 he led the design team from concept to completion on the A38 Marsh Mills replacement viaducts in Devon, near Plymouth.

He also became involved in the development of the Falkirk Wheel, a structure which raises vessels 25m between two sections of a canal, as part of the reopening of the canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Institution of Civil Engineers, of which he was a Fellow since 1980, awarded the Falkirk Wheel the Brunel Medal last autumn.