On Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of joining around 150 students, parents and industry figures at the second annual Taylor Woodrow Inspiration Lecture held in the grand surroundings of One Great George Street in Westminster - the home of The Institution of Civil Engineers. The theme of this years lecture - intended to put …
Inspiring future engineers at Belfairs Academy
A couple of weeks ago I spent the day at my daughters school - Belfairs Academy in Westcliff - supporting their careers fair. I was there in my capacity as a STEM Ambassador / Chartered Civil Engineer representing the industry as a whole but I was also representing my employer Taylor Woodrow and the wider Vinci group. It was a …
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Demolition, Deconstruction and Dismantling with McGee Group
ICE and IStructE members and guests in Essex were treated to a fascinating lecture last night on all things Demolition, Deconstruction, and Dismantling. The lecture - given by McGee Group Director Paul Bland and Head of Demolition Nick Taylor - covered all aspects of building demolition and was augmented with examples from their extensive portfolio …
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Civil Engineering excellence in Essex
Last Friday I spent the third and final day touring projects that had entered the ICE East of England Merit Awards 2014. You can read about the first two days of visits on my blog here. This final days projects were all in the South of the region in my home town of Southend and …
Connaught Tunnel Crossrail Works
I recently managed to organise myself a visit to the C315 Connaught Tunnel Crossrail Project in East London to see first-hand how the works are progressing. The works are being carried out by Taylor Woodrow – the UK Construction arm of VINCI PLC for Client Crossrail. The project involves modifying a disused Victorian railway tunnel …
Southend Bridge Replacement
Last weekend saw the 130 year old bridge that carries the railway over Southend High Street replaced with a new one in the space of barely two days. This was an impressive engineering feat and a very real example to many people in Southend just what professional civil engineers and engineering companies can achieve. I missed the …
Southend Cliff Stabilisation
Working from home today so took the opportunity of buzzing down to the seafront to take a nosey at the civil engineering works going to 'repair' and stabilise the cliffs where a major slip occurred 10 years ago. Despite it being rather gray I snapped some pics and later spoke to the Public Liaison lady …
View from the bottom of the ‘Walkie Talkie’ Building
I've been following the progress of the new highrise development at 20 Fenchurch Street aka the 'Walkie Talkie' building for some time having almost been employed to work on the project a few years back. This was just before it was mothballed for a few years. I spent a couple of months working just South of Tower …
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Sun shines on East of England Golfers
The sun did indeed shine brightly on Civil Engineers from the region and their guests at the annual ICE East of England Summer Golf day at Hintelsham Golf Club near Ipswich yesterday. The course was in superb condition and some excellent scores were recorded. The event was sponsored by Survey Solutions who were on hand to …
One Tower Bridge
My new daily commute involves a leisurely stroll across London's Tower Bridge from Fenchurch Street Station to Tanner Street. In doing so I pass by - at high level - the construction site for the new One Tower Bridge development. I am going to be doing this for a few months so it will afford me …