The Engineers Collective

The latest episode of the Engineers Collective is out now: listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, your usual platform or via the player below. This month’s guest is Ben Brittain, director of public affairs at the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE). He told NCE news editor Lee Kenny about his role and how, when he was transportation adviser to Andy Street, the former Mayor of the West Midlands, he spent many years making the case for HS2 and advising on the Midlands Rail Hub and capital programme spending across the West Midlands. He shared his personal experience of congestion on the West Coast Main Line, which creates timetabling issues between Birmingham and Manchester. The poor connectivity between the two cities is symptomatic of the “chronic lack of investment” in Britain’s railway. He also expressed concern that sequencing the Birmingham–Manchester rail line behind both HS2 Phase 1 and Northern Powerhouse Rail could delay the route into the 2040s. If that happens, he is concerned it may not happen at all and describes it as a “slow-motion cancellation”. He compared the domestic rail network with services in Europe, particularly the lack of high-speed trains in the UK. “If you do travel in Europe as well, you can see how a high-speed rail network is the norm,” he said. “There are options for high-speed rail and regional or intercity connectivity on conventional rail as well, whereas Britain is hobbled by its Victorian rail infrastructure.” He said HS2 has been an “embarrassment” and a “blemish” on the UK’s international reputation. He has concerns that the increasing cost of HS2 may deter governments from embarking on other large-scale infrastructure projects in the future, but that should not be the case. “I think as a result of HS2 and its problems, we’ve begun to talk ourselves down as a country on our capability of delivering infrastructure,” he said. “And I don’t buy that story. We deliver world-class infrastructure in this country, and we at times deliver it well.”

This month we’re discussing the Ofwat Innovation Fund and we’re joined by Ofwat director for environment and innovation Jo Jolly alongside representatives of two companies who have been part of innovations that have been boosted by the fund: Royal HaskoningDHV UK water sector director Paul Lavender and Changemaker 3D CEO and cofounder Natalie Wadley. The chat starts with a focus on how the Innovation Fund was set up and how it is helping to overcome issues that are being faced in the UK water sector. It then broadens into how it is encouraging greater collaboration between different parts of the sector and we hear firsthand from both Paul and Natalie about how their innovations have come together and how they are being put to use. We then look ahead at the future of the Innovation Fund, what’s next for the initiatives that have been developed through it and the bigger picture of how they will help long-term water security in the UK. You can find out more about the initiatives brought forward by the Innovation Fund through the learning reports at waterinnovation.challenges.org/insights Prior to the Ofwat section, host Rob Hakimian is joined by NCE senior reporters Tom Pashby and Thomas Johnson to talk about their recent reporting on plutonium stockpiles and groundwater flooding respectively.

Our innovation experts Samuel Stephens, director, head of digital, nuclear at AtkinsRéalis and Angela MacOscar, director of innovation at Northumbrian Water, grill two innovators about their technology. In this launch episode, recorded live at Techfest, they speak with FC Laboratories’ Matthew Norbury about their AI-powered wearable neurotech to support brain fitness, and Matt Barney, chief hydrogen officer at Geopura about their Hydrogen Power Unit, designed to replace diesel generator power on site. Hydrogen power units have the potential to decarbonise construction activity by replacing diesel generators with green hydrogen. But how is the low carbon nature of that hydrogen assured and how site-ready are these new units? Wearable fitness and safety technology has come a long way, so can brain fitness neurotech help improve wellbeing and safety by identifying fatigue and stress for those working on site and in potentially high risk roles? Listen to our podcast to find out!

In the latest episode of The Engineers Collective from New Civil Engineer, host Rob Hakimian welcomes Professor John Orr from the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and Cambridge University Department of Engineering. They discuss the IStructE’s upcoming 2024 Structural Awards, which seeks to honour the outstanding structures from all over the globe that have been completed in the last year. After discussing the history of the awards and how they’ve evolved over the years, John talks about what the IStructE looks for in the outstanding candidates. These are centred around the four key judging attributes: planet, people, process and profession. John highlights four entries from this year’s Structural Awards, which offer variety of type, purpose and location and were emblematic of each of those four attributes. The discussion concludes with looking ahead to further editions of the Structural Awards and what factors John would like to see more of from entries going forward. Prior to the interview portion, Rob welcomes NCE’s senior reporters Tom Pashby and Thomas Johnson to discuss recent site visits to GE Vernova’s new valve manufacturing facility, Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium and under construction nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C.

The latest episode of The Engineers Collective from New Civil Engineer is all about the development and construction of East West Rail (EWR), the brand new railway being built between Oxford and Cambridge. Our interviewee is former East West Rail Company innovation manager Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain, who was involved with all the future-facing elements of this exciting project. It should be noted that since this interview was recorded in early May she moved on to a new role at Transport for the North. Nevertheless, Chapman-Chamberlain’s insights about the way that EWR has been designed and specified to be a “railway fit for the future” are still relevant and pertinent not only to this project but to all railway developments. We also broaden out the conversation to hear her valuable insights on the state of the UK rail sector, innovating to improve areas including efficiency and accessibility, the challenges of inclusion and diversity in the rail sector and the prospect of rail reform. Prior to the interview section, NCE news editor and podcast host Rob Hakimian chats with senior reporter Tom Pashby about the first weeks of the new government and what the infrastructure, energy and railway Bills announced in the King’s Speech signal to the civil engineering sector.

This month’s episode is dedicated to celebrating 40 years since Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Thames Barrier in London, the engineering marvel that protects London from disastrous flooding. We speak to two engineers who worked on its construction, which commenced nearly half a century ago. Rory O’Grady was a section engineer for Costain on the project between 1975 and 1980 and has just published a book called We Gave A Dam: The Epic Race To Build The Thames Barrier, which recollects the people, struggles and ingenuity that contributed to the creation of the landmark infrastructure. We also have future ICE president Richard Bayfield who spent six months in the very early part of his career on the barrier as an assistant planning engineer for Costain. Together they discuss the Thames Barrier’s creation, its legacy and what its future looks like. Prior to that, host Rob Hakimian and NCE reporter Thomas Johnson briefly discuss the announcement of a General Election in the UK and what that means for the country’s major infrastructure projects and policies.

In this month’s episode of The Engineers Collective podcast from New Civil Engineer we mark one year since the publication of the 2023 update to the PAS 2080 standard for carbon management in infrastructure. We’ve gathered representatives from Mott MacDonald, the Department for Transport and Anglian Water to gain insight a series of roundtables held by Mott MacDonald where industry stakeholders discussed and debated how PAS 2080 should be implemented in their businesses and projects. DfT head of systems Tom McLenachan tells us about the systems thinking outcomes from the roundtables, Mott MacDonald water and infrastructure technical principal Heather Marshall discusses the procurement outcomes from the debate and Anglian Water @one Alliance carbon sustainability manager Alex Herridge provides insight on the decision making outcomes from the discussions. Prior to the interview portion, NCE editor Gavin Pearson, news editor Rob Hakimian and reporter Tom Johnson discuss some of the month’s biggest stories, touching on the lack of infrastructure in the recent Budget and Anglian Water’s development of its £2.2bn Fenlands Reservoir. Lastly, Tom tells us about his recent visit to the Woodsmith polyhalite mine in Yorkshire. The Engineers Collective is available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, A-cast, Stitcher, PodBean and via newcivilengineer.com/podcast

This month’s episode of The Engineers Collective from New Civil Engineer focuses on the role that hydrogen could play in the global effort to transition to a zero-carbon world. International management consultancy Arthur D. Little recently put out a report entitled Hydrogen: The electroshock to the energy transition and in this episode NCE acting news editor Rob Hakimian is joined by three experts from the consultancy to discuss just how this might happen. They discuss where it’s already being used, the barriers to greater adoption, the UK’s recently published hydrogen strategy, National Highways’ commitment to using hydrogen plant on its landmark Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel and much more. Read Arthur D Little’s full report here. Prior to the interview portion, Rob is joined by NCE editor Gavin Pearson and reporter Tom Johnson to discuss some of the stories from the civil engineering world that have caught their attention in the early portion of 2024. They discuss Thames Water’s controversial Teddington Direct River Abstraction, the government’s pledge to work with the tidal range sector and Balfour Beatty’s ill-fated attempts to carry out net zero construction at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.