The Engineers Collective

The new episode of the Engineers Collective podcast is out now. This month’s episode focuses on ‘transforming infrastructure performance’. The UK’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) released two papers, in 2017 and 2021, called Transforming infrastructure performance in which it set out a vision for the future of infrastructure delivery. This process embeds the use of modern tools and gr...

This episode focuses on the value of place making within construction and engineering projects. Place making is the practice of ensuring that a project goes beyond functionality and delivers something that benefits the society in which it is being constructed. It is ensuring that there is space above and around it for public use, which will bolster a community with new resources. Fitting in the re...

Safety is paramount in construction. Safety of the people who work on constructing a scheme – and safety of those people who will eventually make use of the scheme. On this month’s episode of the Engineers Collective, NCE assistant news editor Rob Hakimian is joined by CROSS scheme manager Paul Livesey to discuss the history of CROSS, how it has grown and its importance in today’s construction lan...

Over recent years we have all seen our pictures, music and other prized documents migrate to the cloud, which has presented a new kind of convenience and accessibility. The same is true in the construction industry, where some projects have seen vital documents, plans and information become stored on a shared cloud. This increases the ways that these documents can be accessed and also ensures that...

Urban populations are growing while climate change means both droughts, as well as sudden intense rainfall events, are on the rise. However, existing urban infrastructure in UK has not caught up with the water management challenges presented by these scenarios. We need to be much smarter about the capture, usage and planned management of water going forward. This is critical to reduce flood risk a...

Workers in the construction industry are three times more likely to commit suicide than the general population but for those working in the building trades the risk is much higher at eight times. These are stark figures but construction industry charity the Lighthouse Club launched a new campaign called #Makeitvisible at the start of this year that is already making a difference. Lighthouse Club c...

Engineers need to be ready to embrace change when it comes to adopting new technology, according to Keith Bentley who has just retired from the post of chief technology officer at Bentley Systems, the firm he founded with his brother Barry almost 40 years ago in 1984. Speaking to NCE editor Claire Smith on the latest episode of The Engineers Collective podcast, Keith reflects back on how far the i...

Megaprojects are what take society forward, whether building new transport infrastructure, creating new technology networks or decarbonising the energy system. However, according to this month’s guest on The Engineers Collective, across sectors and around the world, megaprojects almost always overrun their budgets and timescales. In this episode, NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by NCE reporter R...

The rise and rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in every part of our lives has led to questions about what it could mean for the way construction projects are planned, designed and delivered. In this episode of The Engineers Collective NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by NCE reporter Rob Hakimian as co-host as they speak to Dev Amratia, who is co-founder and CEO of nPlan, which is a...

Almost 20 years of planning and work came together at the end of February when Transport for London opened the final parts of the £655M Bank Station Capacity Upgrade project. The station now boast 40% more capacity, new entrances and step free access and in this new episode NCE editor Claire Smith explores the story behind this outcome. Claire is joined by University College London associate profe...

Many firms working in construction are reporting increasing workloads but the challenge of finding skilled staff to deliver that work is not becoming easier. Bentley Systems chief information officer champion Claire Rutkowski joins NCE editor Claire Smith to talk about the problem and the role technology will play in addressing it. Claire also spends much of her time out working with architecture,...

As the London’s iconic Shard skyscraper, which is the UK’s tallest building at 309.6m, gets ready to mark the 10th anniversary of its opening on 1 February, this episode catches up with Flan McNamara who led the construction project for Sellar Property Group. As well as exploring the logistical challenges of bringing the architectural design of Renzo Piano and the engineering work of WSP to life,...

NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by deputy editor Rob Horgan and acting news editor Catherine Moore, for the final episode of the year. The trio cast their minds back over the past 12 months, recapping the biggest and most popular news stories of 2022. Taking a look at the top five most read stories on NCE’s website, the trio start their recap by re-exploring the proposed switch to imperial measu...

With the ink barely dried on the agreements drawn up at COP27 in Egypt, this episode looks at the need for civil engineers to work more closely with the financial industry to delivery on the commitments made at COP. NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by Mott MacDonald decarbonisation discipline lead Mark Crouch to talk through the challenge and the drivers behind a report published by the Instituti...

This episode of The Engineers Collective podcast explores the barriers to adopting digital technology in construction and how they can be overcome. Joining NCE deputy editor Rob Horgan is Helen Samuels from EKFB and Alex Wraight from Allies and Morrison. Helen is a chartered civil engineer with a masters in environmental management and a fellow of the ICE. She has served as industry advisor for Pl...

Concept design of a timber high rise building in Oslo is attracting both awards and attention globally for its sustainable regeneration potential, even without firm plans to put the proposal into construction.   The masterminds behind the Regenerative Highrise scheme are Haptic Architects director Tomas Stokke and Ramboll director Ollie Wildman who join NCE editor Claire Smith to talk through the...

Pandemic restrictions brought working from home to the lives of many, which worked well for office-based roles, but what about those on site? This episode of The Engineers Collective podcast explores a major industry trial of flexible working practices by leading contractors in the UK. “During the first lockdown many sites shut down for a few weeks but workers soon returned with social distancing...

With the UK’s ‘levelling up’ agenda in full swing, the latest episode of The Engineers Collective looks at how one region is taking a different approach to regeneration. Joining NCE head of content and engagement Rob Horgan on the episode is Krishanthi Carfrae, Arup’s lead Cities Advisory and Economics associate across the North West and Yorkshire. The episode focusses on Opportunity Humber; a new...

Fast paced development of electronics technology over the last decade has enable wireless sensors to go from being unproven but innovative solutions for monitoring complex engineering projects to become the go-to option for many schemes. The benefits for project delivery and reduced risk that this evolution in sensor technology is explored in this episode, which is sponsored by Farnell Electronics...

Making more women aware of the opportunities a career in construction can offer is critical to attracting more people into the sector and resolving the ongoing skills crisis the industry faces. In this episode of The Engineers Collective, NCE editor Claire Smith speaks to Willmott Dixon construction manager Lianne Lawson and Mott MacDonald development manager for energy Clare Rhodes James about th...

Growing use of 3D printing for concrete structures, metal bridges and composite forms by the construction industry is discussed in this episode, which is sponsored by Farnell Electronics. NCE editor Claire Smith and senior reporter Catherine Kennedy are joined by Bam Nuttall head of innovation Colin Evison to chart how 3D printing first started to influence the civil engineering sector, where the...

Think of digital twins in a construction setting and what usually comes to mind is a digital representation of physical asset that aids planning, design, delivery and operation of the infrastructure but what if they were used to help drive informed investment decisions too? The investment opportunity is subject of the latest episode of The Engineers Collective. At the start of the episode NCE edit...

The role of Internet of Things to empower fully intelligent infrastructure comes under the spotlight with a look at what it means for the future of civil engineering in this episode, which is sponsored by Farnell Electronics. NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by Arup associate director Rory McCully to look back at the evolution embedded sensor technology has brought to infrastructure over the last...

Research by Cancer Research UK has shown that one in two people born after 1960 will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and only half of those diagnosed will survive for 10 years or more. However, the charity’s evidence suggests that people working in the construction industry are more likely to get cancer and die from the disease compared to the national population. To look at the factors...

Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) chief inspector Simon French joins NCE senior reporter Catherine Kennedy to discuss the final report into the fatal Carmont derailment in August 2020.   The accident occurred after a passenger train collided with debris washed from a drain onto the track following very heavy rainfall. Tragically three people died and the remaining six people on the train w...