Engineering Matters

Monitoring and maintaining an entire rail network can be costly, slow and, for those working on the track, very dangerous. Specialised trains were developed that could be mounted with sensors for collecting data on track gauging and track condition, however these couldn’t be mounted together. In this episode we look into the development of RILA or Rail Infrastructure Alignment Acquisition, which has been used on multiple rail networks to make data collection faster and safer.

In 2006 Jos Berkers had the idea to combine all the existing technology for rail data collection and put them in a box small enough to fit on passenger trains. After years of working to develop the idea in his living room he was able to test the system that became known as RILA on the Dutch rail network.

Since then RILA has continued to develop, with more sensors being added and more countries using it to monitor their networks. In 2021 RILA was used across the entire 2,000 miles of Scotland’s Rail network.  It reduced the time taken from 27,500 hours to under 1,000 hours, and Network Rail estimates that RILA prevented 72 minor and three major injuries from ever occurring.

Guests

Jos Berker, rail consultant, Fugro

Adam Carlin, former business developer for rail maintenance, Fugro 

The post #303 Gathering data at the speed of a train: Engineering Matters Awards 2024 Health & Safety Gold Champion – Fugro RILA first appeared on Engineering Matters.

From habitat destruction, to use of pesticides, the arrival of invasive species and the growing impact of climate change, life, in all shapes and sizes, is fighting to survive. To protect the world’s biodiversity, first we have a better understanding of what and where that biodiversity is. In this episode we delve into iNaturalist, the 2024 Engineering Matters Community Gold Champion. iNaturalist is a citizen science community with thousands of active members sharing the wildlife around them with experts.

Alongside the experts giving support to users, iNaturalist have developed an AI that can identify rare species and even alert experts when it detects something unusual, like a species in an unexpected location. iNaturalist’s database is being used by scientific studies and by conservationists looking for a better understanding of their local biodiversity.

Understanding the wildlife around us gives us a better chance of protecting it. iNaturalist is creating a global community of nature lovers that can be at the centre of helping protect their own local biodiversity.

Guests

Scott Loarie, Executive Director, iNaturalist

The post #302 Conservation, Community and AI: Engineering Matters Awards 2024 Community Gold Champion — iNaturalist first appeared on Engineering Matters.

In the early 1900s Sydney was transformed by its first electric lighting system, which was so bright compared to gas lamps it was hailed as “turning night into day”. The network did much more than just light up the streets. It democratised power, electrifying communities, homes and businesses for the first time. The system, designed by London based engineering consultants Preece & Cardew, became the basis for today’s electricity grid and ushered in a century of electrical evolution as the system rapidly expanded to meet soaring demand.

Today society is facing a new kind of energy transformation: to decarbonise systems based on fossil fuels and build in climate resilience. This episode explores the opportunities and challenges from connecting in new renewable generation and supporting radical operational changes, to delivering social value and ensuring a just and equitable transition.

Guests

Paul Currie, energy leader Asia Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, Mott MacDonald

David Hawkins, Solar and BESS market sector leader, Australia, Mott MacDonald

Dr Simon Harrison, group head of strategy, Mott MacDonald

Clare Wildfire, global cities leader, Mott MacDonald

Someswar Chakravorty, technical specialist, HVDC, Mott MacDonald

Resources

Pioneering Pumped Storage

City of Sydney Archive

Transferability of engineering skills for the clean energy transition, by Engineers Australia and Mott MacDonald

Partner

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy focussed on improving society by considering social outcome and relentlessly focussing on excellence and digital innovation. Preece & Cardew is a predecessor company of Mott MacDonald founded in 1899.

The post #301 Electrifying Sydney: Transformational Energy Systems  first appeared on Engineering Matters.

Governments and businesses around the world have made commitments to achieve Net Zero by the middle of the century. This will require engineering innovation, and changes to practices, standards and regulations, across the generation, transmission, storage and transport segments. In this episode we explore these challenges and how they intersect. 

The IET’s Powering Net Zero week returns on December 3–6 2024, at Millennium Point, in Birmingham. Find out how you can take part here.

Guests

Keith Bell, Scottish Power Chair in Future Power Systems, University of Strathclyde
Claire Miller, Director of Technology and Innovation, Octopus Electric Vehicles
Huiyi Zhang Jackson Director of Clean Energy Technologies and Policy, Edison Electric Institute

Partner: The Institution of Engineering and Technology inspires, informs and influences the global engineering community to engineer a better world. As a diverse home across engineering and technology, the IET shares knowledge that helps make better sense of the world in order to solve the challenges that matter.  

The post #300 Bonus: Powering Net Zero first appeared on Engineering Matters.

The Thames had been for thousands of years London’s main route to the sea. But it is also an obstacle. The last crossing east of London is the bridge and tunnel at Dartford, and this is often congested. But a new crossing has been proposed further down the river. Throughout its planning, the focus has been on the legacy that the new Lower Thames Crossing will deliver.

As we saw in yesterday’s episode of this mini-series, recorded live at Highways UK, National Highways is pushing contractors and engineers to achieve annual carbon reduction. The Lower Thames Crossing, nominated as a Pathfinder project by the Department for Transport, implements this approach. The project has aimed for continuous carbon reduction, and will be a proving ground for low carbon construction techniques.

The legacy of the project will go further than reducing congestion and carbon emissions. Contractors are working with local businesses to build supply chains, and capabilities, that will live on beyond completion of the crossing. They are engaging with schools, former members of the armed forces, and prison leavers, to develop the skilled workforce needed to build the crossing. And they are striving to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Guests

Shaun Pidcock, Programme Director, Lower Thames Crossing 

Claire Seward, Technical Director, Transportation, AtkinsRéalis

Jas Sandhu, Customer and Social Impact Lead, Balfour Beatty

Partners

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, Balfour Beatty is leading the transformation of the industry to meet the challenges of the future.

The post #299e Highways UK Live – A Legacy of Excellence first appeared on Engineering Matters.

National Highways has adopted clear net zero targets: its own operations will be carbon free by 2030; those of contractors on its roads by 2040; and of road users by 2050. The challenge will be meeting those goals, while also fulfilling its mission of getting drivers where they need to go, safely and efficiently.

The key to meeting this challenge is the carbon reduction hierarchy: avoid, switch, and improve. National Highways has set annual carbon reduction targets for its suppliers. By making use of the carbon reduction hierarchy, these suppliers can ensure that they are able to meet these annual targets.

The fear for these suppliers—and others in construction and engineering—will be that the push for decarbonisation will hamper their commercial sustainability. But, our guests explain, the same reductions in materials, for example, that support decarbonisation, can also cut costs. 

Guests

Stephen Elderkin, Director of Environmental Sustainability, National Highways

Simon Shapcott, Net Zero Director – Transportation, AtkinsRéalis

Victoria Limbrick, Energy Manager, Balfour Beatty

Partners

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, Balfour Beatty is leading the transformation of the industry to meet the challenges of the future.

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

The post #299d Highways UK Live – The Journey to Net Zero and Resilience first appeared on Engineering Matters.

In 2024, National Highways completely closed parts of the M25, London’s orbital motorway. This blockage in the arterial system of the UK economy wasn’t a mistake. Instead, it was an example of meticulously planned surgery, performed by experts.

In the previous episode of this mini-series, recorded live at Highways UK, we saw how data is becoming key to the future of the UK’s road infrastructure. In this episode, we learn how asset managers, infrastructure owners and engineers can use this data to perform major works with minimal disruption, bundling them with other works that might otherwise have required lane closures.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence, driven by the vast array of data available from vehicles, assets, and roads themselves, along with external sources, can help streamline interventions on the motorway network. But, these decisions always require humans in the loop. Data-driven decision making must be based on human priorities, and leadership is needed to ensure efficient and effective collaboration between multiple partners and external stakeholders.

Guests

Nicola Bell, Executive Director – Major Projects, National Highways

Louise Haining, Managing Director, Connect Plus Services, M25 DBFO, Balfour Beatty

Claire Gowson, Technical Director, AtkinsRéalis

Partners

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, Balfour Beatty is leading the transformation of the industry to meet the challenges of the future.

The post #299c Highways UK Live – Next Generation Asset Management first appeared on Engineering Matters.

As an engineer, it is easy to think of roads as a challenge to be solved. Many of the innovations we will discuss in this mini-series will have a real impact on the safety, efficiency, and environmental impact of roads. But roads should be thought of as a service, not as an end in themselves.

Today, National Highways is committed to only build new roads where strictly necessary. The future focus for the strategic highways network is to make road transport safer, more efficient, and more reliable. Data will be vital to delivering roads as a service, ensuring that maintenance is timely and efficient, and new roads and road assets are installed with minimal disruption or environmental impact.

To collect and share data from an increasingly wide range of sources—vehicles, highway assets, and even the road itself, as well as external sources—it will be necessary for roads to become ‘a computer wrapped in asphalt’. Some of this work will be performed by telephony companies, but the road industry must develop new skills, to help ensure data and vehicles all flow smoothly and safely throughout the network.

Guests

Andrew Page-Dove, Operational Control Director, National Highways

Andrew Dodsworth, Programme Director, BalfourBeatty

Matt Peck, Director of Innovation, AtkinsRealis

Partners

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, Balfour Beatty is leading the transformation of the industry to meet the challenges of the future.

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

The post #299b Highways UK Live – Roads Reimagined first appeared on Engineering Matters.

Why should we be thinking about roads as a service, not just an engineering challenge? What does it mean for a road to be a computer wrapped in asphalt? How can we use data from cars, highway assets, and even the road itself, to plan maintenance with minimal disruption to road users? How can roads become greener, more sustainable, and have less carbon impact? And what legacy do we leave when we build a new road?

All through this week, Engineering Matters will be releasing a new mini-series, looking at the future of the UK’s road network, with guests from National Highways, Balfour Beatty, and AtkinsRéalis, recorded live at Highways UK.

In this first short episode, mini-series producer Will North is joined by Balfour Beatty managing director, highways, Phil Clifton, and AtkinsRéalis managing director, transport, strategic highways, Peter Baynham, to talk about all of the topics we will be discussing throughout the week.

We’ll be returning tomorrow with the first full episode of the mini-series, “Roads Reimagined”. On Wednesday, we’ll meet the asset management experts using data to perform heart surgery on the UK’s highways. On Thursday, we’ll consider how we can build and maintain roads sustainably, and without carbon emissions. And on Friday, we’ll learn about the planned Lower Thames Crossing, and how the project has been designed from the start with a clear legacy in mind.

Guests

Phil Clifton, Managing Director, Highways, Balfour Beatty

Peter Baynham, Managing Director, Transport, Strategic Highways, AtkinsRéalis

Partners

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, Balfour Beatty is leading the transformation of the industry to meet the challenges of the future.

The post #299a Highways UK Live – The Future of Highways – Mini-series Preview first appeared on Engineering Matters.

We should all want to build workplaces where everyone feels safe and included. But how can we do that when we don’t know what everyone needs? How can we make sure that we understand our colleagues and potential recruits, and provide them with the tools they need to be welcomed, and to be successful?

Engineering Matters Awards Diversity & Inclusion Gold Champion EKFB’s Victoria Hingley has been working to develop a more diverse and inclusive workforce at the HS2 joint venture. Part of the work has involved giving staff a chance to disclose invisible disabilities through the Sunflower scheme.

But Victoria’s work goes much further. EKFB has developed introductions to the industry for children attending SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, shaped around these children’s abilities and needs. They have reshaped how they conduct interviews, ensuring they focus on the person, not the job profile. And they are working with industry partners to spread the message that construction can be a welcoming environment for all.

Guests

Victoria Hingley, Skills, Employment and Education Coordinator, EKFB (Eiffage Kier Ferrovial BAM JV)

Paddy Paterson, Skills, Employment & Education Manager, EKFB

Ben Hickman, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Manager, EKFB

The post #298 Making Everyone Welcome in Construction: Engineering Matters Awards 2024 Diversity & Inclusion Gold Champion — EKFB first appeared on Engineering Matters.