The Engineers Collective

In this episode Rob Horgan and Claire Smith discuss the stories dominating the news, including the abundance of roads-related announcements and the further delays to the Stonehenge Tunnel, as well as the challenge of planning delays for other projects.

Later, Rob is joined by the CEO of the Thames Tideway project, Andy Mitchell. Andy talks about the impact of coronavirus on delivery of the project and the industry-leading ways they’ve attempted to combat the issues arising from the pandemic.

This episode also focuses on Tideway’s impressive health, safety and wellbeing activities including their ground-breaking EPIC actor-led simulation, a course now completed by over 20,000 industry professionals.

Costain, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche (CVB) JV Industrializes Delivery of UK’s Largest Water Infrastructure Project

The 25-kilometer long Thames Tideway Tunnel will upgrade London’s 150-year-old sewer network, preventing overflow into the River Thames. CVB is responsible for the GBP 850 million eastern section of the tunnel, which includes 10 kilometers of tunnel works located 70 meters beneath central London, as well as six shaft sites. Using Bentley’s collaborative digital applications, the project team provided accurate visualization of the construction process, improving communication and understanding among site operatives and stakeholders to streamline workflow, decision-making, and approval processes.

To find out more about the project, including how CVB saved more than 90 days in the construction program, equaling GBP 300,000 in direct cost savings, visit https://www.bentley.com/en/project-profiles/2019/cvb-jv_thames-tideway-east

As the world cautiously emerges from months of Covid-19 lockdowns, The Engineers Collective looks at what impact the coronavirus is having on planning public spaces, specifically in relation to railway stations.

Joining NCE editor Claire Smith and news editor Rob Hogan on the latest episode of the podcast are Atkins technical director Cameron MacDonald and Bentley Systems director for product management and facilities engineering Eduardo Lazzarotto. The pair explain the benefits of pedestrian modelling software – such as Bentley’s Legion software – and outline the growing importance to track movements in a post-Covid world.

Atkins (member of SNC-Lavalin Group) is Going Digital with Bentley, working with its clients to develop safer public places by leveraging LEGION Simulator (available with new subscription fees waived through September 30, 2020 at www.bentley.com/bentley-social-distancing) to enhance the safety of social infrastructure assets such as rail and metro stations, tramways, airports, shopping malls, and museums.

Find out more, including how you can accelerate your pace of possible by taking Bentley’s digital assessment at www.bentley.com/going-digital-rail

In this edition of The Engineers Collective, the New Civil Engineer team talk about all things future-projects, including the impact of our change in travel habits and the possibility of an HS2 extension to Scotland.

Later, they are joined by the National Grid’s project director for London Power Tunnels 2, Gareth Burden. Gareth addresses the ramping up of a major infrastructure project in the middle of a pandemic, and helps us understand the massive scale and complexity of the full London Power Tunnels project. The conversation is framed in the context of coronavirus, of course, and the changing levels of power consumption and demand as a result.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems. Around the world, engineers and architects, constructors and owner-operators are using Bentley’s software solutions to accelerate project delivery and improve asset performance for transportation infrastructure that sustains our economy and our environment. Together, we are advancing infrastructure.

Find out more at www.bentley.com

This week’s release features AECOM’s director of digital practice & technology, Michael Warren, as he talks us through the firm’s digital journey. Specifically Michael talks us through the impacts of Covid-19 on the industry at wide and adaptation of digital practices.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems. Around the world, engineers and architects, constructors and owner-operators are using Bentley’s software solutions to accelerate project delivery and improve asset performance for transportation infrastructure that sustains our economy and our environment. Together, we are advancing infrastructure.

Learn how AECOM empowered a multi-discipline design team to design a highway crossing project and improve traffic operations and safety.

Find out more by visiting www.bentley.com/en/goingdigital/roads/aecom

In this month's episode of The Engineers Collective, New Civil Engineer's hosts Claire, Nadine and Rob are joined by Dustin Parkman from Bentley Systems to talk about how Covid-19 is forcing us all to find alternative ways of working.

Find out more at www.bentley.com/en/campaigns/project-delivery/bentley-has-your-back-projectwise-365

This month the Engineer’s Collective features Highways England project director David Bray talking about delivering complex infrastructure programmes, specifically the new A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme, which opened to traffic eight months ahead of schedule on 05 May 2020 during the Coronavirus outbreak.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems.

Read below about one of Bentley’s ‘going digital’ projects, entitled “How Going Digital is Bringing the Country of Malaysia Together”:

The government of Malaysia initiated a 16.15 billion MYR roadway project to develop and maintain a 786-kilometer-long four-lane dual carriageway to accelerate socioeconomic growth in East Malaysia. Going Digital with Bentley enabled the Government of Malaysia to develop and maintain a long awaited new highway connecting the states of Sabah and Sarawak, which will improve socioeconomic development and open up new opportunities for residents and local business. With a connected data environment and digital twins in place, Bentley’s products have been used in the entire lifecycle of the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak project. The use of digital twins helped to achieve a sustainable asset maintenance and management solution that boosted efficiency, saving thousands of resource hours.

Find out how the Government of Malaysia is Going Digital with Bentley and learn more about the project by visiting www.bentley.com/en/goingdigital/roads/malaysia

It’s the end of April, and the fifth week of lockdown in the UK amid the Coronavirus crisis. This month’s episode begins with a conversation about the recent, somewhat surprising ‘Notice to Proceed’ which was given by the UK Government to HS2. Editor of New Civil Engineer, Claire Smith, talks to news editor Rob Horgan and features editor Nadine Buddoo about the ways in which Covid-19 may change our work patterns or the need for large infrastructure projects in the future, and how the crisis is showing the best of civil engineering to the general public.

The guest in this month’s episode is Stephen Boyle, strategic programme manager at Zero Waste Scotland. Stephen is senior member of Zero Waste Scotland’s resource management team and oversees a variety of support services to local authorities, resource management businesses and third-sector organisations. Stephen joins the team to talk about how the civil engineering industry can join the circular economy, embracing change to help us mitigate our impacts on the environment. An increasingly important subject, the climate crisis is very real and Stephen addresses the need for our industry to keep materials in high-value use for longer.

The Engineers Collective podcast is sponsored by Bentley Systems. Read below about one of Bentley’s ‘going digital’ projects, entitled ‘connecting 8 out of Britain’s 10 Largest Cities and Regions’.

The Skanska Costain STRABAG (SCS) Joint Venture brings together the combination of tried, tested, and successful partnerships and worldwide high-speed rail experience for phase 1 of High Speed 2 (HS2), the United Kingdom’s new high-speed rail network that will connect London in the south and Manchester and Leeds to the north. Going Digital with Bentley is helping the digital advancement of SCS’s team in many areas including establishing digital workflows in a connected data environment to provide real-time access to trusted information wherever and whenever it is needed. Its structured digital data requires no manipulation meaning all stakeholders pull information from the same models, ensuring consistency and transparency, while the direct use of engineering models for estimating purposes halved of the time needed versus traditional methods and contributing to the teams work to meet client-imposed carbon savings of 50 percent on the project.

Find out how SCS JV is Going Digital with Bentley and learn more about the project by visiting www.bentley.com/en/goingdigital/rail/scs-railways

This special episode of the Engineers Collective is a little different. Editor of New Civil Engineer Claire Smith is joined by the brand’s news editor Rob Horgan and features editor Nadine Buddoo to discuss the dramatic impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on our civil engineering and the wider construction industry. The trio stepped back from the studio microphones and recorded together from their own homes to discuss the shutdown of major infrastructure projects and the somewhat apathetic guidance from government for industry.

Note the sound quality of this episode is reduced due to the new 'recording from home' experimenting. We hope to have this vastly improved for the next episode.

Join Claire, Rob and Nadine throughout this crisis with The Engineers Collective, released once a month with a special guest.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems.

For more information about Bentley’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, please go to www.bentley.com

This month editor of New Civil Engineer, Claire Smith co-hosts The Engineers Collective Podcast with NCE's new features editor, Nadine Buddoo. The climate crisis, flooding and the Chancellor's (original) budget announcement are all up for discussion.

Also this month the NCE team are joined by Carlton Brown, CEO of Heathrow West, the Arora Group’s alternative expansion plan for Heathrow Airport. Carlton joins at 5mins 20secs.

Carlton react's to the recent court case ruling and touch on how it may impact other Airport expansions in the UK.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems. Find out more at bentley.com

This month The Engineers Collective welcomes two new faces into the hotseat. Claire Smith, the new editor of New Civil Engineer, gets together with the magazine’s news editor Rob Horgan to discuss the news of the month including HS2’s green light and what could happen to plans for smart motorways.

The pair are joined 9mins in by the chief executive of Crossrail, Mark Wild, to talk about the reasons behind Crossrail’s delayed delivery of the Elizabeth Line.

Mark addresses the complexities of delivering a mega project underneath the world’s most compelx city and talks about the immediate future of the project leading up to its much anticipated opening.

Our hosts quiz Mark on his background and how his experience managing projects in Australia has influenced his approach to managing Crossrail, and champion some of your questions.

The Engineers Collective is powered by Bentley Systems. The Skanska Costain STRABAG (SCS) JV brings together the combination of tried, tested, and successful partnerships and worldwide high-speed rail experience for phase 1 of High Speed 2 (HS2), the United Kingdom’s new high-speed rail network that will connect London in the south and Manchester and Leeds to the north. Bentley’s OpenRail solution is helping the digital advancement of SCS’s team in many areas including, the coordination of files and data with team members and stakeholders, clash resolution - crucial to the resolution of major interface areas long before they become an issue on-site, and through the direct use of engineering models for estimating purposes a halving of the time needed versus traditional methods and contributing to the teams work to meet carbon reduction targets on the project.