vox, july 2010

lifting our gameRising to the challenge of Strategy 2018

issue six: july 2010

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Welcome to the sixth issue of Vox.

In this edition, we take stock of Halcrow’s efforts to ride out the economic downturn affecting some of its regions while taking advantage of opportunities elsewhere.

Launched at the group seminar in May, the business development change programme will help Halcrow better respond to these varying market conditions by supporting new ways of pursuing and securing work.

Long-term projects, frameworks and partnerships form the bedrock of the company’s workload, and in this issue we feature several schemes making a sizeable contribution to its ongoing success.

Halcrow’s joint venture with Colas and Costain, A-one+, continues to hold a maximum market share for highways maintenance on England’s arterial routes.

With Halcrow’s emerging regions punching above their weight, we take a look at progress on Argentina’s Tigre water treatment project, as well as plans for further expansion in east Asia.

We also report on other examples of employees rising to the challenge – from delivering complex projects to providing exceptional client care.

Welcome to our new correspondent for China, Harry Mao.

Editor Anna Mann will be on maternity leave for the next issue of Vox, so please continue to send your project successes, achievements and other news to Eloise Young.

Vox is designed and produced by Halcrow’s corporate communications team.

Printed by Rumbold Holland on Revive 50:50 silk recycled paper, it contains 50 per cent recovered waste and 50 per cent virgin fibre. It is manufactured at a mill accredited with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard. The pulp used in this product is bleached using an elemental chlorine-free process. This material is recyclable.

The Vox team

EditorialAnna Mann, [email protected]

Eloise [email protected]

Haidee Harrison [email protected]

Chris Warmoll [email protected]

Richard [email protected]

Design Emilie Dadswell, lead [email protected]

Tracy [email protected]

DistributionGabrielle [email protected]

CorrespondentsAmericas

Argentina, Mariana Ojeda

Canada, Cathy Spark

Belize, Ian Rowdon

Chile, Georg Welzel

Saint Lucia, Mandish Singh

US, Andrea Grinbaum

Asia

China, Harry Mao

Hong Kong, Irene Or

India, Rajni Dhiman

Malaysia, Robert Davies

Philippines,

Ricardo P Dela Cruz

Seoul, Andrea Choi

Australasia

Tim Dehn

Europe and central Asia

Europe and central Asia

(overall), Dijana Garwood

Poland, Anna Prokulska

Romania, Gabi Ivascu

Middle East

Gulf offices, Vanessa James

Pakistan, Ali Khan

UK

Bedford, Walter Makoni

Birmingham, Peter Robery

Bristol, Judith Turner

Cardiff, George Ballard

Chichester, David Jukes

Crawley, Stella Barber

and Warren Crawley

Derby, Peter Robery

Edinburgh, Becki Fleming

Exeter, Rachel Smith

and Sarah Dawe

Glasgow, Julie McSorley

Inverness, Kat Dearing

Ireland, Dijana Garwood

Leeds, Phil Thrower

London (Vineyard House),

Christopher Warmoll

London (Shortlands),

Liz Wilson

Peterborough, Laura Crawford

Swindon, Sarah Nichols

Waltham Cross,

Dawn McGilchrist

Worcester, Anita Inight

York, Graeme Pollard

Featuring:

Sustainable solutions – 28

Welsh wasteland springs back to life Transforming former steel mills – 28

HalSTAR attraction Software tool supports sustainable solutions – 29

Green development motors ahead New chapter for former industrial plant – 32

Giving generously – 35

Halcrow Foundation Haiti appeal Employees dig deep to help rebuilding effort – 35

People – 39

Achieving ambitions – 39

Alumni – 40

Sporting success – 42

People parade – 46

Announcements – 47

Out of office – 50

Supa manDean Boyaram delivers aural food for the soul – 50

Project profiles – 04

Room with a view New observation deck opens at Chicago’s Willis Tower – 05

Quake zone Halcrow employees support rebuilding effort – 08

Khor blimey Reflecting on 35 years at Khor Fakkan port – 12

Awards – 20

Business beat – 23

State of the nationAn interview with Peter Gammie – 23

Rebid success keeps A-one+ joint venture on top – 16

Mammoth Argentinean water project takes shape – 14

Making the grade

Halcrow rides east Asia boom – 24

Bringing geology to the big screen – 44

Project profilesCelebrating excellence

Vox | issue six4

The vista confronting motorists crossing the Hajar mountain range in north-eastern Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, remains undiluted: majestic peaks and vertiginous precipices impose their presence through car windows in every direction.

What has changed – as a result of Halcrow’s input – is that the daunting journey from Tawaian to Dibba, with its sheer drops and unstable cliffs, is now significantly safer.

In early 2006, Halcrow undertook an initial geological review of the highway in response to a major rock slide that closed the road for almost a year. Work began in June 2008 to stabilise 30 rock cuttings along the highway, winding up in January this year. As well as conducting the initial review for the Ministry of Public Works, Halcrow was responsible for the design and construction supervision of this complex scheme.

The steep rock slopes that line both sides of the road have been stabilised in places using a combination of rock

dowels, rock bolts, sprayed concrete, concrete buttresses, re-profiling and wire mesh protection.

Resident engineer Jamie Mackenzie explained some of these challenges: “The work was undertaken on a live, high-speed and historically dangerous road while keeping the risk to road users at an absolute minimum. Some of the rock slopes extended up to 50m above

Smoothing the road

the highway, which made access very difficult.

“The geological conditions along this stretch of road are hugely diverse, with rock types ranging from weak sedimentary to highly sheared metamorphic,” he continued. “As such, each design had to be tailored to the specific slope specifications.”

As project director Julian Tyson explained, the team helped the client slash costs by up to 50 per cent during the design phase by identifying the slopes requiring stabilisation.

“We made a decision early on that stabilisation should only be undertaken if a potential failure could reach the road,” said Julian. “We evaluated the size of each slope, the distance from the road and the likely travel distance of a failure. We then categorised the slopes into low, medium and high hazard. High and medium hazard slopes – those that had the potential to affect one or more of the road’s carriageways – were taken forward for detailed assessment and design. Each individual slope was further assessed using the same criteria, so that only those areas that would impact the road were treated.”

With work on the £9 million scheme now complete, the danger posed to drivers on this previously perilous stretch of road has been drastically curtailed.

Smiles all round from the team at the completion of site works

Installing rock bolts from inside a crane-hoisted cage

The winds of change are beginning to buffet New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city counts down to the arrival of its new train fleet.

Halcrow has steered the procurement process for the 96 vehicles since 2006, developing the specifications and serving as project manager for technical design, manufacturing quality control and build compliance.

With its Matangi moniker – meaning wind in Maori – the train is set to breathe new life into Wellington’s public transport network. Far-reaching modernisation works have revitalised the region’s rail infrastructure, with an overhaul of its electricity supply and signalling systems. Tunnel clearances have also been increased to accommodate the new carriages.

Members of Halcrow’s international team of rail engineers accompanied client representatives from Greater Wellington Regional Council and Greater Wellington Rail on an inspection trip to South Korea in March. The group visited manufacturer Hyundai-Rotem’s factory in Changwon to monitor assembly progress on the first of 48 two-car electric multiple units.

Ride like the wind

Testing has begun on this initial unit, which is due to land in Wellington later this year and will commence full services by the end of 2010.

Halcrow also had a hand in developing a host of modern design features, such as the fleet’s low floors, multi-user access areas and a simplified, cost-effective braking system.

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Safe passage: stabilisation works on

the historically dangerous route

Room with a view

ven seasoned adrenaline addicts may feel a cold chill

of trepidation as they step on to the Willis Tower’s new observation deck.

Jutting 1.5m from the 103rd floor the Halcrow Yolles-designed glass boxes provide a stomach-lurching perspective of downtown Chicago, 412m below.

Dubbed ‘The Ledge’, the observation area affords visitors unobstructed views spanning the cityscape and up to 80km beyond, cutting across four states. The complete lack of visible structural steel was achieved through a carefully conceived support system, which features cantilevered steel frames to hold the boxes, and structural components concealed behind ceilings and drywall.

The boxes – which are fully retractable for servicing and cleaning – are designed to withstand severe wind pressures and loads of up to five tonnes. Fully tempered and heat soaked for durability, the clear glass sections have heated tracing elements installed along their edges to combat ice formation during Chicago’s bitter winters.

Halcrow Yolles’s recognised reputation and extensive experience working with specialty glass helped guide the project through potential planning hurdles, alleviating any concerns raised by the City of Chicago’s Materials Testing Committee.

Walking on air

It’s the closest most people will come to literally walking in mid-air. For a group of home-schooled students this thrill came relatively early in life, with a recent visit to the Willis Tower’s observation boxes.

Halcrow’s Terry McDonnell, who was instrumental to the success of the project, was on hand to answer all the youngsters’ technical questions. “The pupils were interested to learn about the different kinds of engineers that worked on the project,” he said. “They wanted to know how everyone was able to bring their different types of expertise together in order to complete the scheme.”

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Chicago principal Terry McDonnell braves the glass floor with his wife, Jennifer, and daughter Annika

Image supplied by Skydeck Chicago


Vox | issue six6

Halcrow has secured a coveted place on Transport Scotland’s multiple framework agreement for infrastructure scheme preparation. The four-year framework will drive the government agency’s transport investment programme for the decade leading up to 2022.

Assessed on quality and price, Halcrow came second out of ten bidders – edging out strong showings from several of the company’s major competitors and leapfrogging two of the three existing framework consultants. As well as providing a strategic vantage point, the framework has the potential to generate work for the bulk of Halcrow’s teams in Scotland over the next five to ten years.

Glasgow-based client account manager Peter Marriott said: “While we already work extensively for Transport Scotland on existing commissions such as the performance audit group and standards advisor, for the first time in ten years we have an opportunity to be involved as the client’s agent in the planning and development of major transport projects in Scotland. It is a tremendous tribute to the team’s strength and depth of capability.”

Potential projects for delivery under the framework include upgrading the A9 between Perth and Inverness to a dual carriageway, a number of major rail enhancements, various park and ride schemes, and route management plans.

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Shipping news

With its 3.6m-diameter tyres locked in place on the Halcrow-designed pier, the world’s largest mobile boat hoist lifts a colossal barge, in steady increments, from the Elizabeth River in Virginia, US.

Extending 100m into the river the two concrete slipway piers were designed to accommodate the mammoth Travelift hoist and its 1,000 tonne load capacity.

The bespoke structures represent a central component of major extension works currently underway at Colonna’s Shipyard – one of the country’s oldest private shipyards.

Sprawling over 4ha the expanded facility will enable 15 vessels – including barges, US Navy craft and yachts up to 91m long – to be repaired simultaneously, improving the shipyard’s response capability.

Halcrow provided design and construction services, pooling resources from its Norfolk and Tampa offices.

The piers and hoist recently underwent testing to 110 per cent of their rated capacity. After lifting a barge out of the river the testing team filled it with water to reach the required weight, then manoeuvred the loaded hoist around the shipyard and back on to the piers.

As high-speed rail networks continue to proliferate, stretching spidery lines across global maps, Halcrow is helping governments around the world realise their need for speed.

Halcrow has been appointed by China’s ministry of railways to carry out construction supervision for a new high-speed line between Hefei and Fuzhou. Construction began in December 2009 – part of a route linking the coastal city of Fuzhou with the capital, Beijing – and is due for completion in 2014.

Trains will eventually hurtle through Anhui province in eastern China at speeds nudging 250km per hour. The line – set to glide past the majestic Mount Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) – will bolster China’s rapidly growing high-speed rail network, which is expected to steadily expand over the next few years. The world’s most populous nation currently boasts thousands of kilometres of track which accommodates trains travelling in excess of 200km per hour.

Halcrow’s managing director for China, Stephen Ellison, said: “This significant win not only strengthens Halcrow’s global reputation in high-speed rail projects, opening an important new market for our business in China, but also reinforces our presence in the east Asia region. Everyone in the bid team made a great contribution, working to an extremely tight deadline.”

Fast to Fuzhou

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Huangshan, one of China’s most famous mountains

Transport Scotland’s Ainslie McLaughlin

and Halcrow’s Jim McAlindin

Eagle-eyed fans of television series The O.C. will have no trouble recognising Marina Del Rey.

The man-made harbour just south of Venice, Los Angeles, has provided the backdrop for several episodes of the popular teen drama. Older soap fans will also remember seeing it in Knots Landing, the 1980s series inspired by the decade-defining Dallas.

It’s not all endless sunshine on the Californian coast, however. With the Pacific Ocean pounding at its doorstep, the 1960s-built marina has to endure a year-round hammering from the elements.

Since September 2007, Halcrow has been engaged on a three-year contract to identify and design repairs needed in Marina Del Rey’s seawall. More than 6,000 small boats are moored in the 19 separate marinas that lie behind the seawall in one of the largest man-made harbour complexes of its kind in the US.

As part of an ongoing maintenance programme on behalf of Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Halcrow was asked to perform a condition assessment and above and below-water inspection of the 12km-long seawall, which consists of a series of 18m-long by 3m-high concrete panels.

A visual inspection of the 720 panels revealed 5,767 individual cracks and spalls in the seawall. The survey also checked the condition of 7,500 tie-rod ends and the state of the seawall foundations. The results were stored on a database which the client will use to draw up a schedule of repairs over several fiscal years.

Project engineer Juan Mendoza explained that Halcrow is now preparing plans, specifications and cost estimates for the repairs to the foundations. “Current projects are also addressing the repairs needed for the tie-rod ends and repairing the cracks in the walls,” he said.

Project manager Bill Wood said: “Our expertise in assessing underwater conditions and our knowledge of structural repairs to marine facilities has provided the client with the necessary information to effectively plan for repairs and maintenance.”

Grand designs Freight movements through the US states

of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut could be revolutionised by a new strategic

plan, headed up by Halcrow.

Commissioned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) the £625,000

project will establish a 25-year overview of the tri-state region’s £920 billion goods market – the first ever comprehensive study undertaken

to capture the area’s freight movement. As the largest freight generator in the region,

PANYNJ hopes this long-term strategy will boost productivity and competitiveness.

As well as identifying factors likely to shape the region’s goods movement over the next three decades, the project will introduce regional goals for infrastructure investment and develop freight movement strategies. Overarching aims for safety, sustainability, and service and economic performance will also be developed as part of the strategic plan.

Working closely with three key partners – Cambridge Systematics, Mercator International and Eng-Wong Taub – Halcrow will lead the plan’s development; establishing its goals and strategy, and identifying and prioritising key initiatives. The team will also support partnerships among public agencies and between the public and private sectors.

Boston’s Joe Bryan emphasised that although many agencies are currently involved in goods movement across the region, the market lacks a common voice: “The client would like to see if the current lack of joined-up thinking can be changed,” he said. “This could lead to a new role and profile for PANYNJ, as well as improving the competitive attractiveness of the metropolitan New York market.”

Other major port cities and the federal government are closely monitoring the project’s developments, with the latter seeking to improve performance in the wider goods movement sector.

A safe harbour

The sun shines on the picturesque Marina Del Rey

Typical view of the seawall panel

Halcrow is helping to drive the region’s freight movement strategy

Vox | issue six8

s the plane began its descent into Port-au-Prince, the cataclysmic scenes below loomed into focus. Halcrow’s Bill Bruin peered down on to staggering destruction: craggy

rubble mountains stood in place of buildings, disassembled roofs flattened horizontal walls, and deep fissures radiated out in every direction. Just two hours earlier, Bill had boarded a flight from Miami with an 11-strong American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) team; now, he stood amidst a humanitarian disaster.

The Oakland-based marine engineer touched down in Haiti on 28 February as part of a week-long reconnaissance effort to assess damage to essential infrastructure and assist in rebuilding efforts. Bill’s involvement stemmed from his role as a member of the ASCE’s technical council on lifeline earthquake engineering (TCLEE). This group focuses on rehabilitating and maintaining the function of core infrastructure, such as water and wastewater systems, and power, communications and port facilities, following earthquake damage.

The 7-magnitude quake rocked the Caribbean nation on 12 January, with 30 seconds of violent shaking causing mass destruction. With the epicentre just 25km from Port-au-Prince and seismic activity rumbling close to the earth’s surface, widespread damage to the infrastructure above was a foregone conclusion. However, a lack of earthquake preparation and inconsistencies in design and construction quality magnified the carnage. Conservative estimates put the number killed at 230,000, while a further 330,000 were injured and 1.3 million displaced – a disaster of cataclysmic proportions by any measure, further intensified by Haiti’s position at the foot of the western hemisphere’s wealth ladder.

The earthquake’s force and a series of strong aftershocks – compounded by Haiti’s flimsy, poorly constructed buildings – heightened the devastation, especially for the country’s most vulnerable citizens. “The poorest people had built their shacks literally on top of one another,” said Bill, “so when the quake hit they collapsed like dominos, crushing those inside.”

The devastation was clearly evident in the streets, even as the international community’s emergency response began to shift its focus to long-term rebuilding. Bill recalled: “Those people whose homes had been destroyed had nowhere to go. I saw women washing their babies in ponds with raw sewage – the poverty and desperation were indescribable.”

Drawing on his experience within Halcrow’s ports team, Bill was called on primarily to gauge the level of damage to Haiti’s marine structures and port facilities, although once on the ground his remit quickly expanded. His team assessed the formerly lavish presidential palace, the domed façade of which had crumpled inwards, along with residential buildings. “People we met would ask: ‘Can you take a look at my mother-in-law’s house?’” he recalled, “so we ended up providing advice and assessment to people from all walks of life.”

With widespread liquefaction destabilising foundations, industrial and marine facilities near the epicentre suffered severe damage. The ASCE team inspected the Cimenterie Nationale cement plant, the Moulins d’Haiti flour mill and terminal, a marine oil terminal and Haiti’s main

port, Autorité Portuaire Nationale.

While some structural elements remained unscathed, Bill documented the dislocated piers and skewed piles requiring urgent attention. Buckled container cranes bent at unintended angles littered the harbour and, in some cases, had been flung against shipping vessels. Liquefaction and settlement in the container yard resulted in toppled cargo, with scattered freight containers embedded in the subsided concrete. “The level of disintegration was jaw-dropping,” he remembered. “Whole wharf and pier sections had collapsed and been reclaimed by the sea.”

The US Navy’s specialist divers collected otherwise inaccessible data, surveying corroded, splintered piles beneath the water line and feeding into the ASCE team’s report. “Reconstruction costs of up to £7 billion are being discussed,” said Bill, “as there’s a

Halcrow employees assess damaged infrastructure as part of international rebuilding effort

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Building damage in Haiti

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Halcrow’s Bill Bruin assesses port infrastructure

strong intention to not just replace what was there before, but to really improve Haiti’s situation through quality infrastructure.”

Back in the US, the group compiled a report outlining the post-quake condition of Haiti’s core infrastructure. Contrasting the performance of structures built to international codes with those constructed locally, the report contributes to collective understanding of earthquake scenarios.

Reflecting on the trip’s significance, Bill concluded: “As it’s impossible to physically replicate the extreme conditions that we design infrastructure to withstand, we need to glean as much information as possible in the wake of disasters. Reconnaissance exercises like this are invaluable, enabling us to further develop structural techniques and ensure we effectively use the collected data to help better protect communities around the world.”

n stark contrast with Haiti, as Marc Percher points out, “Chile is a country with advanced design codes, good enforcement and many modern structures. In many ways

the experiences in Chile are similar to what we can expect of a major quake on the US west coast.”

The Oakland-based senior engineer landed in Santiago on 10 April as part of a Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI) investigative team, supported by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Visits to marine and port facilities dominated his itinerary, with comprehensive structural performance assessments the overriding aim. The group’s findings will stimulate further research, eventually spawning new practices and resulting in more stringent international design codes.

Even given the country’s relative state of preparation, the scale and severity of the quake that rocked Chile on 27 February – the seventh most powerful ever recorded and the strongest to hit the country in half a century – left an indelible imprint. The 8.8-magnitude

earthquake triggered a tsunami, which struck shortly after the severe shaking. Dozens of aftershocks, many exceeding a 6-magnitude level, rippled through the region in the wake of the initial event, causing further chaos and leaving 2 million people homeless.

After landing in Santiago, Marc travelled to Chile’s second largest city, Concepción, which moved a full 3m to the west as a result of the quake. Talcahuano, the industrial port that serves the city, bore the brunt of the tsunami swell. Walking through the coastal town was a surreal experience, as Marc described: “We turned a corner and found a street filled with debris and oddly stacked fishing trawlers. This was downtown Talcahuano, now a mixture of flotsam, steel containers and misplaced sea vessels. A dark stained line across a wall and the algae hanging from a tree showed us the height of the tsunami, unbelievably topping out at about 10m above the current water line.”

Despite this apocalyptic backdrop and wholesale destruction, much of Chile’s

core infrastructure survived the impact, providing vital insights into disaster-resistant design and construction. Comparing structures that withstood extreme forces with those that had collapsed, the COPRI team collated data to support further knowledge sharing and refinement of

design codes.

As his week-long stint wound down, Marc contemplated: “By coming to other countries we help the global community of civil engineers to grow smaller in distance and closer in understanding. The physics don’t change – just the language. In the end, we are all humans, and we should respect the fact that rich or poor, good design should provide a sense of safety that allows the general public to not worry about earthquakes and tsunamis.”

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Marc with Alejandro Labbe and Debora Riquelme from

Halcrow’s Santiago office

Destruction at Talcahuano’s port

A battered ship, hurled from the sea

Vox | issue six10

A precarious legacy of the UK’s industrial past has been made safe with Halcrow expertise.

Perched on the moors high above the Lancashire town, Hameldon reservoir was originally built to provide water to one of Accrington’s many textile mills. After the industry declined, the reservoir was neglected and started to deteriorate.

With 100,000m³ of water banked up in the basin, there were increasing concerns about its safety. Up to 880 properties would have been at risk if the reservoir – which had no owner – had burst its retaining wall.

Halcrow was commissioned by the Environment Agency to undertake a feasibility study evaluating the safety risk posed by the reservoir. It concluded that the safest option was to empty the reservoir, breach its banks with a lined ‘notch’ and build a series of culverts to drain away incoming water.

In January last year the Halcrow team, led by Ben Jones in the Leeds office, began work on the ground investigation and detailed design of the preferred option. Because neighbouring farms used the reservoir as a water source, the team also looked at boreholes and rainwater collection systems to provide water for livestock.

The reservoir was drained off over a period of three months while the new culverts were built. Stone-filled reno mattresses were used to line the notch, which will drain water off into a new concrete weir chamber with outflows into culverts placed at different heights.

In April 2010 the inspecting engineer, Halcrow’s Alan Warren, certified the reservoir as no longer able to store water.

A key transport link in India’s western-most state is being upgraded to keep pace with the country’s runaway economic boom.

The 86km stretch of National Highway 59 (NH59) from Godhra to the Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh border will be widened from two to four lanes. The scheme also involves

building four grade separators, five major bridges and four rail overbridges.

Halcrow’s India team will provide detailed design work for the upgrade on behalf of contractor BSCPL. The project includes site investigations, a topographical survey of the project

corridor and geotechnical investigations at the locations of proposed structures, as well as the road design.

Stretching 350km from Ahmedabad in Gujurat to Indore in Madhya Pradesh, NH59 links a number of rapidly industrialising urban centres. The road upgrade is part of India’s ongoing national highways development project.

India’s energy supplies are to get a major boost with the expansion of one of the country’s few liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

A new stand-by jetty at Dahej port in Gujurat will provide berthing for tankers with up to a 266,000m³ capacity. The jetty will be sited south of the existing structure and the development will include topsides and associated facilities for unloading LNG cargo.

Halcrow has been commissioned to provide consultancy services for the expansion plan on behalf of Essar Projects (India). The contract involves designing the 2.45km-long approach trestle, the abutment, LNG unloading platform, breasting and mooring dolphins, and the pipe supporting girders.

Work on the expansion is scheduled to begin in September and will take around two years. The plan is being led by Petronet LNG, a joint-venture company set up by the Indian government to import liquefied natural gas and develop terminals around the country.

Green light for Gujurat upgrade


Accrington breathes easy India steps on the gas

An LNG storage barge

The lining notch

A view across the reservoir, complete with exposed structures

The reservoir with Accrington in the background

Synonymous with its harbour, Portsmouth’s past, present and future are inextricably tied to the sea.

Some 3.5 million passengers pass through the Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port every year, boarding hulking vessels bound for France, Spain and the Channel Isles. Two-thirds of the bananas eaten in the UK are unloaded at the publicly owned facility, which opened for business in 1976.

With the port’s passenger terminal straining under the volume of traffic and acting as a brake on future growth, a £10 million overhaul is taking shape, befitting its role as one of the UK’s foremost international gateways.

As part of its ongoing framework agreement with owner Portsmouth City Council, Halcrow vies for commissions in competition with another consultant. Project director Peter Roome explained: “The council considers every bid, awarding projects based on each company’s track record and specific suitability.”

After securing the initial master-plan contract in 2008, Halcrow reviewed the port’s trade and traffic and developed a series of growth projections. These forecasts were then used to determine the terminal’s optimum capacity and location.

Halcrow provided detailed design services for all civil, structural and building services elements of the modern, functional building, calling on specialist subcontractors to provide architectural and quantity surveying expertise.

Designed to curb energy use, the new facility features roof lights to boost natural light sources and wind catchers – ventilation systems based on traditional Persian architecture – to reduce air conditioning requirements. Sea water will be used to heat and cool air in mechanically ventilated areas, as well as for flushing some of the building’s toilets.

With future growth and flexibility topping the client’s requirement list, the team created an open, multifunctional structure capable of responding to fluctuating passenger numbers. Both buildings will be operational simultaneously for a period, before a tight six-hour changeover window heralds the shift to the new facility.

Port progress

Effective traffic management during peak times was an essential project requirement. “Currently, traffic is diverted through the city’s northern quarter before ‘stacking’ on the port approach,” explained project manager Roger Walsgrove, “but a proposed redevelopment of the area will block this route. Our master plan made provisions for additional car and freight marshalling to improve vehicle flows.”

Halcrow chairman Tony Pryor was impressed with progress after a recent site visit. “The port must remain operational at all times, with minimal disruption to services,” he said. “Despite being scattered around various offices the team has tackled the challenges posed by this complex scheme, delivering a project for Portsmouth’s future growth and prosperity.”

Passengers will enjoy the new terminal’s intuitive layout, carefully conceived for ease of movement, from the middle of next year.

New passenger terminal takes shape in Portsmouth

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Let the light in: the new terminal

The well-worn adage that two heads are better than one is ringing true

for Halcrow’s joint venture with the Shanghai Investment Consulting Company (SICC).

Adding further wins to its already bulging order book, the partnership recently bagged two urban design projects – a master plan for a tourism town set in the idyllic surrounds of Juilong Lake National Park, and the concept plan and urban design of Qinzhou new town island in Guangxi.

Preserving picturesque natural lakes and mountainous terrain, the Juilong master plan seamlessly weaves spaces for affordable housing, an 18-hole golf course and hotels with commercial, community and cultural facilities.

Double win for dynamic double actSplit between an 18km² central business district, the 38km² Shajing scientific and education park, and LaJiaoChui start-up area spanning 8km², the Qinzhou development will give rise to a world-class seafront resort. With tourist spending set to flow through the local economy, one of the scheme’s articulated aims is to reflect and reinforce Guangxi identity.

Mirroring the successful approach established on previous commissions, the Shanghai joint venture is gearing up to supply local knowledge in development planning, transport planning, economics and the environment, with Halcrow’s consulting business group providing international expertise in these areas.Q

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here a few small fishing boats once bobbed around in the Gulf of Oman, gargantuan container ships now unload

their cargo at the United Arab Emirates’ Khor Fakkan Port.

Halcrow has been involved in the port’s ongoing expansion for over 35 years, which have seen Khor Fakkan – tucked within a Sharjah-controlled enclave in Fujairah – swell from a local fishing wharf to an international shipping hub. With accelerated demand providing the impetus for sustained growth, the port now boasts six berths, storage areas, a small-craft quay and a fishing port, with a 1.5km breakwater providing protection from turbulent swells.

Responsible for design and construction supervision, Halcrow engineers have witnessed the port’s evolution in response to the global sea-freight market. Resident engineer Rob Pack flags up the potential for further expansion, pointing to the way the current project phase developed as work progressed. “On the initial plans this part of the project comprised one berth and the breakwater,” he said. “This was subsequently enlarged to include a second berth, and we adapted the designs accordingly.”

The 16m berths were constructed using pre-cast blocks, skirting the need to drain the area for construction. As well as removing the need for traditional reinforcement, which rapidly corrodes in the hostile marine environment, this construction method is cheaper to repair and more resistant to nudges from berthing ships. Building with 50 to 60-tonne blocks meant smaller equipment could be used, further chipping away at costs.

Dredging has deepened the basin and a longer quay accommodates the hulking container ships – amongst the world’s most imposing at 350m long. And every element is super-sized, as Rob emphasised: “Some of the latest cranes installed in berth six by the operator, Gulftainer, can pick up two 12m containers simultaneously and place them on the trailers waiting below.”

The breakwater under construction consists of rock core overlaid by interlocking concrete armour units, which creates a substantial barrier to protect the container berths. Future plans include 40,000m² of container storage.

Providing an alternative to other Gulf ports including Dubai’s Jebel Ali, Khor Fakkan’s location brings benefits to container shipping lines by slashing up to three days off sailing times and avoiding the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Despite economic undercurrents threatening to swamp the global sea freight industry, Khor Fakkan’s efficiency savings have seen it achieve a 10 per cent increase in traffic across 2009, flying in the face of the sustained slump.

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Vox | issue six12

Khor Fakkan Port today

Berth five at the port

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Sand is the last thing you would expect anyone to ship into the Arabian Desert.

Over the next few years, however, thousands of tonnes of the stuff will be dredged from the coast off Abu Dhabi to provide a base for a new oil refinery adjacent to the existing Ruwais facility.

Some 50 million m³ of sand is being spread over the deep salt pans which cover the 10km² site. The highly compressible salt pans – known as sabkha – lie up to 12m deep and have a low load-bearing capacity. Crystallising along arid coastlines, sabkhas are prevalent throughout the Persian Gulf.

Filling operations began in September 2009 with a planned completion date of March 2011. Halcrow has been working on site since 2009 as an independent checker verifying the reclamation and earthworks. The contract’s scope has included assessing the compaction and consolidation of the sabkhas and carrying out geotechnical tests to assess the magnitude of settlements.

When the refinery opens for business early in 2014, it will increase Abu Dhabi’s oil capacity by around 400,000 barrels per day.

Shifting sands

Halcrow Barry is poised to play a strategic consultancy role as the longest single transport scheme ever constructed on the island of Ireland takes shape.

Contractor Graham Farrans commissioned the company, in a joint venture with Scott Wilson, as contractor’s designer for section three of the 86km-long A5 Western Transport Corridor.

This appointment follows an announcement in December 2009 by Northern Ireland transport minister Conor Murphy, outlining contract awards for the three sections of this strategic link.

Connecting Londonderry and Derry with Aughnacloy near the border with the Republic of Ireland, the scheme represents a significant investment by both the UK and Irish governments to stimulate development in the region to the west of the River Bann. Once complete, the route will also boost connectivity between Dublin and Ireland’s north-west region.

Running concurrently, the three contracts will be delivered in two phases. The first involves assisting the client – the Northern Ireland Roads Service’s department for development – and its engineers to develop the design of the new dual carriageway. This will be undertaken prior to the publication of draft statutory orders during 2010 and a single public enquiry, covering all three contract sections, scheduled for midway

through 2011. The second phase comprises the construction of the new road, due to begin early in 2012.

Commenting on the win, Halcrow’s regional director for Ireland and Northern Ireland, Sam McCurdy, said: “Our success in securing this commission can be attributed to a strong joint-venture team. This, along with our recently acquired experience on other early contractor involvement projects in Ireland, ensured we were well matched to the project’s requirements.

“The bid team, led by Brian Johnstone on behalf of Halcrow Barry, should be congratulated on achieving this strategic win which is central to Halcrow’s future development in Northern Ireland.”

Irish eyes smile at record-breaking road

Halcrow bid leader Brian Johnstone (second from left) briefs an A5 project workshop

Safer building sites are on the cards in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), thanks to a federal government initiative supported by Halcrow.

The UAE’s ministry of labour has begun work on the first-ever set of occupational health and safety standards that will apply in all its member states. Tens of thousands of workers will potentially benefit from the new legislation, which will embrace everyone from contractors to construction workers.

Halcrow’s regional health and safety manager, Peter Neville, was invited by the government to join the technical group which will shape the proposals. The committee allows experts from construction companies in the region to share their experience with ministers and officials from the International Labour Organisation.

“The aim of the new proposals is very simple,” Peter said. “We want to help create an environment where people are less likely to be killed, suffer injury or succumb to ill health, as a direct or indirect result of what they do at work.”

He added that Halcrow’s experience of ensuring safe working practices at its own sites in the UAE will be valuable when helping to formulate the proposed draft regulations. Halcrow’s contribution to the committee will be supported by Abu Dhabi-based Shane Groves, who led health and safety on the Yas Island project.

Keeping it safe

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rom its source in southern Brazil the Paraná River’s boundless expanse carves its way down towards Argentina, emptying into the Rio de la Plata

before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Just north of Buenos Aires the Paraná de las Palmas – a tributary of Latin America’s second longest river – and the Luján River will supply some 2.5 million people in the Argentinean capital’s outer suburbs and rambling barrios. For over a year, Halcrow has been developing detailed designs for a £485 million water treatment plant to exploit this vast resource. Comprising a river intake and infrastructure to convey, treat and distribute potable water, the Tigre project is the largest to be constructed in Argentina for half a century, and the biggest potable water treatment works ever designed by Halcrow.

Led by Rodolfo Aradas, the Buenos Aires-based team has been providing design services to Brazilian giant Odebrecht since February 2009. As construction activity intensifies in 2011, Halcrow will provide Odebrecht with technical guidance and support as the contractor navigates through the project’s estimated 6,000 deliverables.

Projects of this scale invariably pose technical hurdles for design teams, and the Tigre scheme is no exception. Eroded by successive floods, the site’s poor-quality soil forced the team to rethink its design approach for the tunnel and ancillary works, as well as the foundations for water tanks and other structures. Given the sheer size of the pumping stations, Halcrow produced theoretical designs which were then tested and optimised using scaled physical models.

Rodolfo explained that, besides the project’s mammoth proportions, the greatest single challenge lies in the level of co-ordinated timing required for ‘fast track’ design and build projects. “This means the design is carried out at almost the same time as construction demands it,” he said, “which requires a high degree of communication capacity and quick response by the design team.”

Fulfilling this need for close contact, a Halcrow team of six on-site engineers provides a constant link between the contractor and the main design team, and a permanent source of technical support.

Steering each section of the project as it moves forward the 50-strong local team works closely with electro-mechanical, structural,

architectural, tunnelling and hydraulic specialists from other Halcrow offices to co-ordinate specific components. Highly specialised units have formed in response to the project’s requirements, particularly tunnel design, and this skilled team is already working on detailed designs for an Oderbrecht-led sewage interceptor tunnel in Panama.

In the medium term, as work on the scheme begins to wind down, the plan is for the experts pulled together for the Tigre project to crystallize into specialised tunnels and electro-mechanical design teams. Rodolfo commented: “Once fully mobilised these niche teams will initiate global projects for international heavyweights such as Oderbrecht – a strategy that is fully aligned with Halcrow’s drive for global delivery and its major projects programme.”

Using the current Latin American connection as a launch pad, plans are underway to reel in potential project opportunities in the US and Middle East, with prospective services ranging from bidding support to the commissioning of designed facilities.

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The project scope includes:

• intake work on Luján River for 75,000m3/day for the first production stage

• intake work on Paraná de las Palmas River for 1,500,000m3/day for the final production stage

• 14km of 3.6m-diameter tunnel and ancillary works • treatment works capable of processing 900,000m3/day,

including sludge treatment – the first of its size in the country

• raw water pumping station at the inlet to the works• treated water pumping station at the outlet of the works• three aqueducts with a total length of 45km, including rail,

road and river crossings

Vox | issue six14

Halcrow design expertise keeps mammoth Argentinean water project on course

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Aerial shot of the Tigre site

Visitors to Bogong could be forgiven for missing Australia’s largest hydropower development in three decades.

Nestled on the fringes of Victoria’s rugged Alpine National Park the £133 million underground power station was designed for minimal visibility, blending unobtrusively into the native bush. With the Australian government pouring funds into renewable energy projects to wean the country off fossil fuels, low-carbon schemes are getting the go-ahead across the continent.

Drawing on the Australian team’s tunnelling expertise Halcrow provided detailed designs, drawings and specifications for all civil works, with the company’s value engineering approach cementing the project’s economic viability.

A final component of the Kiewa hydroelectric network – first conceived in the 1950s – the 140MW facility is powered by recycled water from the existing McKay Creek power station via a 6.5km-long tunnel; one of the longest hard-rock tunnels constructed in the southern hemisphere using tunnel-boring

Hidden power equipment. The captured water then flows through two further power plants within the network.

Reusing water removed the need for a new dam, chipping away at the project’s carbon footprint. All excavated rock spoil was recycled by the local authority for road upgrades.

Completed in November 2009, the project also includes a visitors’ centre, local walking tracks and support for the community outdoor education centre.

Inside Bogong power station

The unspoilt McKay Creek

Space is at a premium in Hong Kong. With its iconic, soaring skyline and 7 million people crammed into little more than a thousand square kilometres, there is scant above-ground room to manoeuvre when planning new infrastructure developments.

Deep beneath the city’s tightly packed skyscrapers, the proposed Sha Tin to Central metro link will help beat the squeeze. At the close of 2009, Halcrow was awarded the

detailed design contract for two sections of tunnel which form part of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTR)’s £10 billion project.

Halcrow is set to design the approach tunnels, dubbed Lion Rock and Diamond Hill. Comprising 4.7km of twin tunnels the scheme will be constructed in two sections by a combination of drill and blast and tunnel-boring machine. The contract also includes

designs for associated ventilation structures, with Halcrow’s involvement projected to continue for two years.

The subterranean reach of high-rise foundations forced the design team to navigate a path through the narrow road corridor still capable of accommodating a tunnel-boring machine. The team also sought to raise the proposed alignment to reduce pressure on the tunnel during construction.

Work on the demanding schedule began in January 2010, with employees from both the Brisbane and Melbourne offices joining the Hong Kong-based project team. Malcolm Chappell, Australia’s director of tunnelling, is leading the design team.

East Asia’s regional managing director, Martin Harrison, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the best of what Halcrow has to offer. Australian tunnelling expertise, allied to the strong base laid by the local team, propelled Halcrow’s bid to the forefront of those submitted.”

The Australian tunnels team is one of two Halcrow international centres of excellence for tunnelling, with the other in London’s Vineyard House.

A neck-craning view of a city skyscraper

Hong Kong’s bustling Percival Street

Harnessing hydroHalcrow produced detailed designs for:• reinforced concrete head

pond structure • concrete-lined and steel-lined high pressure headrace tunnel• reinforced concrete buried power station building to house twin

70MW turbines and associated electrical equipment

• reinforced concrete buried tailrace conduit

Vox | issue six16

ny world-class athlete will tell you that winning a gold medal is one thing – maintaining your performance to scoop a second or third is quite another.

However, since its inception in 2003 A-one, Halcrow’s joint venture with Colas – which became A-one+ when joined by Costain in 2007 – seems to have created the right formula for ongoing success. Following its meteoric rise to become the UK Highways Agency’s main vehicle for highway management, A-one+ remains the country’s leading managing agent contractor (MAC) – having secured the new Area 14 MAC contract in a fiercely fought rebid victory earlier this year.

The new £115 million contract began in July 2010 and will run for five years, with an option to extend for a further two. A-one+ will be responsible for routine operational and maintenance services, and delivering improvements on motorways and trunk roads throughout Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, and North Yorkshire. This area comprises some 635km of motorways and trunk roads, together with 420 structures, such as bridges and gantries.

Given the joint venture’s seven-year track record at successfully managing Area 14 for the Highways Agency, you might be forgiven for thinking it was in the bag. But Halcrow’s Andy Jamieson, managing director for A-one+, is quick to blast any misconceptions: “This was a particularly challenging rebid. Historically it’s often difficult for incumbents to rebid for these long-term contracts successfully, as clients are often looking for a change. Also, bidding in a recession meant that competition was especially fierce. That our bid came top on quality and wasn’t the lowest on price is particularly pleasing, and

shows we have established a reputation with the Highways Agency for delivering on our commitments and being easy to do business with.”

A-one+ has responsibility for a total of four contract areas − Areas 7, 10, 12 and 14 − and, with this latest win, will continue to manage 32 per cent of England’s motorway and trunk road network. This is the maximum market share permitted by the Highways Agency.

The joint venture has seen a period of rapid growth, doubling in size to over 1,800 employees in the last year or so. In 2009 it won the contracts for the £200 million Area 12 and the £220 million Area 7 projects, each lasting five years. Now, with Area 14 back under its belt, annual turnover will increase to over £190 million per annum and boost the forward order book to in excess of £750 million.

Another reason behind the recent growth spurt is the UK government’s fiscal stimulus package, announced in 2008 in response to the downturn. Colas’s Mark Overton, finance and commercial director for A-one+, explained: “The fiscal stimulus package had a major impact on the A-one+ business in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. In our established Areas 10 and 14 we saw a significant increase in the number of schemes designed and constructed.

“This resulted in a 50 per cent increase in our turnover. The increase was slightly less for the two newer contracts that we started in 2009, but in total we turned over £180 million last year. When all four contracts are up and running we expect this to be in the order of £200 million – and that’s excluding any fiscal stimulus work.”

Making the gradeRebid success keeps A-one+ joint venture on top

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The team braved the elements to improve safety on the network during record UK snowfalls earlier in 2010

Making the grade

The strength of the joint venture itself, which benefits all three parent companies, may also be a factor as it combines the culture and expertise of its participants. Colas’s Stuart Cordier, A-one+ operations director, expands on this notion: “There are huge benefits to be had from joint-venture working,” he said. “Halcrow brings its design skills. We use Colas’s experience in small works and maintenance contracting. And we’ve got Costain to show us how to project manage the bigger schemes. The three put together are a really good fit.”

A-one+ is an unincorporated joint venture, but still fairly independent from the parent companies, each of which has an equal share. Employees from each company are seconded full time into the venture. All costs are then reimbursed and the profit is shared equally. Additional works are undertaken using parent company resources – designers from Halcrow, traffic management and surfacing resources from Colas and other specialist resources from Costain for example, which brings further financial benefit.

“I like to describe it as a virtual company,” said Andy. “We’ve got our own systems, supply chain, accreditation, insurance policies and bank accounts – so we stand alone as a virtual company. The only thing we don’t do is employ staff directly.”

The joint venture is also a source of skills and best practice that can be used by the parent companies to attract further work, as Andy elaborated: “A lot of countries face similar problems to the UK in terms of managing a network, managing congestion and getting more for their money, and there’s a lot of best practice coming out of A-one+ in those terms. Halcrow can use this to develop and sell these skills around the world.”

Network notes• Managing agent contractor (MAC) contracts are the Highways Agency’s main vehicle for highway management, maintenance and the operation of England’s motorways and trunk roads

• MAC contracts – which also include improvement and major renewals – are generally issued for five years with two-year extensions • Turnover on these contracts ranges from £30 million to £80 million per year

• The UK is divided into 14 areas, with each allocated a MAC provider to deliver integrated highway services• No more than four contracts can be awarded to one joint venture. With 32.8 percent of the network, A-one+ has the maximum market share

Meeting the needs of the Highways Agency remains a firm priority. Andy said: “Overall, there are lots of reasons why we are successful, but understanding what the client is looking for in terms of service delivery is key. The fact that A-one+ has just one client means we can shape our organisation and our systems to deliver what they want.”

Costain’s Doug Coutts, general manager for Area 7, explained what this means on the ground. “There are a number of ways we keep the client happy. Initially it’s about building relationships – building up confidence between A-one+ teams, the client organisation and the individuals within the client teams. We work together – it’s a very integrated approach, an integrated team and a win-win opportunity.”

Moving forward, the partnership will focus on embedding its new contracts, consolidating its position in the market and sharing best practice. Andy Jamieson sums up: “I think the main driver for the Highways Agency in the future is going to be delivering more for less, so we’ve got to focus on taking advantage of our market share and driving our efficiencies to make sure we stay at the top of the pile. Going forward we’re absolutely delighted with our order book – three contracts for five years’ work and Area 10 has got at least two years to go. It’s absolutely brilliant for the parent companies, helping to keep the shareholders happy. We have lots of reasons to be confident and optimistic about the future.”

After its initial sprinting success and with its eyes now fixed firmly on the long-distance prize, A-one+ seems set to keep its place on the winner’s podium.

Operations director Stuart Cordier and the team at A-one+ Cowick Depot

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Vox | issue six18

Everybody seems to want a slice of Brisbane in the 21st century.

With its booming technology sector and port facilities, Australia’s third most populous city is the fastest growing urban centre in the country. Its population is predicted to rocket by almost 50 per cent within the next 15 years.

To stop the boom town turning into one huge traffic jam, the state of Queensland and Brisbane City Council are spending £2.7 billion on Australia’s largest infrastructure project. The three-schemes-in-one project includes a new road tunnel link to the airport, a northern city busway and a major upgrade of the airport roundabout – one of Brisbane’s busiest intersections.

Since 2008, a small team of Halcrow tunnelling design engineers has been contributing to various elements of the project. The airport link and the busway projects require 15km of tunnelling, including 5.7km of twin road tunnels, the busway tunnel and 25 bridges.

The airport link will connect Brisbane’s central business district with the east-west arterial road which leads to Brisbane Airport, slashing traffic congestion in the northern suburbs and allowing motorists to bypass 18 sets of traffic lights. It is being built in conjunction with the Windsor to Kedron section of the northern busway in approximately the same corridor.

Project director Adrian Jones said that Halcrow’s expertise has been a valuable resource in several complex areas of construction. “The Kedron precinct, where the airport link and the northern busway meet, was particularly challenging,” he said. “This section requires multiple tunnels, ramps and large span caverns, and was technically quite difficult.”

Key Halcrow employees have been working as part of a 450-strong design team. The four-year project entails a total of 3,000 design deliverables and at the peak of construction about 50 of these were flowing through each week, with £600,000 being

spent on the project every hour.

“The Brisbane Airport link has been intensely rewarding to work on from both a professional and technical perspective,” Adrian said. “I’m tremendously proud of our team – they have had a massive influence for a relatively small number.”

The airport link tunnel and busway are expected be finished by mid-2012, with the airport roundabout upgrade due for completion a year earlier.

York’s ancient streets will be cleaner and less traffic-clogged as a result of three planned park and ride sites on the city’s outskirts.

Park and ride capacity will ultimately increase from 3,750 places to 5,350 when the sites are opened in 2012 as part of the Access York project’s first phase. Pedestrian and cycle networks around the city’s existing park and ride facilities will also be upgraded.

The £26.3 million project will see new sites built at Poppleton Bar on the A59 – the only major route not currently served by a park and ride facility – and Clifton Moor, which will provide an additional transport link to York Hospital. The existing park and ride at Askham Bar will be relocated and expanded.

Halcrow has been appointed by City of York Council as designer for the project. The winning bid was jointly prepared and submitted by the transportation, property and consulting business groups.

Around 4.3 million passengers use York’s park and ride services annually. The facilities remove over 1 million cars from the city’s streets every year, equivalent to 10 million kilometres of vehicle movement.

All the sites have received planning permission subject to conditions. Following detailed design, construction could begin in April 2011 for completion in July 2012. The scheme will be funded by the UK government’s department for transport, with a part contribution from City of York Council.

Project director Steve Kinghorn said: “We are delighted to have been successful in beating off stiff competition to win this prestigious commission. Halcrow has been working in partnership with York since 2005 on a number of projects and this win will further strengthen our relationship.”

TIcKET TO RIDE

York’s park and ride vision

Brisbane’s skyline

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Small but mighty

Tunnel portal at Brisbane’s Bowen Hills

Tunnel construction at Bowen Hills

research. Areas of focus include future network and travel patterns, revenue estimates, stated preference and traffic growth perspectives.

Srinivas said: “The traffic study provides an opportunity and a challenge to the transport planning team in India. It allows us to showcase our experience and expertise.”

Keeping pace with the region’s runaway growth, Halcrow opened its new Hyderabad office in April.

As well as aligning Halcrow with key local clients, the location boosts the team’s ability to support projects and business groups within other regions.

See page 26 for details of the global delivery plans currently being implemented.

Regional managing director Bill Peacock and regional transportation director Hari Kumar Somalraju performed a puja ceremony, and celebratory sweets were distributed amongst the team to mark the opening.

Hyderabad is to get a state-of-the-art metro system that befits its status as India’s high-tech capital.

With its flourishing technology and pharmaceutical sectors, Hyderabad is a showcase for India’s 21st century economic boom. The 6,852km² metropolitan area – capital of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh – is also home to the world’s largest film studio.

But prosperity has also brought pollution, overcrowded roads and a rocketing population that is projected to grow from 8 million to 13.5 million over the next decade. The £1.6 billion Hyderabad metro rail system is an ambitious attempt to lever drivers out of their cars and on to an elevated twin-track rail system, which will ride on viaducts above the middle of the city’s roads.

The project is to be developed through private sector participation and Halcrow has been commissioned to undertake the traffic and revenue forecasts for the 40-year concession period.

With only eight weeks to complete the commission on behalf of one of the bidders, project director Srinivas Chekuri and project manager Samir Sharma have been working against the clock to complete their

High level railway for high-tech city

Horn-honking snarl-ups on Sharjah’s busiest road will soon be a distant memory.

The latest milestone in the massive Al Wahda road improvement scheme has just been completed with the opening of a 1.5km viaduct. The elevated roadway, which replaces two highly congested junctions, runs parallel to Al Wahda Street before crossing over King Abdul Aziz Road and Al Qasima Road, then rejoining Al Wadha Street.

The complex road upgrade aims to create a clear flow of traffic along Al Wahda Street – the emirate’s busiest thoroughfare – and forms part of the city’s first three-level interchange. A 168m underpass has already opened, and cars will sweep through a second underpass from August 2010.

Part of a five-phase scheme, the new viaduct will eliminate bottlenecks and congestion along the route’s 5km length.

Halcrow was awarded the main contract in 2006 and has handled all aspects of the project, from concept design to construction management. Work was complicated by the need to realign key services that ran along the road. Because King Abdul Aziz Road and Al Wadha Street have been closed to all except local traffic, motorists have had to contend with lengthy diversions.

In order to ensure uninterrupted access to concrete supplies, a dedicated fully-computerised and automatic concrete batching plant was constructed on site. A casting yard was also built to produce girders, panels and parapets for the viaduct.

The Al Wadha road improvement scheme is the highest value single contract ever awarded in Sharjah. The first stage is complete, the second under construction, and stages three and four are designed and ready to be implemented.

Life in the fast lane

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Hayath Bakshi Begum tomb in Hyderabad

Bill and Hari at the puja ceremony

AwardsCelebrating achievement

Vox | issue six20

Giving generously Halcrow Foundation

Filled with lush, exotic plants, the Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium forms a sparkling gateway to the revamped Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.

Halcrow Yolles provided structural engineering services for the 1,500m² atrium. The building was recognised as a top project in the buildings category at a new awards ceremony for design excellence. Organised by the Ontario General Contractors Association, the annual event encourages innovation and sustainability.

The three-level atrium is part of a major rejuvenation project at Canada’s

largest botanical gardens. The wider project also features

a living wall of specialised plants, which acts as

an air filter and temperature regulator.

It looks more like a software company’s headquarters in California’s Silicone Valley than most people’s idea of a school.

So it’s no surprise to learn that St Wilfrid’s Catholic School in Horsham is the first UK secondary school to obtain a BRE environmental assessment method (BREEAM) excellent rating – with help from Halcrow Yolles.

The £20 million school achieved a 51 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by incorporating a series of sustainable features. A biomass boiler provides 85 per cent of the building’s thermal load, classroom lighting is monitored by intelligent controls and an exposed concrete soffit cuts out the need for air conditioning.

The team provided building services consulting and BREEAM assessment to help St Wilfrid’s meet its vision of becoming an eco school. A computer model allowed every space to be studied for heat gains and the design maximises natural lighting.

Staff at the school were closely involved at every stage of the process. The team held regular meetings with teachers to ensure the final services installation met with their expectations.

The local community is also set to benefit from the new school as the design of the security system enables parts of St Wilfrid’s to be used out of hours, without compromising the rest of the building’s security.

With climate change propelling flood risk into mainstream focus, a strategy to translate this concept into individual action has won four graduate hydrologists from Halcrow’s Exeter office industry acclaim.

The team topped the field at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) competition for new members, organised by CIWEM’s rivers and coastal group.

Charlotte Hart, Nilani Venn, Ram Gurung and Tom Styles were shortlisted from eight entries drawn from different industry sectors, including government organisations, local government, contractors and other consultants.

Their brief was to submit a report, website, article or booklet to improve understanding amongst members of the public and engage people to help reduce flood risk.

The team’s article presented innovative ways of encouraging the general public to learn about and take responsibility for their own

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Awards Celebrating achievement

exposure to flood risk, with top tips for preparing for flooding on a personal, local and national scale.

Celebrating the team’s victory as part of a CIWEM study weekend in Norwich, Charlotte commented: “This was a great opportunity to share our opinions on flood risk awareness. The feedback from CIWEM rivers and coastal group chair Terry Fuller was very encouraging – he noted our article was thorough and effective at acknowledging hard-to-reach groups.”

School of design

High-tech learning: St Wilfrid’s catholic School

Spreading the word

Above: the team celebrates in NorfolkRight: (l to r) CIWEM’s Terry Fuller, Nilani, Tom, Ram and Charlotte

One of the UK’s leading business charities has given Halcrow’s corporate performance as a responsible company a big thumbs up.

In the 2009 Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI), Halcrow achieved a bronze award and a total score of 76.8 per cent – beating its 2008 result of 59.5 per cent – in just its second submission to the index.

Managed by the independent business-led charity Business in the Community, the index examines every aspect of a company’s impact on society and the environment. Regarded as the UK’s leading voluntary benchmark for corporate responsibility, it also helps companies improve the way they measure and report on their corporate impact.

Group board director Neil Holt welcomed the award: “The CRI process will help to drive continuous improvement in terms of what we do and how we do it, relative to our sustainability and wider corporate responsibility agenda.

“Using the index will help us meet our objective to be widely recognised by clients, business partners and our own people as being a responsible business.”

View the results online: bitc.org.uk

Until recently, generations of Waltham Abbey residents monitored weather forecasts with trepidation.

Completed in December 2009, the £6 million Cobbins Brook flood alleviation scheme in Essex, UK, has put the brakes on flood risk, and the Halcrow-led team’s unswerving commitment to promoting health, safety and environmental excellence has been recognised through an eponymous exemplar award. One of just two presented nationally in 2009, the award celebrates the pinnacle of the Environment Agency’s capital projects.

Swollen by seasonal rains the ordinarily diminutive Cobbins Brook – a minor tributary of the River Lea – burst its banks five times in five decades, funnelling torrents of muddy water into homes and businesses in the historic market town. Water marks stretching 1.5m up sodden walls, curtains dip dyed an anaemic shade of brown and silt-carpeted floors greeted returning residents after the most recent deluge in October 2000. Some 97 homes were swamped, with damages running to £2.3 million.

Constructed from locally sourced clay, an earth embankment 2km upstream of Waltham Abbey created a flood storage area capable of holding up to 758,000m³ of water. The team incorporated a host of measures to minimise the environmental impact of construction.

Building the culvert structure beyond the original river channel enabled the scheme to take shape without the risk of pollution from material spills or of the works being flooded. Landscaping and habitat creation in the surrounding area offset any environmental losses caused by the river’s diversion from its natural channel, while a textured surface applied to the concrete invert enables wildlife to pass through.

Working with contractor Jackson Frameworks the team reused site waste, such as gravel and off-cuts from tree works, to protect the embankment’s upstream face from the current. A three-stage trash screen – designed using three-dimensional modelling techniques to aid emptying – prevents debris entering the culvert. This reduces manual handling requirements, improving safety.

Water voles and great crested newts discovered during the site clearance were trapped and relocated, while fencing was installed to prevent wildlife from venturing back into construction areas. Site activities were carefully managed to heighten safety, with construction access segregated from local and foot traffic, hazard notices raising awareness of changing site dangers, and crash bags used to prevent unloading accidents.

Flood risk to properties in the area has been slashed to a 2 per cent chance or less in any given year. Cobbins Brook was one of three Halcrow successes at the recent Construction News quality awards, as well as picking up top accolades in two categories at the Institution of Civil Engineers east of England merit awards.

Halcrow races up responsibility league

New-look brook scores top prize

Bouquet for civic centreWest Lothian’s multi-purpose civic centre won the coveted best corporate workplace category in the Scottish region of the British Council for Offices awards in April.

Judging chairman John Shepherd described the winning centre as “a prototype for the future of public-sector offices”.

The £46 million building brings West Lothian Council, Lothian and Borders Police and the Scottish Courts Service under one roof. Halcrow Yolles carried out all civil and structural engineering work for the project and acted as planning supervisor.

West Lothian civic centre

Trash screen at the entrance to the culvert structure

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Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...Awards Celebrating achievement

Vox | issue six22

Halcrow’s efforts to boost gender parity in a traditionally male-dominated industry have been recognised with an award from the UK resource centre (UKRC) for women in science, engineering and technology (SET).

Launched in November, the SET fair standard awards promote gender equality as part of the centre’s portfolio of services.

Awarded at three levels – committed, achieving and outstanding – the SET fair standard is customised for corporate, professional and academic organisations of various sizes. Halcrow is the first large company to be rewarded at ‘achieving’ level.

Getting SET for gender equality

Ear-warming shoulder pads and head-to-toe acid-wash denim are now largely consigned to distant memory and carefully hidden photo albums.

Unlike these faded fashion trends, one product of 1983 that has withstood the ravages of time with a flourish is Toronto’s Queen’s Quay Terminal. Its longevity was recently recognised through the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)’s Landmark Award for 2010.

In the year Michael Jackson moonwalked to number one with Billy Jean, a derelict warehouse on the shores of Lake Ontario was transformed into this vibrant mixed-use development. The former cold storage facility – originally built in 1926 at the height of art deco’s dominance – was converted to retail spaces and restaurants, offices, a performing arts venue and roof-top apartments.

Halcrow Yolles provided structural engineering services for the terminal, including the design of a dramatic eight-storey atrium which creates a visual link to the water and bathes the interior in natural light.

Each year the OAA’s Landmark Award celebrates a project built prior to 1985 that epitomises architecture’s beauty, endurance and lasting contribution to the community.

Trend setter

Celebrating progress to develop inclusive workplaces, the standard encourages businesses to address the gender chasm that exists in industries where women have previously been underrepresented.

UKRC director Annette Williams said: “Science, engineering and technology will be at the forefront of efforts to lead the UK out of recession and women will play a key role. The SET fair

standard is an important initiative which will help organisations increase the

participation of women in these vital areas.”

Halcrow’s chief executive, Peter Gammie, accepted the award at a ceremony on 18 March at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.

Transfixed audiences are absorbing the gritty sensuality of a jazz ensemble, rarefied splendour of a full orchestra and visceral pulse of performance art in a bespoke new setting – the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Telus Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto, Canada.

Halcrow Yolles provided full structural engineering services for the centre, which was recently awarded the prestigious Governor General’s Medal in Architecture. Seamlessly melding teaching and rehearsal facilities with a destination concert venue, the facility is the final component in the master plan for the conservatory’s new home.

Vibrations from subway trains rumbling past the building’s foundations were muted by separating one of its four concert halls at the base on isolation pads – one of a host of engineering challenges ably dealt with by the team.

Sponsored by the Royal Architectural Institute and the Canada Council for the Arts, the award recognises outstanding design in recently built projects by Canadian architects.

The sound of music

The interior benefits from natural lighting

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he first two quarters of 2010 have seen mixed results across Halcrow’s regions.

In Australasia, Latin America and east Asia, for example, market outlooks are positive, but this good news has been tempered by the continuing downturn in the UK in particular. Economic growth is insignificant and the first effects of the coalition government’s budget cuts are becoming apparent. Despite these unsettled market conditions, Halcrow turned in a good performance for the first quarter of 2010. Financial targets were hit and the budgeted profit of £6.4 million was reached. However, the last few months have been marked by a lower than budget performance, and results fell below target.

“There is a lot of work to do to get back on track,” said chief executive Peter Gammie. “We always knew that 2010 would prove difficult, as cutbacks in the UK public sector started to become apparent and with the private sector continuing to be subdued. Many clients are delaying the award – and often the start – of projects. Our markets remain cautious, with most business groups and regions coming in under target.”

Equally concerning are signs that the 3Cs efficiency drive – clients, cash and cost – that helped fuel Halcrow’s performance last year appears to be slowing. “It is vital the 3Cs don’t lose momentum as they remain crucial to our success,” said Peter. “Prompt cash collection is our lifeblood, while client care supports this effort as satisfied customers are much more likely to pay on time.”

With bidding becoming ever more competitive, Halcrow must undergo a step change in the way it wins business, as Peter pointed out: “We need people who can

An interview with chief executive Peter Gammie

cross-sell between business groups, regions and skill groups. There is an enormous opportunity to increase the level of business from existing clients if we can sell them a wider range of services.” The recently launched business development change programme, which heralds a shift in the way Halcrow pursues and secures work, underpins this drive. This new focus is crucial given that the company has just had to start considering further redundancies in response to its reduced workload. “It is very sad that we face the prospect of losing further colleagues so soon after the last round of changes,” said Peter. “But we are facing extremely difficult market conditions at present.”

Regional performance in the first quarter continued to reflect the split between more mature economies and the buoyant markets of Latin America, Australasia and India. In addition to the UK, conditions in the Middle East and North America remain tough.

As the year progressed, business group performance has reflected the fragmented economic picture. The shipping industry’s abrupt collapse in 2008 led to ongoing delays in the award and implementation of marine and port projects. Although water and power sectors in the UK have also had a tough time, transportation has maintained its strong 2009 performance.

It is clear that Halcrow will be battling into a strong headwind for the rest of the year, and possibly beyond. Peter is confident, however, that a company with a reputation for project excellence and top-rate client care will always be able to hold its own in the toughest of market places.

“I would ask everyone to focus on how they can improve the client experience going forward,” he said. “We can’t afford to take our foot off the gas for a moment. By working together through these difficult times in a sustained effort, I am optimistic we will emerge as an even stronger, more efficient and more successful business.”

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Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...

Halcrow rides east Asia boom

hen the head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) encourages his better-off members to become aid donors, rather than recipients, it’s a clear sign that the

region’s continued rise is assured.

After leading the world out of recessionary gloom Asia is ready, asserts ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda, to carve out a weightier global role – from heading up international financial institutions to reaching into its pockets to help poorer nations.

Halcrow is also seeking to heighten its profile here, with the company’s growth ambitions mirroring those of the region. And just as Asia’s economies are gearing up to become major players on the world scene, Halcrow is looking to the regional team to deliver a bigger chunk of global profits.

While the downturn’s dark clouds still linger over many of the world’s withered economies, Asia has recorded only a slight blip in its remarkable trajectory. Rampant regional growth coupled with China’s seemingly unstoppable rise as an indisputable global power combine to create a climate of confidence and stability, and an insatiable demand for infrastructure improvement. Halcrow is manoeuvring to support this drive, with its ambitious plans to achieve 60 per cent year-on-year growth already kicking into gear.

In the 18 months since Halcrow’s east Asia region was conceived – with China and Hong Kong slotting into the existing south-east and north Asia collective, and regional managing director Martin Harrison at the helm – progress has been steady.

Launched at the first meeting of the newly formed regional management team (RMT) in March last year, the east Asia strategy sets out a series of actions and a central business plan. Key regional clients form the crux of the strategy, with the RMT strategically targeting the heavy hitters. Each client will be allocated an account manager, and a tailored marketing plan will be drawn up to match specific requirements.

A consistent approach to branding was fleshed out at the recent seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where 30 senior managers gathered in March. This will ultimately be shared with all employees – 430 and counting.

“Every country is different, and does business differently,” said Martin, “so we take this into account when we plan our approach.” In the region’s economic juggernaut, China, where strong relationships are paramount, Halcrow is carving out a series of successful joint ventures with local partners. Melding global expertise with local knowledge, Halcrow’s partnership with the Shanghai Investment Consulting Corporation (SICC) in particular has accrued a slew of urban design and master planning projects, building an enviable reputation in the process.

Centres of excellence are springing up across the region – Bangkok specialises in structural design; Kuala Lumpur hosts transport planning, water and rail systems capabilities; the Hong Kong team takes on geotechnics and heavy civils work; and Manila is home to water and renewable energy experts, along with the 30-strong IT service desk.

While Halcrow is fast becoming an established name within these specialist areas, many clients in the region have little awareness of the broader extent of the company’s skill base. “When we tendered for the Sha Tin rail link, a few eyebrows were probably raised,” Martin said. “Most people in Hong Kong thought we were solely a geotechnical company.”

Halcrow’s involvement in the £10 billion metro project is a massive coup, with the company set to steer the tunnelling section deep beneath Hong Kong’s clustered skyscrapers. This represents the best of what Halcrow has to offer – local teams augmented by specific skills from the wider business. In this case, tunnelling specialists from Australia will form part of the project team, building on the strong foundations laid by the Hong Kong office.

The region is also a long-standing exporter of expertise. Malaysia’s water team is a harbinger of Halcrow’s global delivery approach, contributing to water framework projects in the UK on an ongoing basis.

In a ‘chicken and egg’ quandary, the region needs the best skills to win bids but, as Martin points out, high-profile, multi-billion-pound projects remain the primary draw card for prospective employees. “We operate within a sort of ‘if you win it, they will come’ scenario,” he said. “Once we’ve won the contracts we

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Vox | issue six24

get interest flooding in, with the top talent coming on board. But it’s difficult to attract people on the back of rhetoric or unsubstantiated plans – we need concrete project wins.”

Vietnam’s significant potential provides a cogent example, with the Asian Development Bank ploughing funding into infrastructure schemes. Halcrow is in negotiations for a tunnel study and major river crossing and, with the help of UK Trade and Investment, has been discussing the potential to advise the Vietnamese government on public-private partnership approaches, on the back of its strategic role for the UK’s Highways Agency. “We currently have a team of three in the country,” said Martin, “but this will undoubtedly expand incredibly rapidly as we take on new work.”

Thailand is proving equally buoyant, as regional development director Ali Adam explained: “We’re designing a 5.5km jetty and associated material handling system for a £100 million coal terminal on behalf of Italian Thai Development – the country’s largest contractor and developer. We’re also set to design the power supply system for the new elevated Green Line metro extension in Bangkok and have just completed design and build tenders for the metro’s Blue Line, where we are expecting to be appointed on at least one contract by the end of the year.”

In a potent demonstration of client relationships traversing country borders, Halcrow’s Dubai team has worked closely with Samsung after the Korean conglomerate identified and pursued nuclear power opportunities in Abu Dhabi. Korean country manager Andrea Choi’s close relationship with Samsung was the main catalyst behind the connection.

Similarly, Halcrow’s well-established relationship with Manila Water has developed a new dimension following this key client’s forays into neighbouring regions, as water and power regional director Ralph Parkin explained: “Along with its

recent acquisition of the United Utilities operation in Australia, consistent double-digit growth has prompted Manila Water to set its sights on India and other countries in the Asian region, seeking out a range of concession, bulk water, and operation and maintenance opportunities.”

In April, Peter Gammie met with Manila Water’s president and senior directors to discuss the client’s aspirations in the wider region. Peter also visited the main water supply site at Balara where Halcrow has been providing consultancy and project management services for over five years.

Environmental issues are also gaining a wider audience, with Halcrow’s sustainability expertise increasingly called into action. In China, as regional director Stephen Ellison commented: “We are seeing an increasing awareness and drive towards achieving greater energy efficiency, and we are positioning ourselves to contribute towards China’s sustainability objectives.”

Throw in Kuala Lumpur’s Ampang metro line, Manila Water’s ambitious improvement programme and a high-speed rail link between Chinese cities Hefei and Fuzhou, and it’s clear to see Halcrow’s east Asia operation is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Mr Kuroda would approve.

Halcrow’s growth ambitions mirror those

of the region

Former glory: Halcrow is currently seeing parts of a master plan it produced back in 2003 come to life as part of a regeneration programme now taking place in the historical heart of Shanghai – the Bund commercial business district

All together now: the senior team gathered in Kuala Lumpur in March to develop a consistent brand strategy for the region

In June, Halcrow and the Yangtze River Design Institute signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at fostering co-operation and seeking out international opportunities. Stephen Ellison and deputy president Xie Xiangrong sealed the deal

Peter Gammie at the Manila Water Balara site with the Halcrow project team


Vox | issue six26

Business beat Profiling our expertise

High five for customer careGiven that happy customers are the best advertising any company can have, Halcrow’s latest review of client care in Australia has been music to employees’ ears.

The review, carried out by an independent market research company, asked 50 clients with recently completed projects how Halcrow had performed in key areas of client care such as quality, communication, timing and cost.

Overall satisfaction had improved significantly since the last survey in 2007, particularly in the area of resourcing. Many respondents cited the personal integrity and obvious love for their work displayed by Halcrow employees.

Most importantly, the survey found that 98 per cent of the clients surveyed would recommend Halcrow’s services to others.

The survey results will be analysed to help further improve the way Halcrow delivers its services in Australia.

Reducing energy use by the water industry

In the wake of Australia’s largest water conference – the aptly named Ozwater – Halcrow’s presence at the event has yielded a handful of promising opportunities.

Halcrow’s Steven Smith and George Charakos of Melbourne Water presented a paper on ways to improve efficiency at the client’s pumping stations.

Melbourne Water is amongst Australia’s 120 biggest energy users, with almost 50 per cent of its energy consumption expended pumping water and sewage. In 2009 Halcrow investigated ways of reining in energy consumption, and the client is currently reviewing Halcrow’s energy cost minimisation system (ENCOMS).

In addition, Mark Falconer outlined progress on sewerage system analysis tools for Melbourne Water, while David Francis looked ahead to proposed changes for regulatory pricing review frameworks.

All this activity bore fruit: post-event discussions led to a blossoming relationship with a water business, a meeting with a strategic government contact and the potential for further work in south Asia. David was also invited to facilitate a workshop.

Find out more: halcrow.com/australasia

Sharing insights on India’s highways programme

Bovin Kumar jetted to New Orleans, US, in May to speak at the fourth annual surface transportation finance conference, hosted by the Transportation Research Board.

Providing an overview of public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure development in India’s roads sector – the largest PPP programme in the world – Bovin also delved into the impulse and background to the interminable surge in PPP investment in the country.

Having previously worked for the National Highways Authority of India, the Delhi-based associate bolstered his presentation with perspectives from both sides of the PPP divide.

The project triangle model attests that of its three sides – fast, good and cheap – only two are ever able to exist in tandem.

Produce something quickly and to a high standard, the theory holds, and you’ll pay a premium price. Choose fast delivery coupled with low cost and the resulting bridge, building or road is unlikely to remain operational for long.

The opening of Halcrow’s global design centre in Hyderabad on 14 June has shattered this traditional model. In step with the company’s global delivery ambitions this new base will transcend regional boundaries and tick clients’ tripartite boxes – high-quality designs produced quickly and at a competitive price.

Members of the transportation business group’s Middle East team have been first to heed the call, with an initial 16-strong technical group to be supplemented by new recruits from India. “This team will lead the growth strategy and mentor new members as they are employed locally,” explained executive director for transportation Glen Thorn. “Our aim is to grow the size and number of services offered from the office in Hyderabad as quickly as possible.”

Work on the global design centre steadily gathered momentum in 2010’s early months, with the Middle East and south Asia regional management teams joining forces to ease the plan into fruition. As part of this collaborative effort, human resources teams in both regions have supported transferring employees as they put down roots in India. Hyderabad’s newly installed designers use similar software and systems to those in the Middle East, enabling seamless work sharing between colleagues and clients.

The centre will initially deliver highways, infrastructure and bridge projects from concept to detailed design, expanding into other sectors as demand swells.

Bridges market sector manager Riaz Abdul Majeed concluded: “This represents a paradigm shift in the way we deliver projects globally. I am confident that with such a great team of highly skilled professionals the centre will be successful, ensuring the sustainability of our business in the region.”

Think globally, design locallyThe bridges team settles in

Members of the highways and infrastructure teams

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deliveringStrategy 2018’s goals

The major projectsprogramme

The major projectsprogramme

deliveringStrategy 2018’s goals

We’re all part of a great global team. So think of the major projects programme team as your very own central midfield – always alert and hungry for creative ways to push you and your challenging goals forward.

Check out our team selection and tactics on our Halnet site to see how we can help send your project into the back of the net. Again and again.

Major projectsbuilding our futureMajor projectsbuilding our future Visit Halnet / our organisation / major projects

Vox | issue six28

elching smoke and steam, the sprawling Llanwern steel mills were one of the iconic emblems of Welsh heavy industry for over 40 years.

Cutbacks in steel production at the start of the century left much of the Corus-owned site in Newport, south Wales, as a scarred wasteland. Now, following full planning permission, the 243ha brownfield site is set for new life with around 4,000 homes and a 36ha business park. More than 6,000 new jobs will be created by the project over the next 20 years.

Known as Glan Llyn – Welsh for ‘by the lakes’ – the Llanwern regeneration scheme will be centred on a series of landscaped lakes as part of 51ha devoted to sports, leisure, public amenities and open space. A rail park and ride scheme will provide spaces for 1,000 cars, encouraging sustainable modes of transport.

As well as the main regeneration goals, the scheme also allows for the temporary provision of 15,000 parking spaces for the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament in October 2010. The Welsh Assembly’s M4 Magor to Castleton corridor enhancement measures will also be integrated along the development’s southern edge.

Halcrow has played a key role in the ongoing project over the last six years on behalf of regeneration specialist St. Modwen. During the recent downturn, site supervisor Steve Hill provided a useful income stream for the client by selling off large quantities of discarded raw materials, left to the elements after the plant’s closure.

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Cardiff-based Leigh John explained that, because the site is ringed by Corus land and crisscrossed by service facilities linking the remaining operational steelworks, stakeholder management has been a key priority. One of Halcrow’s first steps was to create an integrated plan of the site using Corus’s records and site investigations.

“All development activities required proactive liaison with Corus and respect for its safety procedures,” Leigh said. “Regular technical liaison meetings and consistent lines of communication between dedicated employees on both sides has created an open relationship of mutual benefit.”

Construction work for the initial highway access and associated infrastructure is set to start within the next few months, and the first residential plot should be laid out by the end of the year. Halcrow is engaged in ongoing negotiations with St. Modwen’s preferred residential partner for the first development phase, with the potential to extend the company’s involvement in the project.

clean-up action plan

• due diligence and feasibility studies• environmental statement for

outline planning• ground investigation• master plan development• infrastructure design• technical and stakeholder liaison

with Corus, the Welsh Assembly and other statutory consultees

Regeneration project to transform former steel mills

Aerial shot of the site following the removal of the mill infrastructure

Artist’s impression of a residential street

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View from above: artist’s impression of the development

ot so long ago tackling sustainability – and the issues surrounding it – seemed like the icing on the cake for a project. For most of Halcrow’s clients, however,

sustainability is now the key ingredient in the mix.

But if sustainability is to genuinely add value – and avoid the dreaded box-ticking mentality – it has to be embedded in a scheme’s DNA right from the start. Just as importantly, it must also be considered in context, with clients and communities around the world experiencing different circumstances and holding very different ideas about what comprises a sustainable solution.

Bristol-based research engineer Ollie Pearce has been chewing over how to define and measure sustainability for the past couple of years. His proposed solution – HalSTAR (Halcrow sustainability toolkit and rating system) – has been backed by the business and is set to transform the way Halcrow approaches sustainability with its clients.

“Sustainability is subjective,” said Ollie.“The trouble with most existing approaches to sustainable development is that they don’t recognise this, and so fail to address sustainability in context. All too often they rate it according to a set of prescribed criteria and ignore fundamental local drivers, effectively reducing sustainability to an add-on.”

At first glance, HalSTAR’s decision wheel bears an uncanny resemblance to the Stargate portal which hurled people across time and space. In reality, it is a relatively straightforward mechanism for creating bespoke, sustainable outcomes for almost any situation.

HalSTAR does this by applying a systems-based methodology which can be adapted to most projects. An initial scoping exercise defines the key issues and criteria for the project and its stakeholders. The agreed requirements are then filtered through HalSTAR’s nested series of decision-making levels.

The requirements are aligned against a five capitals model developed by Forum for the Future, an independent organisation that works with businesses to promote sustainable development. This model represents sustainable development as a balance between natural, manufactured, human, social and financial capital. The subdivisions of these broad criteria within HalSTAR allow for each project’s requirements to be converted into criteria selected from every imaginable index, constraint and specification.

The system can be used to assess and manage sustainability across a range of project types, according to client requirements. As well as performance summaries, HalSTAR can provide recommendations on best practice, strategies for improvement, or simple guiding principles and objectives – all designed to help drive sustainability in the given context.

Unlike other models, HalSTAR incorporates the full range of existing definitions of sustainable development so that schemes can be tested against the broadest possible spectrum of criteria. It can also enhance existing methodologies such as the BRE environmental assessment method (BREEAM) and the civil engineering

environmental quality assessment (CEEQUAL), helping to both drive real value and achieve high ratings.

“Through HalSTAR, we are able to offer our clients a cutting-edge approach, with some clear advantages and unique selling points relative to other products on the market,” said programme director Nick Murry. “The development of the software means we are now ready to use it across a much wider range of products, at a time when clients are seeking to achieve genuinely more sustainable solutions.” The biggest challenge in creating HalSTAR was

dealing with the massive amount of information available. As well as building in around 450 definitions of sustainability, it incorporates 7,000 different performance measurements that can be selected by the user. With sustainable development now centre stage, HalSTAR can also add value to Halcrow’s bidding processes – providing insights that can improve proposals, enhance credibility and help win work.

HalSTAR’s holistic methodology has already been applied to a range of projects, from high-level strategic options development for the Scottish government to proposed mixed-use schemes. Following positive feedback from clients and within the business, the first version of the software is being rolled out over the next few months. Key people in each business group have already been identified and trained, and HalSTAR training will soon be available for all employees.

HalSTAR might look like the company’s final word in sustainability methodology, but in a fast-moving world there is no intention of easing off on its development. Future versions of the software – aimed at expanding its scope and improving the user experience – are in the pipeline, helping Halcrow and its clients stay one step ahead in the sustainability market.

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HalSTAR attractionNew software tool to help create sustainable solutions worldwide

HalSTAR’s benefits

• breaks down complex issues into bite-sized chunks

• embraces stakeholder needs while focusing on key issues

• identifies action areas that reduce risk and add value

• demystifies sustainability for decision makers

• provides a client orientated, context-driven approach

pring in the UK: daffodils huddled together in the anaemic sunshine; weather forecasters oscillated between predictions of a long, hot barbecue summer

and a complete washout; and Halcrow geared up for its annual sustainable travel week.

Now in its fourth year, spring into action kicked off on 17 May with 22 UK offices taking part. Alongside perennial stalwarts such as free bicycle maintenance and training, carbon footprint contests and sustainable travel days, 2010’s agenda featured a handful of new and enhanced initiatives.

A stair climb challenge saw 184 employees from eight offices shunning lifts in favour of leg power – including over half those in the Crawley and Derby offices. On average each climber scaled the equivalent of London’s BT Tower – an altitudinous 185m – with the Leeds office reaching the dizzying heights of Ben Nevis to triumph as winners. A cumulative height of 34km was reached during the challenge, setting a benchmark for others.

Group health and safety manager Peter Campbell said: “The challenge shows how easy it is for individuals to fit moderate physical activity into their working day. Let’s hope that next year even more offices sign up to surpass the impressive heights achieved by the Leeds team, and all our lift converts continue to use the stairs on a regular basis to keep themselves healthy.”

Heart rates shot up in offices across the country as employees clocked distances walked and cycled. Pedometers helped keep track of two-legged travellers, while several offices set up stationary bikes with prizes for the furthest pedalled within a specified time limit.

Halcrow’s video conferencing capabilities were put to the test with 12 offices linking up simultaneously – the largest number to date according to support analyst Andy Pollard.

Nine offices tuned in to the sustainability task force’s monthly meeting via video link to catch a short talk by group board

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director Les Buck. Highlighting the significance of sustainability to Halcrow and its clients along with the need for a cultural shift in working methods, Les encouraged those participating to share their ideas for taking Halcrow’s sustainability agenda forward.

Proving that two wheels are better than four, the Bristol office took home a corporate challenge award as part of the city’s ‘biggest bike ride’ initiative. This achievement follows in the slipstream of the office’s silver level certification at the West of England Partnership travel plan awards in 2009, which recognised moves to encourage and cement sustainable travel options.

Organiser Amy Webber commented: “Spring into action provides a real focal point for Halcrow’s drive towards more sustainable travel. The information gathered through the travel survey is highly encouraging and demonstrates a marked shift towards cycling, car sharing and healthier lifestyles.”

Walking back to happiness in Leeds

The victorious Leeds stair climbers after a gruelling lunchtime session

Breakfast for sustainable travellers in Crawley

Put ‘em up: outdoor body combat in Inverness

Vox | issue six30

It’s time to junk all those tired 80s jokes about Skodas.

A sparkling new fleet of the once-maligned Czech cars is driving down Halcrow’s carbon emissions in Scotland.

Eight Skoda Octavias are being used by employees on the performance audit group commission for client Transport Scotland. With emissions of 119g/km, the new fleet cuts carbon outputs by 25 per cent over previous vehicles.

Combined with efficiency savings, the fleet’s total carbon output will be slashed by half. That’s a total saving of 21 tonnes each year – equivalent to the weight of five fully-grown elephants.

Halcrow’s technical and sustainability manager for the project, Eddie McDowell, said: “This is a real step change in reducing our travel carbon emissions. Our choice of vehicle was determined by our aim to meet the Scottish government’s carbon reduction agenda and will generate business savings as well as environmental benefits. It’s a win-win situation.”

The Halcrow team monitors the performance of the trunk road operating companies BEAR Scotland, Scotland TranServ and Amey. The cars are equipped with state-of-the-art video and global positioning system (GPS) technology to ensure Halcrow’s team is able to inspect the trunk routes and road works efficiently.

Halcrow’s strong sustainability credentials were instrumental in winning its third consecutive performance audit group commission.

It doesn’t have a campaign slogan and would probably be pretty tongue-tied on a radio phone in.

But Triturus cristatus – otherwise known as the great crested newt – has given UK planners more sleepless nights than a whole army of eco-warriors put together.

As Britain’s largest and most threatened newt, the mottled amphibian is subject to the highest level of environmental protection possible. It is a criminal offence to harm a great crested newt and, more significantly, to do anything that could cause damage to its breeding sites or habitat.

Such is the level of interest in great crested newt welfare that a Halcrow-supported conference on the subject, co-organised by Ben Benatt from the Crawley office, attracted over 150 delegates to talk about conservation and licensing issues.

Professional ecological consultants – including four members of Halcrow’s ecology team – county and district council officers, Environment Agency and Natural England employees and developer

Ready for action: Halcrow’s team with new fleet

It is a Skoda – honest

Have I got newts for you

cementing the futureIn the rogues gallery of climate change villains, concrete has got off lightly.

Aeroplanes and power stations are rightly cited at the top of the environmental charge sheet, but somewhere along the line concrete – one of the worst CO2 offenders – slipped off the public radar.

In fact, making each tonne of Portland cement – concrete’s key component – generates an equivalent weight in carbon emissions. With infrastructure projects going into overdrive in developing economies around the world, concrete’s global carbon footprint is set to rocket in coming years.

Halcrow is leading a research project in Australia to develop a new form of concrete with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. The work is being supported by the Victorian state government’s science agenda investment fund.

The project involves the development of concrete that contains geopolymer cement and plastic fibres, as opposed to normal cement and steel fibres or steel bars. Unlike Portland cement, geopolymer cement doesn’t require the calcination of calcium carbonate – a huge source of CO2 – and the resulting lower kiln temperatures lead to less fuel use and even lower emissions.

The combination of geopolymer and fibres will produce a new, cheaper generation of precast concrete products with increased durability, cutting both the financial and environmental costs of infrastructure projects.

Initial laboratory trials began successfully in April and will continue for the next two years to check the performance of the fibre reinforced geopolymer concrete. These will be followed by production trials to make prototype precast products.

The Victorian minister for innovation, Gavin Jennings, said: “By investing in this project, the Victorian government is continuing its ongoing support for innovative industrial applications that offer CO2 reduction. I commend Halcrow and its project partners for this bold initiative in concrete manufacture.”

Don Wimpenny, principal materials engineer in the Box Hill office, is Halcrow’s project manager. He believes a successful outcome to the project will expand the commercial outlets for both geopolymer and fibre technology, providing revenue and industrial applications to support ongoing research.

Halcrow’s Australian partners in the project are Zeobond, Elasto Plastic Concrete, Humes and the University of Melbourne.

clients were among those who attended ‘Great crested newts – an approach for the future?’ at the University of Brighton.

“The event was positive throughout, although people clearly held some very strong views,” said Ben. “We hope that all those who attended went away with some new understanding on the subject.”

Amphibian fact file

• Great crested newts can reach the grand old age of 27• Newts hibernate from November to February and are nocturnal• London’s newt-loving former mayor, Ken Livingstone, has a

newt sanctuary in his garden• Love-lorn newts return to the same breeding ground every year

(L to r) Glenn Langler, Ben Benatt, Charlie Dwight and Bob Antonini

Vox | issue six32

or almost a century cars rolled off the assembly line at the Longbridge manufacturing plant near Birmingham, UK, employing tens of thousands of people at its peak and

driving the local economy.

In 2005 MG Rover – the UK motor industry’s last domestically owned, mass-production car manufacturer – closed its doors, leaving 6,500 workers mourning job losses and much of the 190ha site derelict. Now, abandoned buildings and contaminated soil are giving way to a new regional focus, with homes, businesses and parks set to take shape in the former industrial heartland. Halcrow Yolles is helping steer the £1 billion regeneration effort, providing environmental and engineering consultancy services to developer St. Modwen.

Sheltered at the foot of the Lickey Hills, Longbridge is easily accessible from the centre of Birmingham and the arterial motorways that entwine the UK’s second largest city. More than 2,000 new homes will be built, with retail, leisure and public facilities in the planned town centre serving future communities. Up to 10,000 jobs will also be created.

As lead consultant, Halcrow played a central role in securing planning permission for the site clearance, remediation and enabling works, along with detailed environmental survey assessments to accompany the submissions. Halcrow’s work supports the Longbridge area action plan (AAP) – a government-approved strategy drawn up in the wake of extensive public consultation which creates a road map for sustainable, deliverable development. The company also had a hand in the AAP’s creation, providing guidance on engineering elements to Birmingham City Council and Bromsgrove District Council.

Halcrow quickly established itself as an integral part of the project team, as project director Dave Woolley points out. “We developed a collaborative relationship with the client, engaging with strategic master-planning concepts from the outset,” he said. “Our expertise in sustainability and high-quality design, coupled with our commercial awareness, placed us in a privileged position to advise on the feasibility of different options before the master plan was fixed.”

Heavy industry has left its imprint on the site, resulting in a legacy of contamination and poor water quality. Soil and groundwater pollution prompted a £3.5 million investigation and remediation programme on Longbridge’s former west and north works. More than 200,000m³ of soil was excavated to access contamination and remove subsurface

Fstructures, with some 15,500m³ of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil being treated using ex-situ bioremediation, as contaminated land specialist Sean Leach explained: “While digging to an average depth of 2.5m a process of ongoing observation and validation testing for key contaminants was undertaken. Excavated materials were then stockpiled for treatment or reuse.

“Bioremediation was carried out in a designated treatment area. Compost and fertiliser were added and temperature and moisture content controlled to promote microbial activity. This eco-friendly approach encourages the biological organisms that live within the soil to effectively eat the hydrocarbon contaminants. After retesting, the soil was reused on site, rather than being disposed of in landfill.”

Following the success of this phase, preparatory works for the new town centre and learning quarter – home to the aerodynamic Bournville College – kicked off in September 2008. Thousands of tonnes of soil have since been remediated – enough to swamp 35 Olympic swimming pools – and, with the foundations from successive structures removed from the decontaminated earth, the site has been graded in anticipation of building works.

Halcrow Yolles has been working closely with St. Modwen to explore the scope for low-cost, innovative remediation techniques including monitored natural attenuation (MNA), which harnesses naturally occurring microbes to break down organic pollutants. Groundwater samples at the site indicate the presence of vital bacteria, strengthening the case for using MNA to dissolve residual petrol and diesel contaminants.

Almost 465,000m² of abandoned buildings – an area spanning 74 football pitches – have been dismantled, with St. Modwen setting a 95 per cent target for reusing or recycling demolition materials. To date, 22,000 tonnes of steel have been recycled and over 200,000 tonnes of brickwork and concrete crushed and reused on site.

During the early part of last century, the River Rea was diverted to flow beneath the Longbridge site through a series of culverts. Project manager Caroline Shaw explained how, as part of the regeneration scheme, the river will be brought to the surface for the first time

2,000 homes will be built and up to 10,000 jobs created

Halcrow helps steer regeneration plans at former car manufacturing plant

Green development motors ahead

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in 100 years, sweeping through the town centre via an exposed channel and forming the centrepiece of the proposed Austin Park. Summarising Halcrow’s role, Caroline commented: “We acted as an intermediary, seeking a compromise between the developer’s desire for a cost-effective solution and the sustainable drainage options favoured by both the Environment Agency and the local authority.”

The AAP stipulates stretching targets for energy and water efficiency – nonresidential buildings must gain an excellent rating under the BRE environmental assessment method, while houses need to reach a minimum of Code for Sustainable Homes level four. By 2016 all homes should be zero carbon, meaning they return as much power to the national grid as they use. A Halcrow-led study demonstrated how these ambitious standards could be met, providing the client with a concise summary of the additional costs and challenges involved.

As well as using less power to heat, cool and light its buildings, the development will generate energy on site, slashing traditional fossil fuel dependence. Halcrow explored a combination of centralised and micro-renewable energy generation, with biomass, wind turbine, photovoltaics, combined heat and power and district heating options underpinning the eventual energy strategy.

With traffic-choked local roads already nearing capacity, a £26 million highway infrastructure programme will help ease congestion and encourage the use of public transport. Halcrow’s Worcester-based infrastructure design team is currently working to secure Highways Agency approval for the first phase of improvement works – comprising road widening and a new signalised junction – having served as design engineer for this section of the project.

In November 2009, construction began on Bournville College – the first phase of the planned town centre and the nucleus around which the learning quarter will be built. Halcrow was involved at every stage of the planning and construction programme, helping ensure students will be milling around the £66 million campus as early as September next year, with numbers eventually swelling to 15,000.

When Longbridge’s machinery fell silent, its conveyor belts grinding to a halt in 2005, the local community lamented the loss of its largest employer. With the next chapter in Longbridge’s varied history rapidly taking shape, promising jobs, sustainable homes and carefully conceived public spaces, the regenerated site will propel the region along the road to recovery.

From wartime artillery to a British icon

Founded by Herbert Austin in 1905, Longbridge’s assembly line fed demand for the ultimate in personal freedom – the motor car. By 1908 the factory employed 1,000 workers, and a night shift was introduced to boost supply.

During the first and second world wars, cars were abandoned in favour of planes, trucks, tank parts, weapons and ammunition. This concentration of wartime production made the area a prized scalp during bombing raids. Nearby Erdington was the first town in England to be bombed by Germany, with Longbridge the suspected target.

Designed in response to a fuel shortage triggered by the Suez Crisis in 1956, Longbridge’s most famous product – the iconic Austin Mini – accelerated into the public consciousness three years later. Thousands of the space-saving cars were manufactured at Longbridge over the ensuing decades and in 1999, on the 40th anniversary of its release, the Mini was voted the 20th century’s second most influential car, behind the Ford Model T.

Green development motors ahead

Artist’s impression of the futuristic Bournville College campus

Austin A40s at the Longbridge plant in 1948

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Sustainable solutions It’s in our hands

Vox | issue six34

Surging tides sweep untapped through the mouth of the Solway Firth on the border between Scotland and England, but the UK’s second most powerful estuary could generate up to 6GW of reliable renewable energy according to a Halcrow-led study.

Commissioned jointly by the North West Development Agency, Scottish Enterprise and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the study’s findings were officially launched in February at the Solway Firth Partnership’s annual conference. The study supports the concept’s overall feasibility – with green lights for a variety of generation options and locations – but reiterated the need for further investigation of potential financial and environmental implications.

Reflecting on the study’s strategic significance for both Halcrow and the UK energy industry, project director George Milne said: “For the UK, this is an opportunity to generate predictable renewable energy; for Halcrow, it highlights our growing capability and reputation in the renewable energy sector.”

Working closely with project partners Mott Macdonald and RSK Group, Halcrow provided engineering, coastal science, environmental and economics expertise. Reviewing physical and environmental conditions in the firth, the team worked through structured option identification, filtering, development and assessment processes.

Comprehensive engagement with national statutory stakeholders including Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage formed an integral component, while the team covered all bases with nine barrage, lagoon and reef options. Considered estimations of costs, environmental impacts and energy generation potential rounded out the study.

Pummelled by the Atlantic swell and forceful tides, Scotland in particular is determined to grasp the opportunities offered by marine

With Scotland’s marine waters encompassing some 615,000km² – more than eight times its land area – the country’s future prosperity and growth potential hinge on the sustainable economic development of its resource-rich seas.

In late 2009 Marine Scotland – the Scottish government’s newly formed marine management authority – appointed Halcrow to its four-year environmental and planning framework.

One of just five selected, Halcrow’s winning team draws on expertise from the water and power, consulting and maritime business groups. Focusing on development activity in the marine environment, Halcrow will provide strategic environmental assessment (SEA), appropriate assessment, and marine planning advice and support over the framework’s four-year duration.

Turningtidetherenewables technologies. The generation potential of the Pentland Firth, which separates the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands, for example, prompted first minister Alex Salmond to dub the area ‘the Saudi Arabia of marine energy’. Given this latent power, the Solway study has gained a high profile across the renewable energy sector, featuring in a range of publications including The Engineer, New Energy Focus and New Civil Engineer. The findings were also presented at RenewableUK’s wave and tidal conference in London.

Neil Johnstone, Halcrow’s regional managing director for UK north and Ireland, commented: “The Solway study is at the heart of our regional business strategy for renewables and sits alongside Halcrow’s widening portfolio of renewable energy projects.

“These include providing environmental advice to Marine Scotland, delivering the first strategic environmental assessment for offshore wind, engineering design services for tidal energy developments in the Pentland Firth, and the Mull of Galloway tidal power feasibility study.”

For Halcrow and Mott Macdonald, the Solway study represents an initial step in the ongoing collaboration to identify, pursue, monitor and deliver tidal energy projects around the world. Maritime director Ben Hamer is leading Halcrow’s input, with coastal modellers, economists and scientists currently weighing up a number of schemes under consideration, including oft-mooted proposals for tidal power generation from the River Severn.Su

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Halcrow’s regional renewables strategy

Halcrow won its first commission under the framework in November 2009; a project to undertake the appropriate assessment screening and SEA for offshore wind development in Scotland’s marine waters. Released by the Scottish government for consultation, together with the offshore wind development plan, Halcrow’s work will underpin future development in this area.

Further commissions released under the framework are set to address energy infrastructure, port and harbour resources, navigation, fisheries, socioeconomic and other marine sector challenges.

Halcrow’s framework champion and regional managing director, Neil Johnstone, said: “This is a fascinating project, central to our strategy for Scotland. Its successful execution will help to sustain and improve the quality of Scotland’s economy and marine environment.”

Sea change

The estuary of the River Nith, Scotland, at low tide, opening into Solway Firth

Paul Davison succumbed to the clippers, while Brian Winspear’s upper lip greeted his colleagues for the first time as 25 years of carefully maintained moustache was swiftly disposed of. The team’s pruning efforts netted £200 for the appeal.

In Vineyard House and Shortlands, the team lugged industrial-sized vats of home-made daal and jerk chicken to share with colleagues at an international lunch on 22 March. Eleni Antoniades, Kripa Dwarakanath and Emilie Dadswell served up hefty portions at the event, which generated over £650 for the appeal.

In a farewell bid to the Reading office, the team organised a dress-down day and cake sale, raising £50. The Tees Valley and Gateshead offices held football-themed dress-down days to coincide with the world cup’s opening match, raising a combined total of £59.

s the aftershocks died down following Haiti’s 7-magnitude earthquake in January, the impoverished island nation faced a humanitarian disaster of devastating proportions.

In response to the Halcrow Foundation’s extended emergency appeal employees selflessly shelved their diets and calorie counters; baking, concocting, judging and eating to support the rebuilding effort. These efforts further boosted the totals already raised in offices around the world – from Bucharest and Sharjah to Toronto and Chichester.

At Swindon’s Burderop Park, competitive streaks were coaxed out by a bake-off to crown the office’s ultimate cake maker – and to satisfy the rest of the team’s saccharine desires.

A small team led by Sheila Hone sifted and whisked the concept into fruition, and 28 cakes were eventually assembled in front of the six salivating judges.

After scoring each on presentation, texture and taste, the judges announced the winners. Mandy Archer’s coffee and walnut cake came out on top, squeezing out Sean Matthew’s chocolate behemoth and Sue Burford’s chocolate brownies. The cakes were then sliced up and sold to employees, raising £325 for the Haiti appeal.

Derby employees held a fundraising day on 28 February, raising £130 for the appeal. Activities included a dress-down day, cakes and pizza for sale, a Wii competition and a game based on the bespectacled, striped character from the ‘Where’s Wally?’ series.

The trip home from work was a little breezier for members of the A-one+ Area 14 team after a mass shaving session. Colin Shaw and

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Haiti appeal

Paul before...

Brian Winspear bids farewell to 25 years of facial hair

...and after...and after

The judging panel with organiser Sheila Hone (centre)

(L – r) Sue Burford, John Martin,

Mandy Archer and Sean Matthews

Cakes on show in Swindon

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Vox | issue six36

Vulnerable people in Scotland are taking a big step towards independent living, with help from the Halcrow Foundation.

A £9,500 grant is providing furniture and furnishings for 12 brand new flats which have just been built by Southside Housing Association in Glasgow. The flats will give a dozen people with complex disabilities the chance to spread their wings in a secure environment with 24-hour support on site.

Half of the prospective tenants currently live in a residential care facility at Overbridge run by non-profit organisation Sense Scotland and half live at home. All of them are at a stage in their lives where they are looking for a more independent lifestyle.

Six more people with disabilities will benefit from the scheme because of the additional places that will become available at Overbridge, meaning the project will assist 18 people in total.

Because they are dependent on benefits, the new tenants would not normally be able to afford to furnish their apartments. The grant will supply them with the everyday essentials to live comfortably – from bedding and cutlery to bath towels and chairs.

Edinburgh’s Jet Cameron, who proposed the grant and supports the project, said that the new homes will transform the lives of the tenants, most of whom have never experienced independent living as adults.

“The people we work with always tell us that they want the same things other adults enjoy,” said Sense Scotland’s Rita Hopper. “This includes privacy, security and the knowledge that no one can enter their home without permission or invitation.

“Making the transition from residential care or the family home to their own supported tenancy is a highly significant step for these people and gives them a wonderful sense of freedom. Families are also reassured by knowing that their child has a secure future.”

Rather than marking Mother’s Day with a greeting card or contributing to the £1.8 billion spent annually on flowers in the US alone, Halcrow’s New York road-running team – the Halcrow Harriers – ran almost 300km on 14 May to raise funds for the Halcrow Foundation.

The 12 runners took part in the Ragnar Relay, a round-the-clock endurance race that sees participants wind their way from Woodstock in upstate New York to Dobbs Ferry, just north of Manhattan. Taking the inevitable sleep deprivation, unseasonably warm temperatures and ambiguous maps in their stride, Halcrow’s runners took on the Hudson Valley’s sweeping highways and twisting trails.

Completing the gruelling course in 45th place out of over 200 teams, the harriers shattered the pain barrier en route to a time of 26 hours, 15 minutes, with each runner completing three legs.

Organiser Doug Friend commented: “We wanted to raise money to help support women’s rights in developing countries. The Halcrow Foundation’s projects, many of which focus on female empowerment, economic independence and women’s health, were a great fit for our objective.”

Halcrow’s team has raised over £1,300 to date. Further donations can be made at: justgiving.com/douglas-friend

A £13,000 donation from the Halcrow Foundation is helping people living on the streets of Harlow, UK, along with those currently in temporary or unsuitable accommodation, secure their own homes through a deposit guarantee scheme.

Local day centre Streets2Homes provides a host of services to vulnerable people in the area. These include medical care, hot meals, clothes and food parcels, along with access to education, benefits, advice and counselling. For many, the centre is one of the few places they feel safe and supported.

The initial deposit required by landlords is often an insurmountable barrier to securing accommodation. For people living day to day, this lump sum remains perpetually out of reach. Halcrow Foundation funding provides a balance from which people can borrow to pay their deposit, with repayments spread over a longer period at an affordable rate.

The scheme is designed to be self-sustaining, with repayments enabling further lending and the opportunity to help more people. Along with this financial assistance, Streets2Homes provides ongoing, long-term support to help recipients remain in accommodation, and has a 100 per cent success rate in maintaining tenancies. Many beneficiaries of the scheme return as volunteers, sharing their new-found skills and experience.

A home of their own

Epic run for women’s rights


Home is where the heart is

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Moving day: one of the new homes

No one ever said that raising cash for a good cause shouldn’t be fun.

And with that principle firmly in mind, a thirsty group of London-based Halcrow employees forced themselves to undergo a charity beer-tasting night at Fullers Brewery in Chiswick.

Just a short stagger away from Vineyard House, the charity event included a quiz, meal, raffle, brewery tour – and that all-important tasting session. Sue Davies and her friend Gill John organised the event to raise funds for Cornwall Hospice Care, which looks after terminally ill people at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice, St Austell and St Julia’s Hospice, Hayle.

Sue and Gill organised the evening to help provide two power-driven syringe drivers which allow the controlled release of pain-killing drugs. This provides patients with balanced pain control throughout the day and allows them to have breaks at home without nursing staff on hand.

The charity evening raised £750 and the addition of £1,540 from the Halcrow Foundation fully covers the cost of both syringes. It is the second joint donation from Sue and the Halcrow Foundation: last year the charity received funding for flotation mattresses and lymphoedema compression bandages.

Crippling droughts strangle the life out of crops with devastating regularity in Ethiopia’s Rift Valley where water is carried, sometimes for several hours, from contaminated sources.

Amburse Anjolo School in Abuka – a small rural town in the valley’s north-west region – lacks a safe supply for drinking and hand washing, leaving its 400 pupils susceptible to waterborne diseases and parasites. A £9,600 grant from the Halcrow Foundation will provide clean water; capturing and storing rainfall during the wet season for use throughout the year.

Groundwater in the Rift Valley lies inaccessibly deep beneath the surface and is contaminated by naturally occurring fluoride – a by-product of tectonic activity in the area. A pipeline to tap local rivers was also ruled out as rudimentary sanitation and pollution have combined to erode water quality.

Rainwater harvesting represents a safe, cost-effective alternative, as project sponsor Andrew Lowe explained: “During the wet season, rain collected from the roofs of school buildings will be filtered, treated and stored in an underground sealed masonry chamber for use during the dry months.”

Local non-governmental organisation Environmentalists Development Association – Ethiopia (EDA-E) will design and install the system via its network of qualified engineers – all of whom, like Andrew and co-sponsor Robin Wood, donate their time to the project. “I’ve built up close links with EDA-E through my work for Halcrow in Ethiopia,” said Andrew. “We’ll draw on their experience in delivering small-scale water supply and other community development schemes.”

A small hand pump will supply the school via a tap, providing an easily maintained, sustainable solution. Nothing is wasted, with water used for hand washing recycled to nourish a vegetable patch in the school grounds. The produce will then be sold at local markets, raising money for future maintenance.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers in Swindon are using holistic therapies to help manage their symptoms, thanks to a £5,500 donation from the Halcrow Foundation.

A not-for-profit organisation supporting people with MS and other neurological conditions, Swindon Therapy Centre for Multiple Sclerosis (STC) is a long-standing local charity with strong ties to the Swindon area. STC recently upgraded to larger, more modern premises, and a dedicated therapy room was high on the agenda.

With holistic therapists offering reiki, reflexology, Indian head therapy, aromatherapy and body massage, the specialist facility will provide an invaluable resource for MS sufferers. These therapies allow people to manage their condition more effectively and remain in work for longer, helping them stay as mobile and independent as possible.

We’ll drink to that

Healing body and mindAvoiding the need for hospital stays as well as alleviating the feelings of isolation often experienced on initial diagnosis, the range of treatments contributes towards sufferers’ overall sense of well-being. Therapies are also offered to carers and family members in desperate need of some relaxation and pampering.

Located near Halcrow’s Burderop Park office, a working relationship already exists between the centre and Halcrow employees, and there are opportunities for members of the Swindon team to donate their time and skills.

Trustees Malcolm Wallace and John Martin joined project sponsor Charlie-Louise Presley at the official opening of the Halcrow treatment room on 16 April.

Saving for a dry day

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Malcolm, Charlie-Louise and John at the official opening

Donning their walking shoes, ten big-hearted Worcester employees trekked the 53km from their office to Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital to raise funds for its neurosurgery ward.

A total of £1,856 was raised for the ward and will help to build a special care unit for long-term, high-dependency patients, as well as the refurbishment of a play room.

The charity was selected following the excellent care and support provided to Worcester-based Liz Young’s four-year-old son, Lucas. He was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour and spent just under a month in the ward. Liz and her husband, Stephen, stayed with Lucas day and night, getting to know many of the other parents, children and staff.

Graphic designer Anita Inight said: “Having left at 8am, we arrived at the hospital around 6pm. We were met en route by Jill Rankin, who delivered food, drink and much needed encouragement.”

The weary walkers received a welcoming reception at the hospital, as well as expert care for sore and blistered feet.

Giving generously Spread a little happiness

Vox | issue six38

How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb?

In Oakland on 24 April the answer was 30 – although they also managed to completely repair, remodel and paint the surrounding house.

Halcrow’s Marc Percher, Julie Abrams, Hoi Wong and Maryanne Martinez, along with members of the local American Society of Civil Engineers chapter, gave up their weekend to support Rebuilding Together Oakland. This non-profit, community-based organisation renovates the homes of elderly and disabled people on low incomes across the Californian city.

Splitting off into teams to conquer as many tasks as possible, the volunteers installed a new kitchen and bathroom, guttering, window trims and exterior finish. As well as constructing a cripple wall to support crumbling foundations on one side of the house and improve earthquake resistance, the group also rewired the building to accommodate a person lift.

Julie commented: “It was great to work on something beneficial for the community. We especially enjoyed seeing the progress towards the overall goal and the huge improvements our day’s work made to this home, and the owner’s quality of life.”

Helping hands

Hyde Park is spread over a larger area than the principality of Monaco, but a swarm of 2,000 breathless walkers and runners on 14 April made the ‘lungs of London’ seem markedly more compact.

Some 33 members of the London Tideway Tunnels team took part in the annual Hyde Park Jog, which raises money and support for the British Heart Foundation.

Have a heart

On a rain-lashed Sunday in April, 21 Halcrow runners took to the streets of Edinburgh for the 2010 Chris Hoy half marathon.

Setting off from Meadowbank Stadium, the joint Edinburgh-Glasgow team wound its way along the Forth Estuary’s shoreline towards the Musselburgh race course.

Defying the sodden conditions, Halcrow’s runners all clocked sub-three-hour times, with the team’s fastest finisher – fleet-footed Ernie Crawford – blitzing the field in one hour 29 minutes.

The eponymous distance event – named after the medal-laden Olympic cyclist, one of Edinburgh’s favourite sons – is fast becoming

a regular feature in the UK’s running calendar, with 4,000 people lining up on 18 April.

A drenched John Calcutt, who organised Halcrow’s entry, said: “We ran on behalf of St. Columba’s Hospice, which supports people with advanced terminal illnesses and their families, and have so far raised over £500 in sponsorship.”

No half measures

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Members of the Tideway Tunnels team

The team, made up of Halcrow, Thames Water, CH2M HILL, Aecom and Scott Wilson employees, raised £3,250 to help combat heart disease.

Halcrow and CH2M Hill chimed in with a £1,000 matched donation, as

well as sponsoring an evening social to reinvigorate tired bodies.

Further donations can be made at: justgiving.com/tidewaytunnels

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Worcester’s walkers

These boots were made for walking

Michael McLoughlin recently completed his master of science in sustainable river catchment flood management. Taking nine months out to return to full-time study, the Edinburgh-based land development engineer assessed the impact of sustainable urban drainage systems in the UK.

Laurie Mentiplay has become one of the UK’s first recognised

practitioners in urban design. Awarded by the Urban Design Group, this international distinction recognises commitment, experience and excellence in urban design.

A technical paper authored by Delhi’s Pawan Kumar Saluja has been selected for publication in the Indian Road Congress journal. Entitled Fibre reinforced concrete – a case

study, his report considers the time and cost-saving potential of using this material on tolled roads. The principal engineer’s research demonstrated how fibre reinforced concrete could replace the dowel and tie bars – which obstruct sensors – traditionally used in the rigid pavement of toll plazas.

Emma Towle gained a graduate diploma in civil engineering,

recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) as being equivalent to a degree.

Gary Gardiner stormed the field at an ICE graduate and student paper competition, taking second place. The Glasgow-based graduate engineer commended entry focused on the site investigation for the Haymarket north tunnel electrification project.

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Transportation’s Paul Segers belongs to a community of one.

The corrosion management specialist recently achieved National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) cathodic protection specialist certification, as well as chartered engineer status through the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Metals.

NACE certification is in hot demand in the US, Middle East and Asia. Birmingham-based Paul is one of only two people to hold the certificate within the UK – and the only Halcrow employee to have achieved this qualification.

Paul’s qualifications will help Halcrow secure new corrosion-related work without having to rely on external consultants to provide these specialist skills.

Graduate engineer Nariba Gittens has scooped the coveted young consultant of the year prize.

The Cardiff-based water engineer walked off with the title at the annual Association of Consulting Engineers and New Civil Engineer consulting awards in March.

Nariba and fellow Halcrow employee Melanie Buckley accounted for two of the four shortlisted finalists in the category, which is open to individuals under the age of 35.

New Civil Engineer described Nariba as having ‘an infectious energy for the profession that may well inspire an entire generation of engineers, both in the UK and around the world’. She is involved in a wide range of activities promoting engineering and has recently managed Halcrow’s sponsorship of the new Halcrow Studio at Cardiff University.

Nariba, who left her native Barbados to gain her masters in civil and environmental engineering at Cardiff University, said: “I was really surprised to win; it’s a great honour. I thoroughly enjoyed helping to forge deeper ties between the university and Halcrow.”

One is the magic number

Nariba nabs top prize

Across the pondWet and wild: Glenn enjoys

his winning backyard pond

Glenn Langler doesn’t have to go far to get close to a wetland habitat. The Crawley-based ecologist has one on his back doorstep – literally.

Of the 1,500 entries in UK charity the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s survey of garden wetlands, Glenn’s teeming backyard pond was one of three shortlisted for the inaugural wetland conservation award and £1,000 prize.

His wildlife haven was named the winner, with the judges commenting: “Glenn has clearly managed to create the best pond, ecologically speaking. What is also so great is that it isn’t

intimidating – anyone could take his very simple approach and create something just as valuable.”

Just weeks after building the pond two years ago Glenn noticed water boatmen, pond skaters and dragonflies flitting around, and within the first year he had spotted a handful of insect, newt and bird species – including the endangered great crested newt.

Enjoyment was also high on Glenn’s agenda. “My overall aim was to provide a small ecosystem in my garden,” he said, “where I could sit with a glass of wine on summer evenings and watch the wildlife go by.”

Nariba accepts her award

AlumniOld friends

Vox | issue six40

Sir Michael Angus (1930-2010)Halcrow’s first non-executive director

Dave Lister (1946 – 2010)A witty, well-respected joker

As Halcrow’s first non-executive director, Sir Michael Angus brought a unique perspective to the company in his five years of service.

A former president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Sir Michael, who died on 13 March 2010, drew on his wide-ranging experience in the highest echelons of UK business to guide Halcrow’s board towards examining new markets and opportunities.

He strongly advocated Halcrow’s expansion into North America and believed that, with a sharper commercial focus, Halcrow would grow profitably and meet its longer-term goals.

At the time of his appointment in January 2000, Sir Michael spoke enthusiastically of the opportunities Halcrow faced. “Halcrow is working hard to be the leader in its field,” he said. “I want to help the company achieve its goal and I shall apply my experience and enthusiasm to do so. I hope this will result in Halcrow establishing an even wider range of business opportunities.”

Born in Cirencester in 1930, Sir Michael read mathematics at the University of Bristol. After national service in the Royal Air Force he joined Unilever as a trainee in 1954, rising through the ranks and serving as chairman from 1986 to 1992.

On his retirement from Unilever, Sir Michael was appointed chairman of Whitbread, while simultaneously holding down the role of deputy chairman at both Boots and British Airways, and serving as a non-executive director of National Westminster Bank.

Sir Michael was CBI president between 1992 and 1994; a tumultuous period that coincided with the events of ‘Black Wednesday’.

Dave Lister died on 25 January 2010 after battling cancer.

A contract technician for the highways team in Glasgow, Dave spent a decade tackling some of the UK and Ireland’s largest road projects. He dedicated several years to the N11 Rathnew to Arklow route, producing upwards of 1,000 drawings for this project alone.

Dave’s demeanour was often compared to UK television series One Foot in the Grave’s protagonist – the comically cantankerous Victor Meldrew – with his ability to good-naturedly rant about daily gripes coined ‘positive grumpiness’ by entertained colleagues.

From sharp one-liners to his habit of looking at technical drawings with an oversized, comedy magnifying glass and setting his mobile phone to blare out a manic tone at full volume, Dave sought humour in every situation. A gifted storyteller, he frequently regaled the office with an arsenal of anecdotes, spinning his rich life experiences into hilarious accounts.

Generous and kind hearted, Dave was always willing to help others – staying late to pitch in on projects; giving people a lift into town; and using his extensive knowledge of Glasgow to provide detailed directions.

“Testimony to how his colleagues felt about him was that we could have hired a bus to go to his funeral, such was the turnout,” said Charlie MacFadden. “Those who were lucky enough to have known Dave have lost a friend and a source of great joy and amusement. The office won’t be the same without him.”

He is survived by his wife, Sessil, and his son, David.

A keen countryman, Sir Michael retired to the Cotswolds where he organically farmed hens, sheep and goats, as well as making his own goats’ cheese.

Halcrow’s chief executive, Peter Gammie, paid tribute to Sir Michael, saying that he had brought a unique perspective to the company. “He was well-liked, respected and admired by all those who were fortunate enough to work with him,” he said. He is survived by his wife, Isabel, two sons and a daughter.

Gillian ‘Gill’ cuss (1964-2010)A much-loved people person

Halcrow pensioners’ 2010 reunion Following the success of 2008’s Highland gathering, a warm welcome is extended to all retired Halcrovians, partners and associates for the 2010 event.

Where: Atholl Palace HotelPitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5LY

When: 16 October 2010, 12.30pm – 4pm

Cost: £35 per head

To confirm attendance: Harry Peterstel +44 (0) 1292 266933 email [email protected]

For accommodation bookings, contact: Atholl Palace Hotel (Gillian Gordon or Jessica Beattie) tel +44 (0)1796 472400email [email protected]

To rememberFrank Cooper died on 2 April 2010, aged 64. Frank worked for Halcrow from 1971 to 1974 and is survived by Kusuma, his wife.

Sudhakar Joshi died on 7 April 2010 at the age of 68 having worked for Halcrow between 1979 and 1991. He is survived by his wife, Asha.

Roger Ibbotson passed away on 28 April 2010, aged 65. Roger joined Halcrow in 1991, moving between Indonesia and his Canadian home until 2000. He is survived by his wife, Lorna.

To send condolences [email protected]

Firm but fair, Gill Cuss was known for her constant enthusiasm and cheerful approach to her work and everyday life. These characteristics remained undimmed throughout a long battle with cancer which led to her death on 17 June 2010.

Joining Halcrow in 1987 as a junior computer technician within the water team, Gill’s passion for learning and knowledge proved insatiable.

Over the ensuing decade she achieved certification from the Business and Technology Education Council in engineering studies – winning Swindon College’s Halcrow prize in the process – before gaining her higher national certificate in 1992. Superlative results – including a merit and five distinctions – saw Gill win the coveted Eric Bates memorial prize in the same year, awarded by the south-west section of the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors.

In 2000 she transferred to the business systems unit and, having gained her audit certification, became a British Standards Institution (BSI) registered auditor. She was instrumental in the move from the Halcrow

group business system to the Halcrow integrated management system and was a key member of the business systems unit.

Born in Chester and brought up in the Wirral, Gill was well known for her kindness and consideration towards her colleagues. A keen gardener and pet keeper, she took great delight in flowers and butterflies and was fascinated by all sorts of arts and crafts.

Friends were very important to Gill and she always made time for people. The exceptional organisational skills and attention to detail that characterised her work were never far below the surface: a great planner, she would always have all her audits and holidays sorted out before the end of the first week in January.

Group business systems unit manager Thomas Finkle said: “Gill was kind, bright and always considerate to her friends and colleagues alike. No job was ever impossible, and she was always willing to help, explain and pass on her years of experience. She will be deeply missed.”

She is survived by her husband, Kevin, and her daughter.

Atholl Palace Hotel

Sporting successField of dreams

Vox | issue six42

While footballing appetites where whetted by the prospect of the Champions League final on the evening of 22 May, by

daylight a battle of similar intensity raged in the Suffolk market town of Bury St Edmonds.

A team from Halcrow’s Waltham Cross office brought their insouciant passing game to the fore at the Institution of Civil

Engineers east of England five-a-side football tournament.

After a tentative start, the team found its form to top the group as unbeaten winners. In unseasonably warm conditions, Halcrow nudged out its semi-final opponents 3-0 to book a place in the final.

Despite early glimpses of flair and a hard-fought tussle the team had to settle for a runners-up medal, eventually losing 4-0.

Over 16,000 limbs churned through the temperate water of Sydney Harbour as the city’s corporate triathlon took place in perfect conditions on 18 April.

Four teams from Halcrow’s two Sydney offices were amongst the event’s 4,000 competitors, with each member showing their determination in completing the 400m swim, 8km cycle and 4km run.

Organiser John Youds commented: “After surviving the sharks in the harbour, turning the gears on the bike and giving whatever was left for the run, the results showed a magnificent performance from everyone. The only downside to this great day was the 5.30am start!”

Football-mad souls from Halcrow’s Birmingham office competed in the city’s chamber of commerce five-a-side tournament on 2 March.

Despite several key players succumbing to knocks and strains, the team dug deep to secure a place in the playoffs. The final – against Birmingham Met College – soon beckoned and Halcrow carved open the defence to snatch a one-goal buffer.

Despite this early lead, diminishing energy levels saw the opposition press home the advantage, belting a brace to walk off victorious.

Eleven weeks is a long time to maintain adrenalin levels, but the Las Vegas team managed to hold its nerve and snatch a clutch of medals in a recent corporate challenge.

Company pride was at stake when Halcrow Yolles, joined by four local architectural and engineering organisations, took on 53 other teams. The opening ceremony on 24 March kicked off the competition.

The Halcrow Yolles sand volleyball team spiked its way to a gold medal, while its track and field representatives took home a handful of podium finishes. Canoeing and fencing also brought home first place. All Halcrow participants chimed in with medals of varying hues across the challenge’s 28 events.

Sydney dozen gives it a tri

Up for the cup Fitting finalists

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The victorious sand volleyball team

Cricket whites provided no respite from the cloying Delhi heat in March when Halcrow took on Span Consultants in a limited-over match.

Span’s decision to bat first immediately appeared ill-advised, with scorching deliveries from Halcrow speedster Jatinder Manwani claiming two scalps within the opening over. Despite this early setback Span regrouped, and with prudent partnerships rekindling its innings, the team posted a competitive total of 179 from 25 overs.

Halcrow’s opening pairing, Anshul and Yogesh, stacked on the runs and cemented a handy half-century. The latter’s dismissal brought Subhash to the crease, and Halcrow’s star batsman reached into his arsenal of shots to ramp up the run rate. With Halcrow requiring an onerous 44 runs from 24 balls Subhash single-handedly rescued the innings, smashing an incredible 23 runs in a single over. Halcrow cruised to victory with six balls to spare.

Few people can claim to have left restaurant mogul Gordon Ramsay doubled over and breathless on the side of the road without suffering a barrage of expletives.

Graduate engineer George Ballard is part of this exclusive group. George breezed past the sweary celebrity chef during the 2010 London marathon in April, on his way to clocking a competitive time of three hours 35 minutes.

George took part in one of the world’s most iconic distance running events to raise awareness and much-needed funds for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) after losing a close friend, Scott, when he died of sudden heart failure aged just 25.

Kicking off his training regime in August last year, George even resisted the seductive pull of sweets, alcohol and takeaways from the beginning of 2010 – although he had a four-month supply of chocolate in his bag to reward himself at the finish line.

Impressing his Cardiff colleagues with his dedication and commitment to balancing his workload with gruelling winter runs, George raised over £3,000 for CRY. “I’m definitely not a natural runner – before I started training I don’t think I had ever run more than 3km at once,” he said. “But, for Scott, I wanted to run the best time I was capable of, in a way in which he would be proud.”

Further donations can be made at: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/georgeballard

Young heart runs freeYou can’t touch this

Representing your country in the international arena is at the

pinnacle of any sports person’s ambitions. Picking up an oval-

shaped ball and leading your team to victory remains a revered

achievement in Wales, where rugby is played with a semi-religious zeal.

Halcrow’s Andy Perry is on top of his game. The Cardiff-based project manager was recently appointed captain of the Wales senior touch

rugby team for the looming European championships. Donning the red jersey countless times over the past few years, Andy has become a lynchpin of the over-35s team and is pivotal to its success. Now, his leadership skills and motivational ability will be put to the test.

Once played at the urging of parents nervous about broken bones, touch is now a highly competitive sport in its own right. With the touch world cup taking place in Edinburgh next year, Andy believes the time is ripe to raise the game’s profile within Halcrow, the UK, and beyond. “We’ve got quite a few teams across various Halcrow offices playing in local leagues – I’d love to see an inter-office Halcrow tournament take place very soon,” he said.

Get down to the British Academy of Sport at Bristol’s Filton College to see Andy and his teammates take on Europe’s finest from 22 to 25 July.

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Andy Perry with his ceremonial Wales cap

Vox | issue five40 Vox | issue four48 Vox | issue six

rom Secrets and Lies to Nuts in May, via Abigail’s Party and Happy-Go-Lucky, film director Mike Leigh has swept the awards board with his canon of gritty, social-realist

portraits of ordinary people coping with extraordinary events.

And Halcrow played a significant role in the development of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award-winning and four time Oscar-nominated auteur’s latest offering. Filmed under strict secrecy, Another Year stars much-loved British actor Jim Broadbent.

Jim – who scooped an Oscar in 2001 for best supporting actor in the biographical film Iris, about the Irish novelist Iris Murdoch – is playing the part of Tom, a geologist.

The tale of Halcrow’s involvement begins with Cardiff-based highways and transportation sales director, Paul Maliphant: “Having attended a meeting at the Geological Society in London, Jim’s assistant was searching the society’s website for contacts to help him develop his character,” he said. “I was convening a field trip in Wales in my role as chairman of the southern Wales regional group of the Geological Society and they contacted me to see if he could join us.

“We swapped emails and I arranged for Jim to have dinner with a former colleague, whose career matched the early stages of Tom’s – mineral exploration in Australia in the early 1970s.”

Paul agreed to take Jim on a field trip, where they discussed aspects of geology and events that may have moulded his character. “I took him to the Aberfan memorial and cemetery, as the landslide disaster would have occurred during his first term at university,” said Paul.

The field trip party visited the Church Village bypass for which Halcrow had conducted the early geological work. Following the visit, both Jim and the director decided that Tom worked as a geologist on the original construction of the M25 motorway. Thanks to Paul’s contacts, Jim was put in touch with a geologist from another consultancy who had done precisely that – there being no one available from Halcrow.

The director decided that Jim’s character joined Mcfadden Belcher – a heavily veiled cover for Halcrow – in 1985, so Paul arranged for Jim to meet up with Colin Warren at Vineyard House to gain an insight into life as an engineering geologist during that period.

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Halcrow experts assist award-winning director’s latest creation

Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent

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Energising budding engineers

A second geologist character, who also works for Mcfadden Belcher, was played by Stuart McQuarrie of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. He joined Paul for a day in south Wales for a geology master class.

Matters continued to evolve at a rapid pace when Paul was called and asked what other professionals Tom might have come into contact with. The production unit decided that another character, Jack, would be a surveyor. Paul put the team in touch with Halcrow’s Chris Kelly, a Chichester-based technical director, who provided a deep insight into the character for this part.

Chris arranged for the actor Phil Davis, who starred in the seminal British mod flick Quadrophenia, to visit Swindon’s Chisledon Washpool, a Halcrow project.

Phil was joined by Reading-based surveyor Richard Small, who demonstrated the basic elements to the art of surveying and how to use the instruments. By the end of the day, Phil quipped that he had enjoyed himself so much he was now considering a career change.

Chris takes up the tale: “I helped them with the background as they wanted someone who had worked as a surveyor in the early 1970s – I’m probably the only one old enough! They had some assumptions of how you would qualify to be a surveyor which I was able to put right. It wasn’t through university back then, rather through the technical side with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.”

In the film, Phil’s character will broadly follow the same career path as Chris’s early years as a surveyor. “They wanted to know what type of work we did back then, and how it fitted in with your life as you had to move around a lot – and how this affected the relationships you had,” recalled Chris.

Typical of Mike Leigh’s method of working, the title was only decided once filming was complete. The director frequently creates detailed improvisations, sustained over a period of weeks, to fully develop characters and storylines. Intimate moments are explored that have no bearing on the final film, to help the cast build an understanding of the history between the characters and their inner motivations.

The critical scenes in the eventual story are performed and recorded in full costume – real-time improvisations where the actors encounter for the first time new characters, events or information which may dramatically affect their characters’ lives. Incorporating an element of surprise, these pivotal junctions often play out with only some of the actors aware of the action to follow, capturing the others’ genuine, unrehearsed reactions. Final filming follows a more traditional path with a defined sense of story, action and dialogue.

Paul saw this methodology up close when he was invited to attend a shoot at Battersea Power Station and meet the cast and crew.

In his bid to give an accurate portrayal of the time, Mike Leigh turned to Paul for his expertise and advice. “The scene included a lorry-mounted rotary drilling rig set up over a 2.5m-deep mocked up borehole,” remembered Paul, who even helped draft part of the script. “After deciding that the rig was required for a tunnel, we worked out the details of the proposed borehole and the reasons why the geologist characters had to visit the site.”

And his input didn’t stop there, with Paul going on to advise on everything from costumes and the correct use of company logos to the number and type of vehicles required on set. “Overall, we were on location with a crew of 65 from 7.30am until 6.30pm to devise, write, rehearse and film the complete scene, which may last for no more than two minutes,” said Paul.

Paul and Chris both attended a special screening for cast and crew in London’s Leicester Square in March.

While hotly tipped to win the top prize – the Palme d’Or – at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Another Year was beaten by the Thai surrealist outsider Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Jim Broadbent and Paul Maliphant

Director Mike Leigh

Jim’s character joined Mcfadden Belcher – a

heavily veiled cover for Halcrow – in 1985

Paul Maliphant on location explaining a tricky geological concept to Jim Broadbent and Stuart McQuarrie

Vox | issue five40 Vox | issue four48 Vox | issue six

People paradeTaking a break

At first glance, infrastructure projects and heavy civil engineering may not seem automatic choices for artistic inspiration.

So when students at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff embraced the challenge, ably expressing Halcrow’s work in paint, pencil and multimedia, the results were all the more impressive.

Linking Halcrow’s work on the London Underground Jubilee line extension with its efforts to improve public transport access and slash CO2 emissions, Harrison Jankovic’s popular graffiti-style entry topped the field.

Organiser Paul Maliphant said: “The three students with the most votes received cheques from Halcrow at a special presentation event at the school in July, with all entrants receiving certificates in recognition of their efforts.”

Young Welsh geologists put in an earthshaking performance at a Halcrow-sponsored schools’ contest in March.

Around 30 competitors from six secondary schools across south Wales pitted their wits in the first schools geology challenge, organised by the regional group of the Geological Society and held at Cardiff’s Whitchurch High School.

Students from each school made a five-minute presentation, putting forward ideas on what geologists can do to help stem the threat of climate change. The pupils unanimously agreed that carbon capture and storage presented one of the most practical, immediate approaches to tackling global warming; a theme that was then explored in detail by Geological Society president Bryan Lovell.

After a tightly fought contest, judged by a five-strong panel of professional

geologists including Halcrow’s Paul

Maliphant, hosts Whitchurch

High School emerged victorious. Next year’s

event is already being planned.

Trading laptops for carabiners, three geotechnical engineers from Edinburgh undertook an intensive week-long ropes course, allowing them to inspect unstable rock slopes.

David Raeside, Wendy MacPherson and Adam Pollard endured the rigorous final day assessment, with all three successfully gaining Industrial Rope Access Trade Association level one certification for roped access technicians.

Recent rail project work, involving the design and supervision of remedial works for rock cuttings on the east and west coast main lines and the west highland line, provided the impetus to formalise the team’s ropes prowess.

David said: “As well as allowing us to better tackle rock slope inspections, our rope access certification can be adapted for use on a host of project requirements – carrying out structural inspections, for example.”

Art imitates life

Your starter for ten

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If anything can capture the attention of 12-year-olds and entice young people towards careers in science and engineering, it’s the prospect of getting close to radioactive waste.

Halcrow teamed up with Magnox North – responsible for decommissioning the Hunterston A reactor site – to give students from two Glasgow schools access to the state-of-the-art nuclear waste store.

The February visit was organised as part of the Engineering Development Trust’s ongoing Go4SET programme, which challenges students aged 12 to 14 to develop practical solutions to science and engineering-based scenarios. This year the project comprised a waste audit of participating schools and local councils.

Students from Bearsden Academy and Lenzie Academy met Hunterston A’s waste managers, gaining insights into the site’s approach to handling everything from teabags to hazardous by-products. A tour of the Halcrow-designed intermediate radioactive waste facility was the highlight of the trip.

Combining their waste audit work, visit to Hunterston A and trip to Halcrow’s Glasgow office, the pupils presented their findings at the Go4SET assessment day at Strathclyde University in March.

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AnnouncementsHappy days

1) Swindon-based business co-ordinator Gemma Walton (née Cottrell) married her sweetheart, Charlie Walton, on 23 December 2009 at the Great Tythe barn near Tetbury.

2) Dong Shuming, a structural engineer from Shanghai, celebrated his marriage to beautiful bride Liulei on 16 January 2010.

3) Manchester-based graduate engineer Matt Hunt and bride Claire tied the knot

on 1 May 2010 among the spring flowers in Cheshire. The couple then jetted off on honeymoon to Las Vegas, Hawaii and finally New York.

4) Niraj Kumar, a surveyor from Halcrow’s Delhi office, married his lovely wife, Sweta, on 17 January 2010.

5) Despite a threatened delay due to the volcanic ash cloud, Swindon-based Rob Clarke and his new wife Marjorie’s big

day was held on time on 24 April 2010 in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

6) Manila’s Lara Togonon married Mark De Castro on 27 February 2010 at St Pancratius Chapel. They partied with family and friends well into the night.

7) Vineyard House’s Adeel Arshad married Rabbiya Lakhanpal on 4 July 2010 in London, with a walima banquet taking place the following weekend.

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AnnouncementsHappy days

Vox | issue six48

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1) Congratulations to Glasgow-based Peter Campbell and his wife, Veronica, on the birth of Jessica, born 22 March 2010. Here she is with big sister Orlaith.

2) Little Isabella was born on 26 February 2010 to proud dad Tong Sun from the Bristol office and mum Lily. She weighed 2.6kg.

3) Xue Tu of the Shanghai bridges team and her husband, Zhang Peijun, welcomed their son, Zhang Borui, on 17 February 2010. He weighed a bouncing 3.7kg.

4) Congratulations to Andrew Proctor of Glasgow’s transportation team and his wife, Lisa, on the birth of daughter Rebecca Elise on 10 February 2010. She weighed 3.4kg.

5) On 12 March 2010, proud mum Zhang Lin from the Shanghai office and husband Zhu Linhui were blessed with the birth of baby boy Zhu Zhiyu. He weighed 3.2kg.

6) Middle East communications manager Vanessa James welcomed baby Jude on 13 June 2010 – his grandmother’s birthday. He weighed in at 3.2 kg.

7) Congratulations to Leeds-based Geoff Kenney and his wife, Alison, on the birth of their beautiful daughter. Florence Grace was born on 16 February 2010, weighing in at 3.3kg.

8) Mika Thomas was born on 1 May 2010, delighting his proud parents, Megan King of

the Middle East communications team and her husband, Andrew. Mika weighed 4kg and is reportedly a great sleeper.

9) Delhi-based drainage engineer Himani Sharma and her husband, Arun, were blessed with a baby boy, Pihu, on 20 February 2010.

10) Jacqueline Po from Manila and her husband, Paulo, were overjoyed to welcome their 3.5kg baby girl, Pauline Placido, on 10 September 2009.

11) Manila’s Rusty Romero and her husband, Larry, celebrated the birth of their perfect daughter, Maria Lali, on 20 December 2009. She weighed 2.3 kg.

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12) Retired Waltham Cross regional director Paul Warner became a grandad for the first time on 27 March 2010. Baby Alexander weighed in at 3.1kg.

13) Congratulations to Abu Dhabi-based David Connolly and his wife, Dewi, on the birth of their son, Rayan, on 27 December 2009. He weighed 3.5kg.

14) Swindon’s Sean and Moranda Matthews were delighted to welcome their new son into the world on 16 March 2010. Thomas Sean was born weighing 3.6kg.

15) Theodore Artemus was born on 13 April 2010, weighing 2.9kg, to proud mum communications manager Anna Mann

from London and dad Ben. Here he is with his big brother, Orlando.

16) Senior principal Jonathan Hendricks of the Toronto office and his wife, Fausta, were delighted to welcome their beautiful daughter, Nadia Ineke, on 20 May 2010. She weighed 3.5kg.

17) On 3 February 2010, Almila Uzel of the Toronto office and her husband, Serkan, celebrated the arrival of their new baby, Umay, who weighed 3.6kg.

18) Toronto’s Marco Mazzulla and his wife, Julie, were overjoyed with the arrival of their daughter, Ava Emily, on 17 March 2010. She weighed 3.12 kg.

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19) Sahana was welcomed to the family by delighted parents Kartik Nagpal of the Toronto office and wife Dipa on 27 February 2010, weighing 3.14kg.

20) Laura and John Seymour, who both work at Halcrow’s Manchester office, celebrated the arrival of Hannah Yvonne on 13 September 2009. She weighed 3.42kg.

21) London printroom manager Dave Wheatley and his partner, Maria, were ecstatic to welcome baby Katy Louise Georgina into the world on 5 April 2010. The little one weighed 3.22kg.

Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...Out of officeA day in the life

Vox | issue six50

ostroom assistant Dean Boyaram spends his days ensuring that the company’s vital communications – certainly those that have been despatched by mail to

London’s Vineyard House and Shortlands buildings – are hand delivered to their recipients in a timely and courteous manner.

But once he heads off home to north London he embarks on a more esoteric form of communication.

The 26-year-old father of two forms one half of Obba Supa – an emerging hip-hop crew that is taking the genre into fresh and unexplored territories, garnering increasingly favourable music press plaudits with each new release.

Adopting his musical persona – Teknical Development – Dean delivers the lyrics, while his musical partner Martin – Hey!Zeus – pens the score and brings his silky smooth production talents to bear. “I spend at least 25 hours a week at the studio,” said Dean. “I’ve been working with Martin for about four years now. He comes up with the beats and I form the words around them. That’s how our To AM:Free AM album was written.”

The whole 28-track album was written and produced in just two blisteringly short weeks. Having been writing since he was at school, Dean, a self-confessed bookworm, can trace the roots of his love affair with the written and oral word to the encouragement he received from his English teacher at secondary school. “It’s freedom of expression – creating something out of nothing,” he said. “Some people keep a diary, I write songs.”

Balancing a full-time job, a partner and two offspring with such commitment to his art clearly calls for legendary multi-tasking skills, as Dean self-deprecatingly confesses. “It’s a constant juggling act – I’m like a clown!”

And what do his daughters think of their dad’s musical offerings? “They recognise my voice and dance around to it, but then they dance to virtually anything, so I’m taking no credit there,” Dean quipped.

A desire to give a voice to those without a medium for self-expression continues to drive Dean to write and perform. “People often come up to me after hearing our songs and say ‘I’m glad you covered that’” he reflected. “I’m also writing a play for

young people as I want to give them an authentic voice – something often overlooked by writers.”

So what’s the album like? Having listened to every track, one is struck by the absence of the bling-tinged stereotypes dripping with outré materialism that can cling to the flank of hip hop like limpets of puerile predictability.

Instead, richly layered seams of aural intrigue dance and spar, delivering a drop kick to

complacent consciousness. Furthermore, a rich diaspora of musical heritage is mined and

sampled, peppering each track; from NuYorican-style sassiness to the dark, haunting beauty of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit – a song that captures the horrors of Deep South lynch mobs.

Now on the cusp of their second album release, Dean is characteristically modest about the rising ground swell of appreciation from his musical peers in the hip-hop press: “We just do what we do. We weren’t set on a particular path or direction – we just created our own route. In a way, it’s an experiment that hasn’t gone wrong.”

Having just launched their own label – Chakra Sounds – and with a Berlin gig and appearances on German radio already under Obba Supa’s collective belt, along with live performances in Belgium and Croatia set for later this year, life is looking decidedly sweet.

Drop in some recent exposure on BBC Radio 1 – courtesy of DJ Giles Peterson playing their Obba Supa vs. Floating Points offering – and praise in the Dutch and British hip-hop press, and Dean

looks set to deliver.

“I have achieved my musical goal – I’ve got my own label, I’m making music and I’d like to travel and perform around the

world. I’ve become a more mature and patient person, but perhaps best of all, there’s a real appetite

for what we produce.”

P

Dean Boyaram delivers aural food for the soul

All Obba Supa’s songs, including their single Midnight mathematics, are available on iTunes or projectmooncircle.com.

Their next album will be released in November.

Supa man

People often come

up to me after hearing

our songs and say ‘I’m

glad you covered that’

Dean (right) with musical partner Martin

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vox, july 2010

Documents

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halcrows emerging regions

halcrows joint venture

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editor anna mann

peter roberybristol

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