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

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

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

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

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

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

Think of digital twins in a construction setting and what usually comes to mind is a digital representation of physical asset that aids planning, design, delivery and operation of the infrastructure but what if they were used to help drive informed investment decisions too? The investment opportunity is subject of the latest episode of The Engineers Collective. At the start of the episode NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by former executive director of the Centre for Digital Built...

The role of Internet of Things to empower fully intelligent infrastructure comes under the spotlight with a look at what it means for the future of civil engineering in this episode, which is sponsored by Farnell Electronics. NCE editor Claire Smith is joined by Arup associate director Rory McCully to look back at the evolution embedded sensor technology has brought to infrastructure over the last 25 years and consider what the next 25 years might bring. Claire starts off with some...

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

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

Introducing circular economies into construction projects has been discussed as a concept for a number of years but this episode of the podcast looks at some projects that have actually put it into action.   Following some discussion on the main news stories of the month, NCE’s editor Claire Smith and head of content and engagement Rob Horgan are joined by Sweco Architects head of sustainability Elise Grosse and Sweco’s UK Buildings Division digital manager Andrew Krebs to explore the...

With the work from home guidance being relaxed in the UK following the latest wave of Covid, many civil engineers are now starting to return to some office-based working or more site-based activities. But after two years of working through a pandemic and embracing new ways of working, has the industry’s approach to how work is undertaken changed forever?   To talk through the learnings since March 2020 and the opportunities and challenges a new approach presents, NCE editor Claire Smith...

Creating new public realm as part of commercial development is becoming commonplace in order to meet planning requirements but could these be obligations be extended to add climate resilience too? The question is explored by founding director of Madeleine Kessler Architecture and Unscene Architecture Madeleine Kessler and Civic Engineers director Gareth Atkinson in the latest episode. Following the monthly news update from NCE editor Claire Smith and senior reporter Catherine Kennedy, the...

Jacobs senior associate director and practice group lead for intelligent asset management Steve Yule and Collins Engineers director of unmanned aircraft systems, artificial intelligence and reality modelling Barritt Lovelace join NCE editor Claire Smith and reporter Catherine Kennedy to discuss the use of digital engineering on their projects. Network Rail and Jacobs have used digital twins on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, while Collins Engineers has adopted digital methods for the...

Welcome to the final episode of The Engineers Collective for 2021! In this episode editor of New Civil Engineer Claire Smith, head of content and engagement Rob Horgan, and reporter Catherine Kennedy take a look at the top news stories and features of the year so far, and the background behind those headlines. The team run through the top five most read news stories, and the top five most popular features published by New Civil Engineer this year. The Engineers Collective will return in...

Fresh of the back of being inaugurated as ICE President, Ed McCann joins NCE editor Claire Smith and head of content & engagement Rob Horgan on the podcast to go over the latest news. Recorded ahead of the Integrated Rail Plan’s publication, Ed explains how a year of uncertainty has affected the industry while remaining sympathetic to the difficult position the government found itself in amid the pandemic. Ed also looks over the Spending Review as well as announcements made at COP26...

Sizewell C consents manager Stephen Mannings and head of regional affairs Tom McGarry talked to NCE former features editor Nadine Buddoo and current features editor Sotiris Kanaris about EDF Energy’s efforts to alleviate concerns about the project's environmental impact.   Like Sizewell B, the proposed nuclear power station Sizewell C will be located within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. For the construction of the new power station, Site of Special...

The role of forms on contract have played over the last 30 years in moving the construction sector from an adversarial one to a collaborative one is explored in the latest episode. New Engineering Contracts (NEC) Users’ Group Chair John Welch, who is also currently deputy director for construction at Crown Commercial Service, and Andrew McNaughton who has recently joined Aczel as infrastructure lead join NCE editor Claire Smith and features editor Nadine Buddoo to talk about the impact NEC...

With COP26 just weeks away, the need to design in sustainability and climate resilience into every element of the built environment has never been more in the spotlight and is the focus of the latest episode. NCE editor Claire Smith and reporter Catherine Kennedy are joined by Rodrigo Fernandes who is director of empowering sustainable development goals with Bentley Systems to talk about the role of engineers – and the tools available to them – to drive change through design. Before...

Transport for London (TfL) Crossrail 2 managing director Michèle Dix joins NCE editor Claire Smith and head of content and engagement Rob Horgan on the latest episode of The Engineers Collective to talk about her 21 year career with the organisation as she prepares for retirement. Michèle talks about her work on London’s congestion charging scheme, which first took her to TfL in 2000 and how she was an early pioneer of job sharing when she jointly delivered the role of director for the...

In this episode Transport for the North’s new chief executive Martin Tugwell joins NCE editor Claire Smith and features editor Nadine Buddoo to discuss the decarbonisation of regional transport networks. Tune in to find out how sustainable growth can be tackled by finding the economic benefits, utilising current budgets and thinking systematically to create a long-term strategy. While the discussion is focused on the recently completed consultation for Transport for the North’s...

In this episode Amanda Fisher, chief executive of Amey, and Mandy Willis, Mace group board director of corporate strategy, join NCE editor Claire Smith and Nadine Buddoo to discuss a new initiative they've launched to support staff through menopause in the workplace. The group discuss how menopause is the skills issue that is rarely spoken about in the construction sector and how an online platform like Peppy allows staff to gain the support they need. Peppy were unable to join the...

Creation of 3D models of different phases of construction is allowing civil engineers to move into the world of 4D and digitally rehearse the work before ever setting foot on site. Speaking to The Engineers Collective host Claire Smith, who is editor on NCE, John Sisk and Sons head of 4D planning Josh Hanson refers to this as effectively having a construction time machine to scroll forward and back through to work to reduce risk on site. Claire and Josh are also joined by Sisk’s regional 4D...

This month's episode features a chat with founding director of Knight Architects, Martin Knight, and BDP principal and civil and structural engineering group leader Michelle McDowell. The two join our editorial panel to talk about the need for engineers and architects to work together more collaboratively in the future. With the two disciplines working closer together than they used to, we ask about the biggest misconceptions they have about each other, and what benefits could arise from a...

In this month’s news special, Claire Smith (editor), Catherine Kennedy (reporter) and Rob Horgan (news editor) discuss the recent tragic events in Miami, with the collapse in June of the Champlain Towers South building. Then, Claire is joined by former New Civil Engineer editor Ty Byrd, who joined what is now NCE’s sister title, Construction News in the wake the collapse of the Ronan Point tower block in East London. Ty tells us about the changes in the construction industry which came...