New Civil Engineer JULY 2017 STAR QUALITY WHAT MAKES an NCE100 COMPANY of the YEAR?
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Inside: HS2 civils frontrunners revealed p08 Grenfell Tower blaze analysed p10 New Civil Engineer JULY 2017 STAR QUALITY WHAT MAKES AN NCE100 COMPANY OF THE YEAR? NEW CIVIL ENGINEER / JAN 16 1 Q-Bic Plus The infi ltration & attenuation unit worthy of closer inspection Open architecture enables unrestricted inspection & cleaning High storage volume Smart design enables installation in half the time of comparable units Already widely adopted across Europe, Q-Bic Plus now brings its revolutionary infi ltration and attenuation performance to the UK. Inspectability is the key. With 70% open fl oor space, access for inspection and cleaning is straightforward. Ease of installation is another strong suit; modular units featuring in-built ergonomic handgrips, a walkable top deck and integrated connectors make construction safe, fast and failsafe. The complete range of plus points can be accessed in our short video or by speaking directly with our technical team. View the video at qbic.wavin.co.uk For immediate assistance, call our technical team on 0844 856 5165 06410_003_WAV_Mexicem_Q-Bic Plus Campaign Ad_265x210mm.indd 1 14/02/2017 09:46 New Civil Engineer NCE100 EMPLOYERS PUSH BOREDOM ASIDE MARK HANSFORD EDITOR oredom afflicts almost half (47.2%) of engineering work- In our survey, 96% of its staff agreed that Arup was great and that ers, with a staggering 55.6% admitting that they have they had no desire to work anywhere else. Why? Arup says that despite looked for a new job as a result of a dull work life. That, being a firm of over 13,000 people its values still reflect founder Ove B according to a recent survey of 1,200 professionals by Arup’s cultural aspirations outlined during his key 1970 speech: it is an job board CV-Library. inclusive company that operates with integrity and helps individuals Whoever those 1,200 engineers are they must be a very different to flourish. bunch to the 6,500 civil engineers who took part in the NCE100 this year. Because boredom clearly does not come into it if you are working for one of our top 100 companies: indeed four out of five of you, when asked, said your company was “great”, and that you had “no desire to All 100 firms in our work anywhere else”. listing are great firms and It is, we think, an extraordinary statistic, and one that shows just what a great time it is to be a civil engineer and to be working for – or great places to build careers with – an NCE100 Company of the Year. Now in its second year, the NCE100 is, we believe, a totally independ- ent, authoritative assessment of what it means to be an excellent civil But all 100 firms in our listing are great firms and great places to build engineering practice. Analysis of a comprehensive company question- careers. And, frankly, with the opportunities ahead for civil engineers, naire is combined with the scoring of our judges who have scrutinised these really should be great places to build a career. written submissions and then interviewed business leaders from the “In the UK, major projects such as Heathrow, Hinkley and High Speed highest performing companies. 2 (HS2) continue to progress (albeit slowly, barring any post General This information is then combined with the views of staff themselves Election fallout). These are projects of international significance – one – obtained from a confidential survey all NCE100 companies must en- look at the likely winners of HS2’s civils contracts, as revealed in New courage their employees to complete. Civil Engineer this month, show the project’s international attraction. The assessment is made against New Civil Engineer’s five core pillars. But equally there is a plethora of projects around the world that are These are: Technical Excellence, Future Tech, Future Engineer, Engi- providing opportunities and excitement for UK-trained civil engineers. neering Equality and World View, the competencies and passions we Of our NCE100 firms, 65 work abroad directly with the rest of Europe look for in outstanding firms. And sitting on top of that is a key behav- the top destination, closely followed by the Middle East, North Ameri- iour that we seek to assess: collaboration. Specific awards are made for ca, Africa and the Far East. And this is throwing up great opportunities, specific areas of excellence in the spin-off NCE100 Awards, but there is with our 100, on average, putting 18% of their staff to work on projects no question that the number one position in our top 100 ranking is the outside the UK and/or their home territory, with 14% of staff, on aver- most coveted prize. age, based overseas. And this year’s number one? It’s Arup. High performing in all areas, And this number is reflected in what you told us, with one in five of it is its collaborative way of working that gets it to the top spot ahead you rating your opportunity to travel and work on exciting global pro- of MWH Global, Mott MacDonald and WSP. And this behaviour clearly jects as good or very good. No wonder you’re not bored. runs deep. l Mark Hansford is New Civil Engineer’s editor JULY 2017 | NEW CIVIL ENGINEER 3 Contents NEW CIVIL ENGINEER JULY 2017 MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 03 Comment, 21 This month: Our Annual Analysis & News NCE100 Top Firms 06 Lighthouse: The future is uncertain, exciting and unpredictable 08 The Edit: Major High Speed 2 contract winners revealed 09 The Edit: Aecom to develop Old Oak Common masterplan 10 Analysis: Grenfell Tower blaze 12 Analysis: Trump pulls out of Paris Agreement on climate 14 Special report: Project 13 e ciency drive 16 The Interview: Tom Wilne on delivering airport expansion 18 Your View: Rise of the machines, equality, High Speed 2 126 Institution of Civil Engineers: SuDs engineers face major obstacles; Which are the best civil engineering practices? The toolkit for women apprentices; Benevolent Fund launches new fi lm NCE100 is a totally independent, authoritative assessment of what it takes to be the best, based on a comprehensive analysis of company data, exhaustive interviews with senior executives and the views of 6,000 employees. 22 Overview: What qualities must a 38 NCE100 listings. What the company possess if it wants to get companies say about themselves intro the NCE100? and what their sta say 34 NCE100 rankings. At a glance 74 NCE100 awards: Specifi c areas guide to who came where of excellence recognised in the spin-o awards Apprentices: New toolkit for women 4 NEW CIVIL ENGINEER JULY 2017 New Civil Engineer Get news delivered daily Weekly Wrap and analysis delivered weekly with our newsletters. Sign-up at newcivilengineer.com Story of the week: A technical investigation into bridge collapses in South East Asia 90 Tech 96 Tech CONTRIBUTORS Excellence Excellence Emily Ashwell p10 Grenfell House blaze [email protected] Fiona McIntyre p12 Climate change fi [email protected] Twitter @fi onaMcNCE 90 Strengthening work on the bridge 96 US software company Autodesk has which carries the M4 motorway set up a tech community in the across the river Usk in south Wales basement of its Boston HQ 102 World 109 Business Katherine Smale AN APPROACH BASED IN PEI PRACTICAL DELIVERY p90 Usk bridge View Culture [email protected] Twitter @katsmaleNCE EASY Prizes & awards STEM Joint outreach Head D&Gs quarters CommonAlexandra Wynne ITp96 Autodesk [email protected] Twitter @alexwynnence MERGER/EVENT HORIZON Campaign & thought TIME Common leadership Member membership acquisition process 102 How computer modelling has helped 109 How do professional institutions Robert Henson p109 U reviewed the costing and design of a major keep up with rapid changes in the [email protected] Governance Commercial Boston property developmentIMechE analysis of where scope of engineering? Twitter @rob_henson collaboration is easy and dicult HARD JULY 2017 NEW CIVIL ENGINEER 5 Lighthouse ICE VIEWPOINT The future is uncertain, exciting and unpredictable his month, the Nick Baveystock summed up this Lighthouse has been feeling well: “UK civil engineering thinking a lot about recognises its obligations to grow T professionalism, what domestic skills but this takes it means and where it time and will not change the fact is going. that we are a highly specialised, The more existential side of these global profession that depends on musings was inspired (if that is the a workforce that needs to be able right word) by working through BY ART WE to move between projects and election manifestos. It had been MASTER countries”. expected that Labour’s plans for the WHAT WOULD If this is right, we face tough re-nationalisation of rail and water MASTER US times. If professionalism means would arouse the most controversy openness to the world and the free Engineers: Challenging times from infrastructure watchers. flow of people, technology and Surprisingly, it was the impact of a ideas, then the UK is not the only firm. He noted that everything he bundle of Conservative proposals place where politics is turning in the had done to develop his career that really got pulses racing. opposite direction. Either way, the up to the age of 40 would soon be The intent is clear. Freedom of ICE, the industry and academia all automated or obsolete. movement will be constrained have thinking to do. Now of course there is a risk of and immigration, including skilled We have also been thinking about falling victim to the hype cycle. The immigration reduced. What was what engineers will actually do in Lighthouse has neither the jet-pack interesting was the reaction. The the future.