Government must use the upcoming budget to move the National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) from a rhetorical commitment to a programme of work that can deliver wide benefits in both the short and long term, ICE has said in its budget submission.

While the NIP sets out a clear vision for the shape and performance of UK infrastructure, the Chancellor should not ‘lose sight of the scale of the challenge’ and implement measures to speed up the plan’s delivery.

Key measures

ICE has called on the Government to:

• Produce a delivery timeline for the NIP “top 40” priority project list - clearly identifying its own actions and prioritising those which are critical to timely delivery
• Commit to rapid completion of Electricity Market Reform and publication of the outstanding National Policy Statement on Transport Networks – both are holding back major investment or potential projects and causing uncertainty
• Prioritise action on finance and funding – the NIP envisages a rise in infrastructure investment to £50bn per annum over the next decade and the UK is a long way off achieving this
• Set out more detail on what is required from each infrastructure network in order to meet government’s own goals, including clarity on acceptable trade-offs (e.g. achieving economic growth or reducing emissions) – this would enable more effective prioritisation of investment
• Support industry efforts to unblock smaller, local projects - so they can move from planning to delivery and contribute to shorter term economic growth
• Prioritise the UK’s flood defences for any additional public capital expenditure – for every £1 spent on flood risk management, £8 is saved in avoiding future damage

‘Rhetoric to reality’

ICE Director General, Nick Baveystock, said: ‘Some significant steps have been made to translate the NIP from a brochure into an action plan that allows infrastructure to deliver as the critical enabler to economic growth - from the creation of a NIP strategic engagement forum, right through to the launch of the Guarantees Scheme. But further steps are needed if we are to shift the infrastructure agenda from rhetoric to reality.’

For the plan to be a success in the long term, a shortfall in project financing needs to be addressed and investment prioritised more effectively. The autumn statement reported that annual investment in infrastructure had risen to £33bn from 2010-2012, yet the NIP envisages an increase to £50bn per year over the coming decade.

‘Real opportunity’ for infrastructure

On stimulating growth in the shorter term, he added: ‘There are a vast number of smaller scale infrastructure projects that are struggling to progress from planning to delivery. These projects, if unblocked, could rapidly translate into jobs and growth. The industry has a role to play in getting these projects off the ground, but it is vital that Government also plays its part.

‘This Budget presents a real opportunity for Government to drive the infrastructure agenda forward and make the NIP work - not only to kick start growth in the shorter term but for the longer term - enabling the UK to compete in a modern world, creating jobs and growth and achieving a stable environment to grow our engineering skills and capacity. ICE stands ready to assist where necessary.’

Read our full budget submission ahead of the Chancellor’s statement on 20 March

It is clear that the term ‘social media’ has become a misnomer, as the power of these information tools is realised by knowledge managers. 

Two or three years ago Google results for academics were clearly driven by conventional publications: today, search results for individuals reflect activity on LinkedIn and Twitter. 

Free web-based tools associated with Google Scholar make it easy to derive an ‘h-factor’ for academic work. In the Library world some idea of the scale of activity is shown by Edinburgh (Public) Libraries: e-transactions grew from c.400,000 in 2009 to 2.3 million in 2011, almost entirely accounted for by growth in social media hits of 1.8 million. 

It is clear that some channels are better than others for reaching different audiences. Pinterest seems to work for the ICE archives in attracting transatlantic interest.  The value of tweeting can be measured both by followers and re-tweets. 

All the evidence suggests if individuals ignore these media they will soon be overlooked, and so powerful are they currently that an individual’s followers will follow him or her from employer to employer rather than remain with employers. 

An interesting challenge to the job market of the future!

Mike Chrimes

An ESRC Event at the end of March brought together economists, social scientists and behavioural psychologists to discuss the route ways to a low carbon future. 

One striking piece of research indicated that, even with individuals favourable to or committed to low carbon behaviour, there are a number of issues such as foreign holidays, the car and meat-eating that are outside their consciousness. 

Interestingly, international aviation and shipping is seen as an area which was most difficult to tackle. 

Overall conclusions were that without regulation progress is minimal, and that belief in technological solutions without behavioural change is doomed to failure.

Mike Chrimes

This year’s Rankine Lecture was delivered by Professor Malcolm Bolton of Cambridge University. 

Much of his career at Cambridge and formerly UMIST, has been associated with the use of centrifuge testing: a gross simplification for somebody who has produced over 200 publications.  Over the last decade he has been developing and promoting MSD (Mobilisable Stress Design). 

He used the Lecture, illustrated with case studies of slope stability, shallow foundations and propped retaining walls, to demonstrate how his approach could improve understanding and geotechnical design. 

He concluded on a controversial note, ridiculing a partial safety factor of 1.4 in EC7 in bored pile design, which he sees as adding an unnecessary 40% of concrete. 

Claiming that young engineers were still being trained in the methods of their grandfathers, the Lecture is well worth looking at for its entertainment value, but contains serious messages for design engineers.

Mike Chrimes

A chance encounter at an Infrastructure Research event provided me with an insight into how at least one leading UK engineering department is thinking in terms of future course validation.

To ensure the department is attractive to foreign students, and can compete globally in that regard, leading academics are looking to see how their courses can be accredited in line with the American Society of Civil Engineers criteria / ADEPT criteria.  They believe this would help with PE qualification in the US, and global economic and employment trends.

How this would sit alongside the skills needs of engineers practising in the UK, and elsewhere in Europe is obviously a question for debate! 
 
As is the impact on UK course moderation generally.

 Mike Chrimes

At the ONREC conference in October, BSI gave a short presentation on the new British Standard for online recruitment (BS 8877: A Code of Practice for Online Recruitment).

The Standard is thoroughly well intentioned and attempts to address common concerns around transparency, data security and quality of information.

Online job hunters will be all too familiar with the symptoms: poorly written job descriptions; non-existent vacancies designed to attract new CVs for the consultant’s database; little or no feedback about the progress of applications; the steady stream of post-registration spam.

BSI says the Standard will help online recruiters to:

• demonstrate they are following best practice
• differentiate their service to clients/employers
• protect the reputation of their business and clients business
• better meet with regulatory responsibilities

No arguments here. More information for job seekers makes for better informed application choices and more relevant short lists for cash-conscious, time-poor recruiters.

However, chatting with a friend in the bar afterwards, we both wondered where job boards fit into BSI’s vision of the world. Stuck haplessly between the recruiter and the job seeker, blamed by both sides for the scrappy job ads and speculative, irrelevant applications that clog up the online work flows.

We can’t legislate better job boards into existence. But a common code of practice is at least a step in the right direction.

The Doctor

At the recent Australia New Zealand Engineering Heritage Conference, Andrew Marriott from Auckland reported on ‘The performance of heritage buildings in the 2010-2011 Christchuch earthquake swarm’.

Many older buildings failed due to inappropriate traditional construction methods combined with poor maintenance.

In the case of heritage (listed) buildings, there was a shortage of engineers available to carry out structural inspections with knowledge of the heritage sector. He made a plea for more history and heritage to be taught at universities, and more engineers to study traditional/historical construction methods.

Overall  24% of listed buildings in Christchurch are being demolished, and 39% in the central area. Appropriate strengthening could have reduced this.

The increase in insurance premiums may result in further demolition rather than seeking professional advice.

There was a feeling that other towns in Australasia are similarly vulnerable.

Mike Chrimes

Mike is a guest speaker at the 16th EHA conference in Tasmania this week

It is a fantastic feeling finally to  complete your degree, but it can also be extremely daunting and difficult to know exactly how to begin your search for a job.

If you are looking for a career in civil engineering, there are some key ways to ensure you are making yourself as attractive as possible to employers.

Careers Fairs and Presentations

One of the best ways to get yourself noticed and to find out as much as possible about potential employers is to attend careers fairs and presentations.

All of the major players in civil engineering, including Jacobs, Atkins, Arup and Balfour Beatty, will have a presence at university fairs, and this gives you the ideal opportunity to speak to other graduates and engineers working for the organisation. You can find out first-hand about the graduate scheme the company have on offer, what areas they specialise in and any other benefits they offer. It also gives you the opportunity to shine and stand out to the employer.

If you come across as really keen and give a good impression, there is a high chance that one of the representatives will remember you!

Preparing your CV and applying for jobs

When preparing your CV and applying for jobs, it is essential to state exactly which area of civil engineering you are interested in. For example, you may have specialised in water, highways or traffic, and you need to make this clear to employers: this is crucial.

If you simply say you are interested in any job in civil engineering and apply for every civil engineering job available in the company, chances are they won’t take you forward. Large-sized civil engineering organisations will have many departments, with different hiring managers, and they want to be sure that you have a passion for the area they work in, rather than feeling that you are just looking for anything. Rightly or wrongly, this is the way the hiring decision often works.

It is also important to do some research into the organisations you are applying to. Don’t simply apply to the companies who offer the highest salary or a golden handshake. Take time to consider what you are looking for from your career. If you want to progress, does the organisation have a good graduate development scheme in place? Would you like to travel? Find out what the options are and whether the organisation is global.

Be flexible

Civil engineering is highly competitive so it is in your best interests to be as flexible as possible. Many other graduates will consider relocating for the right jobs, and it will put you at a disadvantage if you are not open to these opportunities. It does not have to be forever - often you can relocate and move back when a suitable position becomes available in your own locale. The willingness to be flexible will make a good impression on your new employer.

For more information about graduate engineering jobs, visit WikiJob.co.uk, the graduate jobs pages on icerecruit.com and the career development section of the ICE web site.

Edward Mellett, WikiJob.co.uk

There was a dramatic switch in the general public satisfaction with domestic energy supply in the last quarter. 

ICE obtains regular public opinion data on attitudes to the state of roads, public transport, water supply, domestic energy.  Prompted no doubt by rising energy costs, public satisfaction with the sector has collapsed by more than 20%. 

While investment in roads and public transport remain their priority, investment in energy is now the public’s third priority.  It will be interesting to see whether this activates an interest in more domestic power solutions. 

This is one area where the consumer can take direct action, whereas they can do little to effect road improvements or better public transport outside the ballot box.

 Mike Chrimes

22 July saw the media launch of ICE’s response to the Government consultation on HS2, the proposed high-speed rail route north of London. 

HS2 can mark a steep change in Britain’s transport network, although the first stage will only link London and Birmingham.  Should work begin it will provide inspiration and work for a new generation of railway engineers who are only able to present to work on system improvements to an essentially Victorian network. Even Crossrail is the realisation of a century old idea!

ICE’s response was the result of months of consultation and with members and transport experts, and revealed an enormous range of opinion within the membership.  Some see the scheme as an environmental disaster, others as part of a low carbon future.  Some views seemed to be unable to grasp the broader national interest, so concerned were they with local issues.  There were many similarities to the views expressed when Robert Stephenson struggled to get the original London railway line through Parliament in 1830-1833.  By the time the line was opening (1837-1839) most people were hailing a visionary transport revolution, and the demand for railway engineers rapidly exceeded supply.  Ultimately, British railway expertise transformed the world.

Let us hope HS2 can emulate this success for the profession.

Mike Chrimes