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How engineering design consultancy Hydrock is pioneering societal transformation from Cornwall.

This year’s G7 summit at Carbis

Bay put Cornwall firmly in the limelight of the world stage, with

Cornwall’s traditions and natural beauty emerging as common themes in the media.

Staff at Hydrock have long benefitted from the quality of life available locally, which has helped the business to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified talent. Indeed, Hydrock has been privileged to build a reputation within its team in Cornwall for innovation and delivery on schemes of all scales both within the county and beyond.

For its engineers firmly rooted in Cornwall for the past 20 years, they are enthused by the rich vein of engineering heritage that includes well-known innovators such as Trevithick, Davy and Matthews, and motivated by the innovative and ambitious engineering of the future, that is Cornwall born and bred.

Investing in infrastructure

Hydrock feels very at home in Cornwall, surrounded by like-minded businesses who want to be a force for good, and play an integral role in helping Cornwall achieve net zero carbon by 2030, 20 years ahead of the rest of the UK.

By working alongside companies such as Treveth (Cornish for ‘Homestead’), established by Cornwall Council, it is proud to be at the heart of creating not just sustainable developments, but sustainable communities, that meet the needs of people with local links and addresses the affordability gap. Likewise, it is working with the education sector to provide new schools, colleges and higher education facilities that support the community and develop talent in Cornwall. Engineering design consultancies like Hydrock are instrumental in delivering the infrastructure which will support and enable growth. Cornwall has attracted funding to deliver schemes including fundamental improvements to the A30 across Bodmin Moor and, shortly, Chiverton to Carland Cross; the Pool link road; and the forthcoming St Austell link.

The G7 summit leaves a legacy of investment at Cornwall Airport (one of the UK’s longest runways) – just one of many Cornish pieces of the national infrastructure jigsaw which includes the emerging Spaceport, deep water docks at Falmouth, geothermal engineering at the Hot Rocks project, Goonhilly Earth Station, Deep Blue and Cornish Lithium.

Hydrock’s national transportation director, James McKechnie, explains: “Our integrated multi-disciplinary team

In the right place, at the right time

plays a strong role in helping to shape sustainable engineering solutions to enable infrastructure and the built environment in Cornwall. We have been deeply involved with many of the transport strategies and key developments shaping Cornwall’s continued growth, securing inwardinvestment from Government for significant transport schemes across the region.

“Through our Mobility Analytics team in Cornwall, Hydrock is keeping alive this proud Cornwall tradition of innovation by placing a sharp focus on Electric Vehicles (EV), creating a tool (rEVol) to model the implementation of EV charging points, providing cost-effective and efficient solutions.”

This new modelling tool, rEVol draws together predictions regarding usage, power demand and revenue, enabling EV charging developers across the UK to provide the most efficient solutions in terms of reducing cost and maximising future utilisation.

This allows Hydrock to provide a robust evidence base, enabling the provision of the right amount of EV charging infrastructure, in the right place, at the right time.

The modelling team in Cornwall can also model the distribution of vehicle charging speeds in the area, allowing it to predict the power draw on the local grid during the busiest periods. Predicting this can identify where curtailment will occur (a reduction in charging speed during the busiest periods), and whether smart energy solutions (on- or off-site) could reduce the draw on the local power network.

Committing to Cornwall

So, what is Hydrock’s role and obligation as a contemporary engineering practice in Cornwall? Alongside major employers such as Imerys, St Austell Brewery, Seasalt and Pendennis Shipyard, innovative businesses can provide long-term, high-quality jobs in Cornwall which are highly relevant to the present and look to the future. Within this forward-looking business environment, Hydrock’s pledge to Cornwall is that it will continue to deliver rewarding careers across our business sectors and build upon our two decades of experience creating a positive influence on the development of land and communities across the county.

It is the responsibility of the Cornish business community, and engineers in particular, to work with the private, public and third sectors in the wider interests of the county and the region. Hydrock will continue to deliver engineering excellence for its clients and to invest in developing our staff into roles that reflect the legacy of Cornish innovation. For example, its Cornwall team also leads the way nationally in assessing and predicting the behaviour of autonomous vehicles, and its electrical and mechanical engineers provide expert advice on sustainable buildings, renewable energy and battery storage to support the national grid resilience.

The G7 summit has provided Cornwall with the exposure that it so deserves with the rich seams of opportunity in Cornwall lying undiminished. The relentless pace of technological innovation will allow us to build exponentially on its pioneering past, developing strength through an engineering sector to drive economic and housing growth, meeting the needs of local communities, and provide regional, national and international expertise once again.

To find out more about what Hydrock can offer, contact the team on 01209 719 037 or email camborne@hydrock.com

PICTURED TOP LEFT (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): MARK PEARCE, BEN SMITH-LAING, TOM SHILTON, SHARON BLAKE, JAMES MCKECHNIE AND CHRIS HILL.