The members’ newsletter of ICE Yorkshire and Humber July 2013
ice | yorkshireandhumber
ICE Local
ice.org.uk/yorkshireandhumber
In this issue Regional Education Team The team report on The Big Bang Fair at Yorkshire Air Museum
Rivelin WTW The Humber Bridge
photo courtesy Stephen Price stephenpricephotography.com
Bringing you news and views on civil engineering in your region We welcome your comments, letters and articles. Please contact us at: iceyandh@ice.org.uk Twitter:
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Your ICE Committee This is the last time I will write as Chair of the Region, as Damian Kilburn was successfully voted in at the AGM as Chair from September 2013. I have thoroughly enjoyed my year and would recommend that other ICE members get involved with the ICE in some form or other. ICE Impact Award winner Of the entries received for the new Impact Award it was clear that there are a number of keen photographers who also have strong views on civil engineering. The winner was Sarah Johnson Mitchell with her entry designed to capture the attention of the next generation of engineers. Sarah’s entry caught your attention immediately on opening and maintained interest throughout when reading. To view the winning entry please visit ice.org.uk/impactaward2013 AGM The attendance at our AGM and the evening meeting that followed in Bradford was disappointing this year, and we would be interested to know why this was the case. If you have a view on this, please contact us at our usual address.
The subject of our first evening meeting of 2013-14 is the winner of this year’s Centenary Award Granville Davies has the details
ICE Yorkshire and Humber Region group
HS2 Debate
Three decisions were taken at the AGM approval of the minutes of the previous AGM, approval of the appointment of Officers (and hence the composition of the committee for 2013-14); approval of the revised Constitution. As the AGM was not quorate, however, these decisions have not yet been ratified.
Five institutions joined together in Leeds to debate the motion that HS2 will redirect resources away from the regions to the capital
The presentation after the AGM was very interesting and in particular highlighted the issues and challenges surrounding the use of Hempcrete, a highly efficient, naturally occurring and sustainable insulating material which is a mix of lime, hemp and water.
Elizabeth Thompson on the highest grade of membership
The way forward The committee will take an afternoon out of work in September for our annual away day. This will be used to develop our action plan for the 2013-14 year and also allow Damian to brief the committee upon what he would like to achieve during his year as Chair. The main actions from this will be communicated in the next edition of ICE Local.
Could you be a Fellow?
Industrial Mentors Scheme Nicolas Panayiotou on how the scheme at the University of Sheffield has worked for him
Regional Committee Your new ICE Y&H Committee for 2013-14
Interested in becoming an ICE John Bowes
BEng CEng FICE ICE Y&H Chair 2012-13
Ambassador to schools? Contact us for details
Regional Education Team The Big Bang Fair 2013
Students build towers at The Big Bang Fair
On Thursday 27 June, the Regional Education Team once again supported the Yorkshire and Humber Big Bang Fair at the Yorkshire Air Museum. The ICE hosted a very popular stand at the event, where 300 students were engaged in conversation about the role civil engineers play in society and routes into the profession. Students who visited the stand also competed in our Tower Challenge, using wooden blocks to build the tallest tower they could before being tested with a force of nature. Over 50 groups participated in this during the day and congratulations to Beverley Grammar School, who completed the tallest tower to withstand a wind force at 2.7m high! In addition, the team of ICE Ambassadors provided one of over 40 hands-on activities at the event, where the students were challenged to build a scale model of a real Bailey bridge and launch it across a ‘river’ (in the car park). This activity provided an excellent demonstration of the role civil engineers can play in
disaster relief scenarios and is one of a number the ICE offer to schools across the region to promote civil engineering. Our thanks go to Julian Carter, Robin Bailey, Lianne Darbinson, Matthew Powell and Chris Bevington for helping to make this event a success. The regional Big Bang Fairs are held across the UK with the aim of bringing science and engineering to life for young people and inspiring them to continue to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Plans for the Big Bang Yorkshire and Humber 2014 are already in progress, and if you would like to volunteer as an ICE Ambassador for this, National Science and Engineering Week or any of the Regional Education Team’s events in 2013-14, then please contact us at: iceyandh@ice.org.uk ice.org.uk/yorkshireandhumber/education
Rivelin Water Treatment Works Wednesday 2 October 2013 The first evening meeting of the 2013-14 session will be a presentation on the 2013 Centenary Award winner, the upgrade of the 75Ml/day Rivelin Water Treatment Works (WTW), west of Sheffield. Increasing raw water colour resulted in the need to enhance the existing treatment process to reduce final manganese levels and safeguard against trihalomethanes. The £7M project included the design, construction and commissioning of six manganese contactors, together with associated pipework, chemical dosing, monitoring and a 600 m3 treated water holding tank. The project used modern techniques including Building Information Modelling (BIM) to safely and effectively deliver a complex scheme, which enhanced the ‘live’ WTW without causing disruption to Yorkshire Water’s customers. Key aspects of the project that contributed to its award success included: Locating the manganese contactors on top of the treated water holding tank, allowing the building footprint to be reduced by one third Close engagement with a local conservation group, which allowed the exterior of the building to be clad in sustainable timber rather than stone, saving £300,000 Using precast concrete to maximise off site construction, enabling the tight construction programme to be achieved in a safe and cost effective manner. The ICE judges commented that “the team demonstrated the use of the rapidly changing BIM to a high degree for collaborative design and construction efficiency on this scheme.” The use of BIM in producing model based drawings with automatic clash detection for building elements, and for use in HAZOPS virtual tours, was praised by the judges as was the exemplary safety record. The decision to compress the building footprint, the use of precast elements, and the effective design led to considerable cost savings.
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Humber Branch becomes Humber Civils Network Last year the Humber Branch reported challenging times – dwindling support at committee level and little support in terms of attendance at technical meetings. It was therefore unanimously agreed by the Yorkshire and Humber Committee that the branch should be dissolved, and become a “City Club”. “The Humber Civils Network” as it will now be known, will continue to organise meetings in the area, and Mike Cargill, Tony Newton, and Ron Warner have arranged four evening meetings for the 2013-14 session. The club will also act as a pilot for the establishment of any future city clubs in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
HS2 Debate Five institutions, one hot topic On 27 June, Leeds Metropolitan University’s Rose Bowl held a mix of the committed, the passionate, the enquiring and the curious. Nearly 220 people booking was testament to the interest in the proposed high-speed rail line from London to the north – or from the north to London. The motion debated was, “This house believes that HS2 will redirect resources away from the regions to the capital”. This was no mere debating exercise; both speakers on each side were fully committed to their views and they spoke knowledgeably when arguing their case. The debate was lively but it was well-controlled by Chair Alan Whitehouse, the ex-BBC transport correspondent. A panel of Presidents, or their representatives, of the five organising professional bodies put questions to the speakers before the debate was opened to the floor. About 25% of the audience were members of the public and the points that some of them raised made it clear that they would be adversely affected by the proposed route of HS2. To test the strength of the arguments on the day, votes were counted both before and after the debate. The results were:
Before
After
71
70
Opposed (“HS2 good”) 71
68
Abstentions
21
In favour (“HS2 bad”)
19
Not everyone who had booked turned The vote is cast up, despite the fact that most of them had paid £10, and some people did not vote. There is no way of knowing how many people changed their mind but it is likely that not many did. Clearly, there is an even split on the subject, although it should be said that many of the points made were about the need for high-speed rail rather than on the motion. This debate had no official legitimacy and its result may have no effect on HS2 but it provided an opportunity for professionals of differing disciplines to meet and to hear what some of the public thinks. And maybe some members of the public understood a little better some of the responsibilities and difficulties facing those professions.
Could you be a Fellow? The grade of Fellow is the highest and most senior grade of ICE membership and is reserved for senior civil engineers who have made a significant contribution to the civil engineering profession or have advanced the practice of engineering. Like becoming professionally qualified a Fellow is defined by a list of 14 Attributes which are detailed in ICE 3007A. Don’t worry you don’t need to demonstrate all of these, just between one and four! Most people transfer from another grade of ICE membership but it is also possible to become a Fellow by direct entry. The application consists of a detailed CV showing how you have reached the level of Fellow, a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet up to four of the attributes, your CPD records and three sponsor questionnaires. The application is submitted online at: ice.org.uk/fellowshiponline So why should you do it? The letters FICE demonstrate that you are a senior member of the profession and really give you the professional recognition that you have reached the highest level. It also opens up the ability for you to shape ICE policy locally and nationally through contributions to local forums, panels and the State of the Nation report. If you are interested then please look for our “Finding out about Fellowship” workshop in September and come along for a chat.
Andrew Milner
Craig Ellis
Congratulations must go to the following in the region who have become Fellows so far this year: Denise Bower, John Bowes, Julian Carter, Craig Ellis, and Andrew Milner. Denise Bower
John Bowes
Julian Carter
ICE Local - July 2013 3
Industrial Mentors Scheme The Engineering Graduate School under construction
In the 1980s we organised an Industrial Tutors Scheme in Yorkshire, but it gradually fell by the wayside. A few years ago we decided to revive this and are now calling it the Industrial Mentors Scheme. Nicolas Panayiotou, a student at the University of Sheffield, tells us how this worked for him in the past year. Through the Industrial Mentors Scheme the University of Sheffield provided the opportunity for civil and structural engineering students to experience a realistic view of how the construction industry works through meetings with their industrial mentors. Our industrial mentors were two senior engineers from Arup. A two-stage site visit was organised so we would have an opportunity to gain a clearer view of a design project and to visit Arup’s offices in Sheffield. The selected project for the site visit was the Graduate School for the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield. The first meeting was arranged to take place at Arup’s offices. As I had not previously had the chance to visit a high reputation firm, I was thrilled to see how people at Arup get involved with the projects. I had assumed that each department would be separated into different sections, but I was proven wrong, as departments were gathered together to tackle the complicated design structures. Our second and final meeting was the most exciting, as we had the chance to visit a real construction site. Having been motivated through lectures about the importance and features of sustainable buildings, I was interested to see that the Graduate School had been designed with sustainable features. The placement of
windows, the ventilation system and the main materials, which are recycled, will minimise both the embodied and operational energy, making it a sustainable building. Discussion of these elements has developed my views towards the importance of sustainability and that it is vital nowadays.
Two different views of the construction (rendering)
Walking through the construction we gained a close view of how air ducts are formed for the purpose of ventilation. We also had the opportunity to discuss the challenges faced by the designers of the foundations, which was the most exciting part of the visit. Underground pipes for heating from the previous building were still in place, so more piles were needed to be installed to effectively support the new building, showing the importance of the foundations. In conclusion, visiting the site and Arup’s offices gave me the experience of construction projects from the designer and construction viewpoints. Having the opportunity to understand how workers operate in construction improved my understanding of how buildings are created. We are again asking our members to act as an Industrial Mentor for a group of students in one of our local universities. If you could do for them what Nicolas’s Industrial Mentor did for him, please get in contact.
ICE Y&H Committee Structure 2013-14 Officers of the Region Chair Damian Kilburn CEng MICE
Elected members Mark Calvert EngTech TMICE
Senior Vice Chair Sandie Forte-Gill CEng MICE
Chris Digman CEng MICE
Junior Vice Chair vacant
John Greenwood CEng MICE
Immediate Past Chair John Bowes CEng FICE Honorary Treasurer Nick Chamberlain CEng MICE Honorary Secretary Anneke Kellond Hallsworth CEng MICE
Rachel Horn CEng MICE Crina Oltean-Dumbrava CEng FICE Rhianna Rose CEng MICE Catherine Topliss CEnv AMICE
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Ex officio Regional Member Richard Dew CEng FICE of Council Graduates and Chris Hyde Students Regional Director David Tattersall CEng MICE