Autumn/Winter 2016
ICE Local The newsletter of the Institution of Civil Engineers in Yorkshire and Humber
Inspiring Yorkshire's engineers of the future
Flooding, Urban Design and Critical Infrastructure
Tomorrow's Engineers Week
A viewpoint from the Regional Advisory Board
Lunch & Learn
ICE Links
Boost your CPD in your lunch hour with our
Connecting with your Institution in a new way
Friday webinars
ICE Yorkshire and Humber Regional Support Team
# this is civil engineering
Chair's update
Design Create Solve Innovate – civil engineers shaping the world ICE registered charity number 210252. Registered in Scotland number SC038629.
Regional Director Penny Marshall Marketing Communications Executive Stephanie Thomas Regional Coordinator Katie Gibson Membership Team Membership Manager North Gillian Elvy Membership Development Officers Robin Bailey Elizabeth Thompson Membership Coordinator Lorraine Green Index of groups G&S Graduates and Students' Committee HCN Humber Civils Network NPP Northern Powerhouse Panel RAB Regional Advisory Board RICE Retired Members' Group TG Transportation Group YGG Yorkshire Geotechnical Group YHIA Yorkshire & Humber Infrastructure Alliance
Join the conversation to help promote civil engineering and its role in society.
#ThisIsCivilEngineering Instagram Photo Challenge Did you know ICE holds a global Instagram photo challenge, with a different theme each month and prizes to be won?
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While there are lots of fantastic examples of civil engineering in Yorkshire and Humber, our region is not being represented in the competition! All you need to do is: 1. Take a photograph on this month's theme (see: www.ice.org.uk/photochallenge) 2. Upload your photo to your Instagram account 3. Tag your photo with #ThisIsCivilEngineering That's it. Happy snapping!
There are lots of ways to keep in touch with ICE Yorkshire and Humber Twitter: @ICEYorksHumber LinkedIn: ICE Yorkshire & Humber Region G&S Facebook: facebook.com/ICEGSYH Instagram: iceyorkshumber e: iceyandh@ice.org.uk t: +44 (0)191 261 1850 Front cover image: Deputy Regional Education Coordinator Matthew Brayfield with students at the Engineering Extravaganza in York during Tomorrow's Engineers Week.
"The National Needs Assessment highlights the need for stable policies to transcend political cycles, particularly for energy, and emphasises that the infrastructure needs are intertwined."
ICE Local | Autumn/Winter 2016
news from Yorkshire and Humber
Chris Digman CEng FICE Yorkshire and Humber Chair 2016-17
As incoming Chair for the region 201617, welcome to this autumn/winter edition of ICE Local. In mid-October, we saw the launch of ICE’s National Needs Assessment – A Vision for UK Infrastructure. ICE presented this to Government and we have seen its themes running through the Autumn Statement presented in November. The assessment highlights the need for stable policies to transcend political cycles, particularly for energy, and emphasises that the infrastructure needs are intertwined. I encourage you to review the assessment which is available on the ICE website. Our members in the region contributed to this National Needs Assessment earlier this year when our evidence was taken on board in a regional workshop. We will have the opportunity to contribute to the State of the Nation report this year, looking at infrastructure through the prism of digital engineering at another workshop on 13 January 2017. It will examine the potential for radically improved infrastructure services considering a transformational change in how we manage and operate assets. Look out for this opportunity and I encourage you to be part of the conversation because it does make a difference. This autumn we launched a pilot to engage more directly with members of all grades and employers through the ICE Links programme. This local initiative aims to have a two-way conversation more directly between the regional ICE committee and the members so we can share information and receive feedback. The pilot is working across 9 organisations and 12 offices. Following a six-month initial period, we will increase the reach of ICE Links and will be seeking volunteers to help create this personal network in 2017.
Damian Kilburn
Richard Dew
Finally our new regional member of Council, Damian Kilburn started in November 2016 to represent the region, taking over from Richard Dew. Richard has been involved with ICE for many years and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his work and support to the region over those years.
State of the Nation Digital workshop 13 January 2017, 13.00-17.00, Leeds We will be holding a workshop in conjunction with ICE's State of the Nation report. For more information or to book a place, please visit: bit.ly/13012017-SoN
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Tomorrow's Engineers inspired across Yorkshire ICE's Regional Education Team has again supported inspiration events for local young people as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week. The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the National STEM Learning Centre at the University of York both hosted Engineering Extravaganza events, which saw over 230 Year 8 and 9 students take part in a day of technical challenges. ICE has been working collaboratively with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) to develop the Engineering Extravaganza event, which interactively presents the problem-solving skills of engineers and how they can transfer into different engineering careers. The events encouraged pupils, aged 12-14, to take up a career in engineering by giving them hands-on experience of different engineering disciplines, by working in teams to solve different challenges. This fits perfectly into the theme of the annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, which aims to change perceptions of engineering amongst young people, their parents and teachers to inspire future engineers. During the two events, students took part in a skyscraper challenge led by ICE, where they attempted to build the tallest tower at the lowest cost and for the most profit. IMechE helped the teams build and race balloon-powered cars, IOM3 explained
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how materials have helped to change and improve technology, and IET challenged students to build a vacuum tube train. Also as part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, ICE ambassadors took part in Otley Science Festival, challenging visitors of all ages to build a Bailey bridge. Recently refurbished, the bridge practically demonstrates the work of civil engineers and the challenges they face, resulting in an impressive structure which can be crossed by participants. Regional Education Coordinator Josie Rothera, said: “Our young people are the future of civil engineering, so it is important to inspire them to take an interest in it at an early age. The UK does not have enough engineers. To meet demand we have to double the number of engineering apprentices and double the number of people with engineering qualifications. “A big thank you to all of the ambassadors who volunteered to take part in these events and make them a success: Adam Shirley, Dave Butterworth, Ian Andrew, Ivanka Mircheva, John Lipscomb, Mariya Padeva, Matthew Brayfield, Matthew Reeves and Rob Clark. We will be delivering the Engineering Extravaganza during British Science Week 2017 in East Yorkshire and South Yorkshire and if you would like to be involved to support the event please get in touch.”
Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2016 was the first major event in the region where the new ICE Education and Inspiration branding has been used. Centred on the message ‘Design, Create, Solve, Innovate’ and the strapline ‘Civil Engineers: Shaping the World’, the brand has been created to represent the work ICE volunteers undertake with young people in a more interesting and relevant way, and to achieve greater impact. Josie Rothera and Matthew Brayfield Regional Education Team
To find out more about volunteering in schools, our Bailey bridge or any of our other educational activities, please get in touch. e: iceyandh@ice.org.uk You can also view forthcoming education events: bit.ly/RETactivities
Flooding, Urban Design and Critical Infrastructure It is almost a year since Hurricanes Desmond and Eva savaged large swathes of northern England and southern Scotland with such devastating impact. Dame Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist at the Met Office described the atmospheric conditions last winter as “Just like a hosepipe from the north Atlantic” pointing on a part of our country.The record breaking event, the latest in a succession of record breaking flood events since the year 2000, deserves attention. 341mm of rain at the Honister rain gauge was the highest ever daily rainfall recorded in the UK; the highest ever flows in any UK river were recorded almost simultaneously for the rivers Eden, Lune and Tyne, and both total rainfall, and December 2015 monthly rainfall were 400% of the long term average. The Government’s National Flood Resilience Review, published on 8 September makes interesting reading. In fairly careful language it does not dismiss the events of last December as outlying events, unlikely ever to be seen again. Instead it talks of 'plausible worse case scenarios' and the need to 'stress test our towns, cities and infrastructure'. Using the Met Office super computer rainfall forecasting systems and the Environment Agency’s river models, the Extreme Flood Outline Maps, available as public documents, are accurately validated.This means that severe flooding is plausible almost anywhere, any time, depending on what is happening to our weather, and that we should look to the ExtremeFloodmapsasourguidetowhattoexpect. The Review calls for our cities and towns to be beautiful, economically prosperous places
to live and work, and at the same time to be more flood resilient.When we have a clean sheet of paper, planners and engineers can masterplan our urban centres factoring in the impact of extreme floods and storms. Civil engineers can design riverside cycleways and parks which offer the quality of life when the weather is calm, but can safely be flooded to protect the built fabric of our towns and cities when faced with excessive amounts of water. Topography is also important as we plan our development, and as suggested by the National Planning Policy Framework, the most flood sensitive buildings including hospitals and older peoples’ bungalows should be sited on the higher lands available. This also applies to critical infrastructure like electricity substations.
way.This critical infrastructure includes power supplies, water, telecommunications, transport, food and health services.The Review suggests that the owners and providers of this essential infrastructure should be working towards protecting everything within “Extreme Flood Outlines”; in effect an aspiration that our infrastructure should continue working for all of us under extreme flood conditions. However, December 2015 and a host of other weather events over the last 20 years have shown just how fragile our infrastructure can be to storm stress.There is still much to be done and improvements are underway which we are all paying for, not just through direct taxation but out of the charges we pay through our utility bills.
But we rarely have the opportunity to plan a whole new town from scratch, and engineers are becoming increasingly adept at retrofitting design of flood resilience into our towns and cities, and this need will continue. Inevitably this will be more expensive than designing flood resilient communities from the outset and will require innovative designs and construction techniques.The Thames Barrier for example keeps storm tides out of central London, whilst the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme uses moveable weirs to lower flood levels in the city centre.Other key ingredients include cooperation with stakeholders and the public.
So flooding is something which to a greater or lesser extent can affect all of us when the weather turns bad. If we are to shape a better more sustainable, flood-prepared future for ourselves and future generations it will require the resources, the planners, the engineers, politicians, stakeholder organisations and members of the public to address the challenges so obviously laid down by our weather systems and storms.The UK is getting wise to expecting and dealing with flooding, but we still have a long way to go and much work to be done before we can say that “flood risks have been tackled”. However, our civil engineers have the creativity and the skills to deal with this 21st century challenge, and the potential to showcase our approach to the rest of the world - and we can rightly be proud of that!
Evidence shows that almost 1 in 6 residential or commercial properties is at risk of flooding, but this does not mean that 5/6 of us can carry on unaffected by storms and flooding! We all depend on critical national infrastructure to live our lives and earn our
ICEY&H Regional Advisory Board
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ICE Local | Autumn/Winter 2016
Providing critical but impartial advice One of ICE’s key activities is to provide critical but impartial advice on issues regarding infrastructure spending. The Regional Advisory Board (RAB) is the primary means by which ICE in Yorkshire and Humber provides this advice, drafting responses to Government, local government and other public bodies’ consultations. For example, in recent years the RAB has critically appraised the plans for HS2 and provided a thorough, reasoned response highlighting some of the shortcomings of the scheme, and how these could be addressed. In representing ICE and our members, the RAB is careful to act without ‘fear or favour’ – that is to not shy away from difficult topics, nor promote any particular scheme. This is a vital principle of the board, the members of whom are practising
engineers in their fields of expertise, drawn from a number of employing organisations. Speaking on behalf of their organisations may limit their ability to take a neutral and objective view, however speaking on behalf of ICE allows them to do so. Board members cover a range of specialisms which currently include energy, rail, highways, flooding, water supply and wastewater treatment. The RAB always welcomes the input of members – please do get in touch if you feel you could provide expert, objective input in relation to your area of specialism. With the recent approval of the changes to the AMICE grade, we look forward to broadening the range of expertise through members in allied fields of interest – potentially economics or law for example. We see the role of the board as being
the vehicle for soliciting expert advice – not necessarily being the source of advice in itself. In order to seek as wide a cross-section of our members’ opinions as possible, we are looking to introduce a series of public debates in to the programme of events. These will seek to assemble a panel of expert speakers on a given topic and debate the issue in some detail. Further details will be published shortly – we hope you’ll be able to join us and engage in a robust debate with other members and contribute to an informed debate on future infrastructure investment priorities. Nick Chamberlain CEng MICE Regional Advisory Board
For more information or to express your interest in becoming involved with the RAB please contact: iceyandh@ice.org.uk
ICE Links An interface with the Institution of Civil Engineers in your organisation
ICE Links Coordinator Dan Sutcliffe CEng MICE
ICE Links is an innovative scheme launched in the Yorkshire and Humber region to provide a direct conduit between the ICE’s regional committee and the regional membership. The aim of the scheme is to provide an opportunity for the membership to have a greater voice and influence in regional events and activities, and to gather feedback from colleagues on the events we run. Typically ICE Links meet quarterly by phone/online and receive regular email updates on events and activities which can be shared and publicised in their specific office location.
By becoming an ICE Links representative you can support the Institution in the Yorkshire and Humber region in delivering our business plan targets and ensure your office and colleagues don't miss out on key knowledge events and training opportunities near to you. We look forward to expanding the scheme to more companies in 2017 and to further developing this new more personal way of connecting with your Institution. If you would like to become an ICE Links representative for your office location, or would like more information on what's involved, please get in touch with ICE Links Coordinator Dan Sutcliffe e: daniel.sutcliffe@jnbentley.co.uk
ICE Local | Autumn/Winter 2016
A time to shout!
Penny Marshall CEng MICE Regional Director, ICE Yorkshire and Humber, and North East regions
ICE 200 In 2018 the Institution will celebrate its bicentenary and as part of these celebrations we would like to encourage members to get involved. Amongst the planned activities we are seeking the names of civil engineers and projects that have transformed or are transforming lives. We're looking primarily to inspire the public to focus on the impact projects/ people have on lives aswell as iconic projects that we, as professionals, find captivating. Please contact iceyandh@ice.org.uk with your suggestions.
ICE’s National Needs Assessment (NNA), launched in October this year, highlighted the need for investment in transport infrastructure and housing to enable balanced economic growth, create thriving communities and deliver a transition to a low carbon future. This influential thought leadership piece delivered by your institution uses information gathered from ICE members and targets decision-makers, and it would seem that Government has taken the advice on board. In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond (a former Secretary of State for Transport) announced significant investment in housing, local and strategic transport, ultra-low emission vehicles, digital signalling technology and fibre broadband connections. We cannot know whether the statement would have been different without the NNA, but the emphasis on infrastructure and innovation cannot be entirely coincidence. One thing is certain. On top of recent announcements about Heathrow and HS2, there is a lot of civil engineering to be done and we need skilled people to do it. Whilst the investment is welcome, these projects and initiatives, and the economic and social benefits they bring can only be delivered effectively if we tackle the skills gap. Perversely, as the pipeline of work continues to grow, recruitment has stalled – attributed to the uncertainty engendered by Brexit. But we can’t afford to stop training the next generation of engineers and technicians. Indeed, post-Brexit, perhaps without skilled EU workers, our need will be greater. The baby boomers are now retiring, and we urgently need to attract and train a new generation to address the shortfall.
The recent Farmer Review of the construction industry - provocatively entitled “Modernise or Die” suggests that our industry faces “inexorable decline” unless we take urgent action. Fundamentally, this means attracting and providing opportunities for trainees at every level, building a diverse workforce that is drawn from the whole population, regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other divisive categorisation, and doing it now. How do we plug the gap? Technology is advancing more rapidly than ever before, with new materials, innovative techniques and increasing computing power available to underpin our ideas and support our creativity as engineers. We must embrace innovation and digital technologies to drive change, not only to increase productivity, but also to enhance our attractiveness as a career option for the brightest and best.And we need to tell people about it. Currently, the public only see one part of the story – the holes in the ground, cranes, and construction equipment. How can parents and teachers advise young people that civil engineering offers a great career opportunity if they don’t know what we do? Only we can tell them, and we must get into schools, public spaces and the media to explain and celebrate what we do. The crux of the matter is that if we want 21st century infrastructure, seamlessly integrated by the Internet of Things, both powered by and powering a revolution in engineering data, we need to attract and train more engineers. The NNA has provided us with opportunities. We can do great things, but we don’t shout about them. We can offer fantastic, fulfilling careers, but we don’t shout about those either. It is time to start shouting.
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ICE Local | Autumn/Winter 2016 Watch ag
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Lunch and Learn
ICE's Friday Lunch and Learn series is an exciting and varied programme of talks delivered online. Boost your CPD record in your lunch hour and hear industry-experts present on a range of projects of national significance. Here's a selection. Fridays 13.00-14.00, online Use of drone technology in water and wastewater projects, Speakers: David Gawley of Pentagon Solutions and David Ardis of NI Water Friday16 December 2016 3-D modelling using non-contact close range photogrammetry Dr Grainne McQuaid will discuss her PhD findings on potholes assessment Friday 20 January 2017 New Lagan pedestrian and cycle bridge – consultation and options Kris Campbell of TransportNI will provide an overview of the proposed new Lagan bridge Friday 21 April 2016 Delivery of Tievenameenta wind farm Keith Trimble will discuss SSE’s renewable electricity generation in Northern Ireland Friday 26 May 2017 The Lagan Gateway Project Azaria Watson of AECOM will discuss the South Belfast project Friday 16 June 2017 Do you have an interesting, innovative or inspiring presentation that you'd like to include in ICE's Friday 'Lunch and Learn' webinar programme? A new solution to overcome an industry-wide challenge, a novel project you worked on or an insight into the wider issues of diversity and equality? Live webinars are broadcast globally and it's a great opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with a much wider audience. All suggestions welcome. Please contact iceyandh@ice.org.uk
ICE Yorkshire and Humber Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony Join us on Friday 3 March 2017 for the 62nd annual Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the National Railway Museum in York. To book a table please visit: www.ice.org.uk/events/annual-gala-dinner-and-awards-york
#ICEYHAwards
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