What did civil engineers ever do for us?
Ahead of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ 200th birthday in 2018, TheBusinessdesk.com meets some of the North West engineers behind Britain’s infrastructure. Part three: the Superport engineer
Liverpool2 – the Superport development – is the jewel in the crown of the Atlantic Gateway strategy and a vital part of the Northern Powerhouse.
Liverpool2 created one of Europe’s most advanced container terminals, able to accommodate the world’s largest container ships. It involved the construction of a deep-water quay 854 metres long and 30 metres deep, with an adjacent container terminal covering 16 hectares of land reclaimed from the mouth of the Mersey.
Commissioned by Peel Ports, it was delivered by BAM Nuttall with the support of Van Oord, with a design led by BAM Infraconsult supported by Royal Haskoning, Halcrow and Mott MacDonald. It was truly an international construction epic with a cast of thousands.
In fact, a total of 4,377 people were inducted during Liverpool2’s construction phase, and one of these was 24-year-old Jessica Gray-Betteridge, a civil engineer with BAM Nuttall.
Jessica’s role in the £400m project was highly varied – from managing sub-contractors to coordinating concrete. Day and night operations could involve barge movements, drilling or installing tubular piles, so there was no typical day at work.
She said: “There were many factors that could present challenges, problems and delays. The weather would play a major part in what could and couldn’t be done. A windy night meant lifting operations were restricted so piles potentially couldn’t be installed, so as an engineer my team and I would look at the wind speeds and plan slots where we would have the best opportunity to complete the lifting operations.”.
Jessica is one of an increasing proportion of today’s civil engineers who are becoming professionally qualified through the Engineering Technician route. She was excited to earn a BAM Nuttall Traineeship, which led to her attending Stephenson College at Coalville in Leicestershire. After four years of combined professional training and work experience Jessica was accorded professional recognition with the award of Technician Membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers, with the post-nominals Eng Tech TMICE.
Jessica is a strong advocate for her profession. She went on: “I’ve always had a passion for maths and physics, and these play a big part in an engineering career, but that’s not everything – I enjoy the fantastic teamwork that this industry thrives on. So I would encourage anyone who enjoys solving problems and working in a team to seriously consider going for a career in civil engineering.
“I’m especially glad that I got the chance to work on Liverpool2, partly because it’s fairly local to me – I grew up in Ellesmere Port – and I felt it was a privilege to be part of a project that would be so important to the economy and bring something more to Liverpool. It also helped me gain masses of experience in various areas of civil engineering and I feel it’s been a great opportunity to develop myself as a person.”
The Liverpool2 project was nearing its completion when Jessica took the day off from work and travelled to Westminster to be presented with her Eng Tech TMICE in the traditional ceremony at One Great George Street, home of her professional body.
She said: “It meant a lot to be recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers. And having previously worked on the development of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – home of the 2012 Olympic Games – it was great to receive my certificate from Sir John Armitt, who was President of ICE but is probably best known as the engineer who delivered the 2012 Olympics.”
Jessica has certainly worked on some interesting projects early in her career, and feels she owes a lot to BAM Nuttall. Following the completion of Liverpool2 Jessica has become a freelance engineer and has added to her experience by working on the Mersey Gateway project.
“I look to further my qualifications in time and in the long term I would love to achieve a doctorate relating to engineering mathematics. Alongside this I will continue to work towards my chartership with ICE,” she said.
“Most importantly I want to continue enjoying what I do, continue giving my best and achieving satisfaction in my work.”
Next Monday in the What did civil engineers ever do for us? series: The water supply.
Jessica Gray-Betteridge working at the Liverpool2 site
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