Vox - March 2010

Transforming livessupporting communities around the world

issue five: march 2010

Edi

tor’s

com

men

t

Welcome to the fifth issue of Vox.

In this edition, we take a look at Halcrow’s work to support social, economic and infrastructure development around the world.

The company recently launched a strategy designed to boost its involvement on projects funded by international finance institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. This formalises Halcrow’s existing commitment to global development, and supports its involvement in projects that embody the company’s overarching purpose: to sustain and improve the quality of people’s lives. Watch out for the exciting career opportunities this will generate.

From rebuilding earthquake-damaged bridges in Pakistan to paving the way for sustainable irrigation projects in Ethiopia, Halcrow is currently involved in a host of schemes to improve prospects for local communities. Through the Halcrow Foundation and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), Halcrow is also making a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable people around the world.

And on an individual level, employees continue to make personal sacrifices to help others.

Welcome to our new correspondent for Poland, Anna Prokulska.

Editor Anna Mann will be on maternity leave for the next issue of Vox, so please send your project successes, achievements and other news to Eloise Young.

Vox is designed and produced by Halcrow’s corporate communications team.

Printed by Rumbold Holland on Revive 50:50 silk recycled paper, it contains 50 per cent recovered waste and 50 per cent virgin fibre. It is manufactured at a mill accredited with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard. The pulp used in this product is bleached using an elemental chlorine-free process. This material is recyclable.

The Vox team

EditorialAnna Mann, [email protected]

Eloise [email protected]

Haidee Harrison [email protected]

Chris Warmoll [email protected]

Design Emilie Dadswell, lead [email protected]

Tracy [email protected]

DistributionGabrielle [email protected]

ContributorRichard Rhydderch

CorrespondentsAmericas

Argentina, Mariana Ojeda

Canada, Cathy Spark

Belize, Ian Rowdon

Chile, Georg Welzel

Saint Lucia, Mandish Singh

US, Andrea Grinbaum

Asia

Beijing, Cathy Hu

Chongqing, Guo Ping Yang

Hong Kong, Irene Or

India, Rajni Dhiman

Malaysia, Robert Davies

Philippines,

Ricardo P Dela Cruz

Seoul, Andrea Choi

Shanghai, Victor Cheung

Shenzhen, Victor Cheung

Australasia

Tim Dehn

Europe and central Asia

Europe and central Asia

(overall), Dijana Garwood

Poland, Anna Prokulska

Romania, Gabi Ivascu

Middle East

Gulf offices, Vanessa James

Pakistan, Ali Khan

UK

Bedford, Walter Makoni

Birmingham, Peter Robery

Bristol, Judith Turner

Cardiff, George Ballard

Chichester, David Jukes

Crawley, Stella Barber

and Warren Crawley

Derby, Peter Robery

Edinburgh, Becki Fleming

Exeter, Rachel Smith

and Sarah Dawe

Glasgow, Julie McSorley

Gloucester, Andrew Prout

Inverness, Kat Dearing

Ireland, Dijana Garwood

Kent, Vijay Jain

Leeds, Phil Thrower

London (Vineyard House),

Christopher Warmoll

London (Shortlands),

Liz Wilson

Peterborough, Laura Crawford

Reading, Beverley Tocock

Swindon, Sarah Nichols

Waltham Cross,

Dawn McGilchrist

Worcester, Anita Inight

York, Graeme Pollard

Featuring:

Halcrow studies assess sustainable development options for Ethiopia – 10

All-in-one biocentres for Kenyan slum – 40

Sustainable solutions – 30

Turtle talesFighting coastal erosion – 32

Giving generously – 36

Halcrow Foundation emergency appealEmployees around the world dig deep – 38

People

Alumni – 43

People parade – 44

Achieving ambitions – 46

Sporting success – 47

Announcements – 48

Out of office – 50

Off the mapCharting flood-damaged Niger’s road to recovery – 50

A

stepforward

Project profiles – 04

Circling the squareRevamping England’s public spaces – 06

Awards – 15

Halcrow takes centre stage at industry ‘Oscars’Triple success at British Construction Industry awards – 17

Business beat – 21

State of the nationAn interview with the chief executive – 25

Major projects programme gains momentum – 22

Target market powers ahead – 26

Project profilesCelebrating excellence

Soaring automotive demand is driving highway infrastructure investment in India, where car ownership has doubled in less than a decade.

Road-building and widening projects are in full swing across the country, where a network of eight-lane highways is being rolled out to link India’s four main cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta – and Halcrow is at the forefront of the push for personal mobility.

The company has been appointed to undertake the detailed engineering design work to widen the NH12 route – which connects the historic ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur with Deoli in Rajasthan, northern India – from two to four lanes.

Procured on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis, the project includes 40km of bypasses and five grade separated interchanges, along with site engineering surveys and investigations.

In southern India’s Kerala province, a 30km section of the NH47 is trebling its capacity from two to six lanes on the stretch between

Thrissur, a booming centre for jewellery production, and Vadakkencherry.

Halcrow steers India’s four wheel revolution

Winning design comes to life

After almost a decade, the wait is finally over for one

Halcrow-led design team.

With its winning concept paving the way for Hong

Kong’s epic Stonecutters Bridge, the team avidly

monitored construction as the 1.5km-long structure rose

incrementally from the Rambler Channel. The team’s

vision steadily took shape, culminating in the official

opening on 20 December 2009.

Comprising Halcrow, Flint&Neill Partnership,

Dissing+Weitling Architects and Shanghai Municipal

Engineering Design Institute, the group’s proposal was

chosen in September 2000 following an international

design competition – and the result was unanimous.

Applauding the winning “impressive and powerful”

submission, the judges predicted: “This scheme will

capture the imagination of the people of Hong Kong, and

will stand as an icon symbolising Hong Kong’s visual

identity and image for technical excellence.”

Linking Nam Wan Kok, Tsing Yi Island and Stonecutters

Island, the high level cable-stayed bridge exemplifies

elegant structural efficiency. Bold yet simple, the winning

design incorporates a cable-stayed bridge with a main

span of 1,018m – the second longest cable-stayed span

in the world. It includes two 290m-tall single leg towers,

which rub shoulders with Tsing Yi Island’s monolithic

peaks and the skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

Speaking on

behalf of the team,

director of bridge

engineering Stuart

Withycombe said:

“The completed

structure is true

to the original

winning design.

The team is

delighted and

proud to be

associated with

this project, and the tremendous achievements of

all who have worked on it to deliver, to worldwide acclaim,

what is unquestionably an iconic bridge.”

Vox | issue five4

Halcrow’s design consultancy contract comprises strengthening and upgrading the existing highway, constructing two three-lane tunnels with interconnections and developing the approaches.

With combined fees of £800,000, Halcrow’s work on these strategic upgrades will help the India operation achieve its ambitious Strategy 2018 goals.

Car

s jo

stle

for

sp

ace

on I

nd

ia’s

in

crea

sin

gly

cro

wd

ed r

oad

s

Spot the difference: (top)

rendered image showing

Halcrow’s winning concept

design (below): the

completed bridge

Highland highway Halcrow is gearing up to provide detailed design and construction supervision services for Scotland’s £31.5 million A96 Fochabers and Mosstodloch bypass, on behalf of Morrison Construction.

Along with a new 5km stretch of all-purpose single carriageway on the main trunk road between Inverness and Aberdeen, the project will deliver improved pedestrian and cycle facilities. A new roundabout, boosting access to the world-famous Baxters soup factory, completes the scheme.

Halcrow’s project director, Iain Salisbury, commented: “The award of this contract is due in no small part to the efforts of the project team in supporting Morrison Construction during the tender period. We look forward to delivering a project that will improve safety, and reduce environmental and traffic impacts on the communities of Fochabers and Mosstodloch.”

After sitting derelict for a weathering quarter-century and several aborted redevelopment attempts, the hulking Battersea power station is at the heart of proposals for London’s latest riverside revival.

Plans for the infrastructure required to support this 15ha regeneration project are also well underway, with Halcrow appointed by private developer Treasury Holdings to develop a 3.1km tunnelled extension to London Underground’s Northern line. Extending the existing line south west from Kennington, the scheme will include two new stations to service the mixed-use site’s 3,700 homes.

Halcrow is leading a team – comprising Buro Happold, Studiodare and Corderoy – tasked with the full multidisciplinary design of the £500 million extension, including tunnelling, heavy civils, station planning and architecture, alignment, permanent way and rail systems.

As well as liaising directly with London Underground to ensure its continued technical support for the scheme, Halcrow will be responsible for delivering the documentation required to make an application under the Transport and Works Act.

“In a highly competitive market with fewer underground rail infrastructure opportunities, this success is very welcome news,” commented rail and underground infrastructure director Simon Fricker. “The Northern line extension enhances Halcrow’s current portfolio of underground rail projects, serving to further reinforce our reputation as a world leader in the delivery of complex underground rail infrastructure.”

Battersea odyssey

From energy eyesore to loved landmark

Despite its current state of disrepair, the Battersea power station’s chimney quartet remains a focal point on London’s skyline.

Cutting-edge yet controversial, Battersea was the first in a series of large coal-fired energy facilities constructed in the 1930s to improve Britain’s inefficient, fragmented electricity supply.

Londoners protested that the building would be an eyesore, while Parliament debated the effects of pollution on public health, buildings, parks – and even works of art in the nearby Tate Gallery.

Replete with lavish art deco features, Europe’s largest brick building achieved world-wide recognition after appearing on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album, Animals, photographed with an inflatable pig tethered to the roof.

With Lake Ontario reflected in its seven storey glass facade, the gleaming new Corus Quay office and broadcast centre embodies the revival of Toronto’s once faded waterfront.

Housing 1,200 Corus Entertainment employees, the development is the first new commercial building in the recently rezoned waterfront area.

Halcrow Yolles provided full structural engineering services for the 43,000m² complex, which is targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold status, recognising the project’s sustainability credentials. Environmental features include a green roof area and a five-storey living wall, while hybrid vehicles are available onsite through a car-share service.

Corus Quay is part of the wider Toronto waterfront revitalisation programme. This will include the creation of waterfront parks, public spaces, cultural institutions and sustainable commercial and residential communities.

Waterfront renewal

Reflected glory: Battersea power station

Tou

ch o

f fr

ost:

a

win

try

view

of

the

byp

ass

Cor

us

Qu

ay. I

mag

e co

urt

esy

of D

iam

ond

an

d

Sch

mit

t A

rch

itec

ts a

nd

CIC

AD

A D

esig

n

ocal pressure groups around the UK bemoaning the ‘death’ of their town centres often blame the ‘Wal-Mart effect’, where mega-stores spring up on the outskirts, drawing shoppers

away from independent traders.

While a giant supermarket 20-minutes drive away may be partially to blame for a decline in foot traffic, a lack of well-designed public spaces in the heart of towns and cities is equally responsible. Bucking the trend, Halcrow’s landscape architecture team has helped deliver vibrant squares in urban settings across the UK.

In Weston-super-Mare, a £3.9 million town centre redevelopment is the focal point of a wholesale overhaul of the iconic seaside resort. Halcrow has been commissioned to redesign the existing road layout, creating a pedestrian-friendly, cohesive link between the town centre and the promenade. Delivered through the North Somerset Council’s framework contract, the revamped area was dubbed Pier Square after public input. The team will start work on site in 2010.

Halcrow’s project manager, Andrew Linfoot, said: “We had to do a significant amount of traffic modelling to demonstrate that the new road layout would work, giving us space for the square. The recent public exhibition received a good level of support and the local traders are keen for it happen.”

This year will also see construction kicking off on Southampton’s £4.6 million Guildhall Square project. Occupying the central space within the city’s new cultural quarter, the square will nestle between the Guildhall and the proposed Southampton New Arts Centre, connecting the two.

Kept deliberately simple, the design uses high-quality paving materials and bespoke lighting to create a range of ambiences and atmospheres. “The design means that the space is highly flexible, allowing for a wide range of activities,” said Andrew. “The aim is for the square to form a natural extension to the adjacent buildings, making it just as much a venue as the art centre and Guildhall.”

In 2009, Halcrow was one of six teams shortlisted to vie for Salisbury’s market place renaissance project. The medieval square forms the centrepiece of the historic town centre.

While the Royal Institute of British Architects-sponsored competition focuses predominantly on regenerating the square, the brief also called on entrants to produce a city-wide public realm strategy. Halcrow is the only shortlisted team drawn from a single organisation, demonstrating its wide-ranging ability and diverse skills.

Reflecting on this achievement, Andrew commented: “To be shortlisted alongside internationally recognised consultancies from across Europe and the US clearly demonstrates we have both the creative and technical abilities to tackle these highly sensitive, complex projects.”

So, while mega-store opening sales might still send a shiver through some local communities, projects around the UK are creating carefully conceived public spaces for residents and visitors alike, bringing foot-traffic and vitality back to town centres.

CIRCLING THE SQUAREL

Vox | issue five6


Plan for M

arke

t Pla

ce, S

alis

bury

Guildhall Square lig

hting c

once

pt, S

outh

amp

ton

Pier Square, Weston-super-Mare

Current visitors to the Uch power station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province must first negotiate the unsealed roads of nearby Dera Murad Jamali, bouncing along the pitted, potholed streets that bisect the town. But unpaved routes are giving way to a Halcrow-designed road network as part of a social up-lift programme initiated by the power plant’s owner-operator, Uch Power (UPL).

One of the largest provinces in Pakistan, Balochistan is also one of the least developed. Drinking water is scarce for residents of the farms and villages scattered across this remote, inhospitable landscape. Sewerage and storm water drainage systems – where they exist – are rudimentary.

As part of its corporate social responsibility programme, UPL has undertaken a host of projects to boost local communities’ quality of life, with access to improved education, healthcare, drinking water and sanitation facilities. Last year’s drive sought to tackle the region’s unpaved roads. Impassable during the rainy season, these unsealed routes hinder movement between villages, farms and markets.

Halcrow was awarded the project based on the Pakistan team’s recognised expertise in designing highways, internal road networks, pavements and structures, along with its hydrology experience.

Designs for the project will be completed over a two-month timeframe, and phase one of construction will be finished within 12 months.

Paving the way in Pakistan

One of the UK’s most consistent performers, Edinburgh’s economy has outstripped even London in terms of per capita income in recent years.

However, given its dependence on financial services and the battering taken by the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, many predicted that Edinburgh would feel the downturn’s crippling weight when the boom bubble spectacularly burst.

Despite this gloomy outlook, the ubiquitous tourist throngs have kept Edinburgh’s tills ringing. The Scottish capital has endured the bleak winter of recession with far fewer ill effects than other similarly sized British cities. With Halcrow’s help, Edinburgh is now staking its claim as a truly world-class city.

Halcrow has been commissioned by City of Edinburgh Council to provide a full range of economic development services. Initially spanning three years with the potential for a two-year extension, the contract includes strategy development, business planning and option appraisal, along with impact assessment and evaluation. Combining technical expertise, global perspective fused with local knowledge, and innovative approaches to knowledge transfer, Halcrow’s unique offering helped secure this high profile, influential project.

Stefano Smith, the programme’s project director, commented: “Halcrow’s global resources, international experience and multi-disciplinary skill set will help Edinburgh carve out a competitive advantage. Our input will help safeguard the city’s future prosperity, with clear benefits for communities, businesses and the local economy.”

Associate director John Godwin, who will manage the programme, added: “This contract marks an important milestone in building an economic development service in Scotland. Halcrow will support Edinburgh’s aspirations through the provision of world-class services. By collaborating and working in close partnership with the council, we will help build capacity, capability and competence, raising the bar even further.”

Scotland’s ongoing success hinges on Edinburgh – as the national economy’s primary growth engine – maintaining its

development drive. With a sizeable proportion of the required

building blocks already established, the capital is

well placed to realise its ambitious vision, especially in comparison to other international

competitors seeking to stamp their mark on the global scene. Although the challenges loom large, Halcrow is set to help propel

Edinburgh to a prominent, world-leading position.

Transforming Edinburgh into a world beater

John Godwin, Alisa Collin, Stefano Smith, Iain Mowat, Caroline Currie, Iain Paton, Fiona Alexander, Jet Cameron

Edinburgh Castle at dusk

An

un

pav

ed r

oad

in

Der

a M

ura

d J

amal

i

UPL infrastructure projects are benefiting local communities

Vox | issue five8


A little-known peninsula in China’s Fujian province will be transformed into an international industrial zone and growth hub over the next 20 years with Halcrow’s expert advice.

Situated on the mountainous north-east coast with easy access to Taiwan, the Haixi Ningde industrial zone on the Sanduao Xinan peninsula will cover 228km². The zone will develop new and existing port facilities focusing on petroleum and gas storage and the production of metal goods and machinery.

Halcrow is undertaking the industrial planning and conceptual master plan for this enormous scheme on behalf of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which holds an 85 per cent stake in the project.

The first priorities in the zone will be the creation of a 5 million tonne petroleum storage project, a terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas and an equipment manufacturing base for the offshore oil industry.

Construction was officially launched in December 2009 at a groundbreaking ceremony. Regional politicians and members of the development consortium turned the first sods of earth, and Halcrow’s managing director in China, Stephen Ellison, was invited to join gathered dignitaries on the podium.

“I felt very privileged to be invited onto the podium,” Stephen said afterwards. “It was a great honour for me, and for Halcrow. Our project team is highly committed to making this scheme a great success.”

When football fans converge on Poland and Ukraine in 2012, eager for their respective teams to be crowned European champions, many will touch down in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine.

Lviv is one of eight cities – four in each country – selected to host matches by tournament sponsor and organiser, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and its international airport requires major development work to meet UEFA’s requirements.

Even in their haze of anticipation, many arriving supporters are likely to appreciate the £470 million overhaul planned for Lviv’s airport. Proposed works include a substantial extension to the existing runway and strengthening of the current runway length, along with construction of large aircraft aprons, parallel taxiways and a modern terminal building. An overhaul of the existing terminal and associated road and car park infrastructure rounds out the project.

Halcrow’s air transport team has been appointed by Lviv City Council and the Ukrainian department of transportation to conduct a complete independent review of the proposed development. The council will use Halcrow’s findings to keep UEFA’s expert advisors abreast of plans and progress as the project gathers momentum.

This win has strategic significance for Halcrow’s aviation business in eastern Europe. Halcrow will be retained by the City of Lviv throughout the two-year implementation period, as designated by UEFA, as part of the build-up to kick off in 2012.

Going for growth in Fujian

The world’s fifth longest cable-stayed bridge was put through its paces by Halcrow checking engineers before it opened for use in October 2009.

Stretching over 12km from mainland South Korea to Yeongjong Island, the £1 billion Incheon Bridge is the longest in the country. Its cable-stayed section is 800m long with a 230m supporting tower.

The bridge, which carries a six-lane motorway, is primarily intended to link the booming New Songdo City in the mainland’s Incheon free economic zone with

Safe and sound

Incheon International Airport – built on reclaimed land connecting Yeongjong and Yongu islands.

Halcrow led the bridge-checking project as part of a joint venture team with Arup and local consultant Dasan.

Counting down to kick off

Artist’s impression of the proposed industrial area

Lvi

v’s

his

tori

c q

uar

ter

Inch

eon

Bri

dg

e

It’s decision time for one of New York’s iconic steel-arch bridges.

Soaring 69m above the Kill Van Kull tidal strait, the graceful Bayonne Bridge has connected Bayonne, New Jersey, with Staten Island since 1931. Deliberately built a few metres longer than Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge, the 2,633m structure remains the world’s fourth longest steel-arch bridge.

However, in recent years the bridge’s 48m clearance has posed an increasing challenge for large ships heading upstream. With a new generation of colossal vessels set to use the widened Panama Canal, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has commissioned an urgent cost-benefit analysis of this vital crossing point.

Halcrow has undertaken the three-month contract to assess possible options. These include jacking up the entire bridge, raising the road deck on the bridge, building an entirely new bridge, building a tunnel or maintaining the status quo. All the options assume retention of the arch, which is a registered landmark.

The results of the analysis will also assist in the selection of alternative designs and concepts that warrant more detailed planning and design.

A jewel box of European architecture – Romania’s ‘Little Vienna’ – has entrusted Halcrow to revamp its historic squares.

Timisoara was the first city in Europe to be lit by electric lamps. At the confluence of German, Hungarian, Serbian, and Romanian cultures its architecture is a heady confection of styles, much of it built during the days of the sweeping Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Romania’s second largest city is seeking to improve the fabric of its urban environment by upgrading three public squares and ten adjacent streets in the historic centre.

Halcrow will be tasked with reorganising Timisoara’s civic spaces; creating pedestrian zones, parking areas, improving traffic safety and bicycle lanes and providing suitable street furniture, as well as developing and modernising the utilities network.

The scheme forms part of the Romanian government’s 2007-2013 regional operation programme, which receives European Union funding.

Judgement day for New York landmark

Squaring off

Timisoara’s historic centre

Image courtesy of Dave Frieder

Big Apple, bigger tunnel

New York’s omnipresent yellow taxi fleet is synonymous with the city itself, but as 2014

approaches rail could be jostling roads for commuting supremacy. High speed rail and light transit projects are gaining planning

green lights across the US, and the tri-state area is no exception.

Halcrow has been selected for a mammoth rail tunnel contract as part of the £5.6 billion Mass Transit Tunnel project, which is set to double commuter rail capacity between New Jersey and

New York.

Delivered by client New Jersey Transit in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the scheme paves the way for the first new tunnelled crossing of the Hudson River in a century.

Halcrow’s win is the biggest of the big – the largest heavy civil engineering contract component of the US’s heftiest public transport project. The company has been appointed as lead designer on the first awarded contract, with its scope of work encompassing design and construction of one of the project’s three tunnel segments – a 1.6km-long section beneath Manhattan.

Featuring two single-track commuter rail tunnels, the Mass Transit Tunnel will relieve pressure on the existing 100-year-old two-track tunnel deep beneath the Hudson – currently operating at full capacity and creaking under the strain. Twice as many passengers will be transported at daily peak times, rocketing from 46,000 at present to 90,000 in the future.

More trains mean fewer cars, with surging commuter rail capacity set to remove an estimated 22,000 vehicles from regional roads each day. The project is expected to generate and sustain 6,000 jobs annually in peak construction years, as well as creating 44,000 permanent jobs after completion. Construction will begin early next year and is expected to continue through to late 2013.

Halcrow’s New York-based project director, Mark Johnson, said: “This win reflects Halcrow’s growing stature and prestige in the North American marketplace. It is a worthy testament to all the hard work and sector-leading excellence of the whole team, which worked seamlessly to deliver such a great outcome.”

Vox | issue five10

ne of the world’s iconic watercourses, the River Nile – northern Africa’s lifeblood – has sustained local populations for millennia.

A Halcrow-led project is taking initial steps towards helping Ethiopian communities secure a stable water supply, through infrastructure development and improved resource management.

Work is well underway on feasibility studies for irrigation and drainage projects spanning some 80,000ha in Ethiopia’s Nile basin region. Funded by the World Bank and delivered by Ethiopia’s ministry of water resources, the £4 million studies comprise three water management schemes centred on the Nile’s source, Lake Tana – 112km wide and fed by more than 40 tributaries.

As well as boosting the productivity of small holder and commercial farms, serving to alleviate rural poverty, these proposed schemes offer the prospect of sustainable economic diversification in the Horn of Africa – with proposals carefully balanced against environmental and social factors.

Set to improve Ethiopia’s food security, this work represents a tangible example of Halcrow’s recently launched water scarcity strategy, which articulates the company’s commitment to the fight against global water scarcity. Some 2.8 billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – live in areas where there is either insufficient water to meet basic needs, or which lack the funds required to effectively exploit available water supplies.

From its origin in the Ethiopian highlands, the Blue Nile meanders thousands of kilometres north into Sudan. It meets the White Nile near the capital, Khartoum, before flowing through Egypt to the Mediterranean. An economic gap exists between countries that have successfully tapped into this vast resource and those currently lacking the infrastructure to harness the river’s potential. Egypt falls into the

first category, Ethiopia the second – but with an unswerving focus on rectifying the imbalance.

Given its negligible rainfall, Egypt’s annual water consumption demands are met almost solely by extraction from the river. Egypt has developed infrastructure to channel water to its cities and commercial agriculture. The craggy, mountainous terrain of Ethiopia’s Nile basin region acts as an additional barrier to such development, meaning exploitation of the river’s water resources in the area is much less advanced. As a result, the agriculture on which so much of the Ethiopian population depends for its livelihood is at the mercy of increasingly erratic seasonal rains.

Halcrow’s feasibility studies – which it began in March 2009 and is set to complete in early 2011 – are an essential precursor to redressing these problems. Various irrigation development options will be evaluated against stringent social, environmental, technical and economic criteria, ensuring the schemes are sustainable and will attract international financial backing.

Designed to increase food productivity in the region, the project’s proposed infrastructure will harness and divert water for agriculture, with additional scope for hydroelectricity production at one of the potential dam sites. Water pumped from Lake Tana is set to irrigate a 6,000ha area at Megech on the lake’s northern shore. Diverted river flows will supply some 60,000ha in Upper Beles, to the west of Lake Tana, supplemented by transfers from the lake for a newly constructed hydropower/basin transfer scheme. Further south in the Negesso valley, up to 12,000ha of arable land will benefit from the certainty of irrigation, sustained by a proposed dam and reservoir further upstream.

O

Halcrow studies assess sustainable

development options for Ethiopia

Lef

t: p

lou

gh

ing

in N

eges

so

Mai

n im

age:

tom

orro

w’s

far

mer

s in

Meg

ech A sorghum farmer checks his crops

Agriculture ... is at the mercy of increasingly erratic seasonal rains

Africa’s longest river: facts and figures

From Lake Victoria in east-central Africa, the White Nile flows north through Uganda and into

Sudan where it meets the Blue Nile at Khartoum, which flows from its source at Lake Tana in

the Ethiopian highlands. From its remotest headstream, the Ruvyironza River in Burundi, the river is 6,671km long.

The Nile River basin is home to an estimated 160 million people, while almost twice that

number – roughly 300 million – live within the ten countries that share the Nile’s waters.

Without the Nile, an immense desert would extend from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

In some communities as much as 80 per cent of residents’ daily calorie intake is provided by goods and services directly related to Nile basin ecosystems.

During the Pharaohs’ rule the Nile was worshipped as a divinity. A bureau was established to measure flood levels, enabling a proportionate amount of tax to be levied on farmers. The higher the flood waters reached, the more the land was expected to produce.

Thorough consultation with rural communities, focus groups, and stakeholders at local, regional and federal levels underpins and informs the studies. “The stakeholder consultation process has been a massive undertaking,” said Richard Harpin, who leads Halcrow’s water scarcity team. “The project hinges on engagement with all elements of society and the economy, ensuring the interests and needs of the people are accounted for.”

As well as compiling all existing data – including feasibility studies dating back to 1964 – Halcrow is undertaking a series of further investigations, including socio-economic, topographic, soil, geotechnical, water quality and sediment surveys. Developed as part of the project, a water balance model for Lake Tana will steer and inform the conservation of this resource for future generations. The team will produce full feasibility reports for each project; presenting all costs and implementation programmes, as well as outlining investment schedules, management structures and institutional responsibilities.

Martin Smith, Halcrow’s project director, commented: “This work provides a platform for Ethiopia’s ongoing sustainable development, and the potential impact is far-reaching – economic diversification, agricultural intensification, food production and infrastructure development all hinge on cohesive water resource management.”

Halcrow’s involvement in the Nile basin project is the latest in a series of significant commissions recently undertaken in Ethiopia. Others include the Awash basin flood control and catchment management project and the Rift Valley lakes basin integrated resources development master plan.

Halcrow’s work in Ethiopia is a salient example of practical measures to tackle water scarcity on a regional level. When the Nile basin studies conclude in 2011, Ethiopian communities will be one step closer to improved food security and better economic prospects.

Egypt

Sudan

Democratic Republicof Congo

Tanzania

Lake Victoria

Lake Tana

Kenya

Blue Nile

River Nile Red Sea

White Nile Ethiopia

Eritrea

Khartoum

Uganda

RwandaBurundi

Installing furrow irrigation

Project progress: constructing a lined tunnel

Ground investigation, Megech

Green light for roads upgrade

Vox | issue five12


School runs in Abu Dhabi’s second city of Al Ain should become less stressful thanks to Halcrow expertise.

Al Ain’s lush vegetation has earned its ‘garden city’ sobriquet. In recent years the former oasis on the Omani border has seen its population rocket to almost 400,000, including thousands of foreign nationals.

One consequence of this rapid expansion has been an explosion in demand for private schools. Concentrated in a special zoned area stretching 3.5km along Khalid Bin Sultan Street, the schools are accessed through a chaotic network of un-signalled roundabouts, single carriage roads and service roads lacking sufficient parking.

Halcrow has signed a £1.1 million contract with Al Ain Muncipality to provide design and supervision services to relieve traffic congestion around the schools. The project includes upgrading 5km of highways and service roads, extending the highway network by 2km and installing traffic signals at two existing roundabouts.

Bridging the gapIt takes just a couple of minutes for Mir Afzal to walk across the 50m-long Baillie bridge that stretches over the fast running River Nallah in Pakistan’s remote north west province.

But before the new bridge was completed in May 2009, the retired teacher and his fellow villagers faced a frightening struggle through the freezing waters of the rushing boulder-strewn river. The original bridge, along with scores of others in this remote province of Pakistani Kashmir, was destroyed in the October 2005 earthquake that rocked the region.

“We breathed a sigh of relief after this bridge was completed,” said Mir. “Our lives have now become more relaxed. Before this bridge we had to cross the Nallah on foot. Many people died crossing the river during the rainy season.”

The bridge is one of nine in the province that have been rebuilt through a Halcrow-led project, helping transform the lives of people in remote communities still struggling to come to terms with the earthquake’s aftermath. Halcrow has overseen the bridge-building activities while completing several detailed soil and substructure feasibility studies.

Further along the Nallah, community representative Haji Muzaffar explained how the new 37m-long bridge at Langla Nallah has revolutionised life for the village’s 7,000 residents. “The bridge saves on our travelling costs,” he said. “We were spending a lot of money on jeeps to reach our destination. Now we’re able to save time as well.”

Right across the region villagers have seen their lives transformed by the new bridges. Like the 15m bridge on the Neili Reshian Road that serves all the villages in the valley and was completed in July 2009. “We faced many hardships before the completion of this bridge,” said education officer Mirza Javid Ahmed. “Now it is much easier for us to transport patients to hospitals and get children to school on time.”

The nine new bridges were the first phase of a £4 million project funded by the UK’s Department for International Development and the Asian Development Bank to replace a total of 50 bridges, including 41 in Pakistani Kashmir. To date, 38 bridges have been completed. This builds on Halcrow’s work in 2008, constructing six new bridges in the north west frontier province.

The surrounding infrastructure will also be upgraded through the provision of landscaping, footpaths, parking facilities and the development of a storm water drainage system.

“The project will significantly improve traffic circulation in the area,” said Halcrow’s regional director for Abu Dhabi, Sami Al-Qazzaz. “It is Halcrow’s first project with the municipality and we look forward to developing a long and productive relationship with it.”

Connecting

communities:

two of the

completed

structures

Sami Al-Qazzaz with Al Ain Municipality general manager Matar Mohammad Saeed Al Nuaimi

Jih

ili F

ort,

Al A

in

Casting a wary eye at rising seas and erratic rivers, cities around the world are beefing up their defences to fend off flood risk.

Wroclaw in south-west Poland is no exception. Halcrow has been appointed with partners Scott Wilson and BRLi to deliver a key component of a scheme to modernise the city’s flood-prevention system.

Boosting the River Odra’s flow capacity through historic Wroclaw, the project will provide additional flood defence measures along the river. It forms an integral part of a wider £468 million flood risk management scheme – Europe’s largest.

From its source in the Czech Republic’s mountain ranges the Odra flows through Poland and north to the Baltic Sea. In 1997, flooding caused extensive damage and loss of life. This sweeping devastation was the catalyst for a major flood alleviation initiative funded in part by the World Bank, European Union grants and local investment.

Halcrow secured the contract to design, procure and supervise the construction of the city’s flood relief channel and defences, with a capital value of £112 million. Set to run for six years, the project comprises a review of feasibility, outline design and detailed design in its first phase, from 2009 to 2012. Extending from 2010 to 2015, phase two includes construction supervision and overseeing a one-year maintenance period.

Gareth Heatley will lead the project, with support from Halcrow’s head of water and power in Europe and central Asia, John Martin, and the head of water in Poland, Mariusz Slezak.

Joined-up thinking is more than just a buzz word in West Lothian, Scotland, thanks to an ‘all-in-one’ civic centre.

Officially opened in November 2009, the £46 million project brings West Lothian Council, Lothian and Borders Police and the Scottish Courts Service under one roof with a total of seven community partners working together. Around 1,000 employees are housed in the new complex in Livingston – thought to be the largest public sector building of its kind in the UK.

Halcrow Yolles carried out all civil and structural design work for the project with architect BDP and Faber Maunsel as mechanical and electrical engineer. Three striking glazed towers form the heart of the energy efficient centre, set in 11ha of parkland. A new footbridge over the nearby River Almond rounds out the scheme.

It is hoped that bringing key service providers together on a single site will help build closer working relationships, benefiting the public. Savings of £8 million are projected over the next 25 years.

Pole position on Europe’s largest flood scheme

All together now

Halcrow is working to improve environmental conditions along Colombia’s pristine northern coastline – one of the country’s most sought-after tourist destinations.

Wastewater from Colombia’s fourth largest urban centre, Cartagena de Indias, is currently pumped into a vast lagoon before being discharged directly into the sea. A new £20 million outfall, funded by the World Bank, will dramatically improve water quality in coastal areas and ensure the local beaches comply with increasingly stringent international standards.

Halcrow was commissioned by water utility company Aguas de Cartagena to supervise the construction of the 2m diameter, 4.2km-long sea outfall, which is due for completion by the end of 2010. A locally recruited Halcrow team has been based in Cartagena since March 2009, supported by employees from the Santiago office and the UK.

Halcrow’s sea outfalls chief engineer and Cartagena project director, Alejandro Labbé, commented: “This interesting project requires an integrated effort between members of our sea outfall technical directorate, working in various Halcrow offices around the world.”

Conserving Colombia’s coastline

Ost

rów

Tu

msk

i – ‘C

ath

edra

l Isl

and

’ – in

Wro

claw

’s h

isto

ric

cen

tre

Inse

t: P

omor

ski b

rid

ge

and

Wro

claw

’s e

xist

ing

floo

d m

anag

emen

t in

fras

tru

ctu

re

West Lothian Civic Centre

Pipe sections being transported to the site

In h

is h

and

s: t

he

Big

man

will

h

old

up

th

e n

ew f

oot

bri

dg

eM

ain

imag

e: M

elb

ourn

e sk

ylin

e In

set:

wat

er s

ensi

tive

urb

an d

esig

n in

th

e ci

ty’s

su

bu

rbs

The Bigman comethArt and engineering fuse in Glasgow, as the local bridges team tackles a design project that promises to join communities together in a big way.

Led by Colin Walker, the team is working for client British Waterways Scotland on a landmark footbridge over the Forth and Clyde canal in Glasgow. The bridge will provide a much needed link between the communities of Maryhill and Ruchill, now kept apart by a canal that was once a source of brisk international trade.

The £4.5 million Stockingfield Junction Footbridge will incorporate a major piece of public artwork – the Bigman – designed by local artist and sculptor Andy Scott. Colin explains: “We didn’t want to create a bridge with a sculpture on it, one that could be taken away. We wanted to have a sculpture that was an integral part of the bridge itself. The design is a marriage of art and engineering – Andy and I sat down together and brainstormed several ideas. The Bigman stood out very quickly as something personal to Glasgow, where to call your mate ‘Bigman’ is a term of affection.”

While Colin set the parameters for the scale and pose of the sculpture in line with the structural aspects of the bridge, Andy was working on the detail of the artwork. Travellers will get the impression that the Bigman is holding up the bridge. Lighting will focus on certain muscle groups, to highlight the stresses experienced as the figure supports the bridge deck.

British Waterways is now seeking community support for the project through public consultations. Meanwhile, Halcrow is finalising the planning application to Glasgow City Council, to ensure Glasgow gets its unique landmark connection.

In the world’s driest inhabited continent, Australia, the subject of water – or lack of it – is never far from the mind. Most Australians live with largely permanent water restrictions, which place tight limits on the use of tap water. Helping ease the strain on scarce resources, Halcrow recently completed a strategic water planning review in the country’s second largest city, Melbourne.

Along Australia’s south-east seaboard, where much of the population is clustered, rainfall has been critically low for many years. Ongoing debate centres on ways of reducing urban water use – rainwater tanks are springing up across suburbia – while water suppliers and government bodies incessantly exhort citizens to use less, save more. New uses for wastewater are emerging, and desalination – ideally using low carbon energy sources – is increasingly seen as a non-rainfall-dependent supply option. Led by sustainability and water management specialist Phil Hughes, the project identified and sought to apply international best practice in integrated water management. Supported by comprehensive research, Halcrow steered client Melbourne Water towards appropriate strategies to make the city ‘water smart’.

The team looked at a range of integrated approaches to tackle water scarcity, considering all aspects of water management and sources of supply concurrently, as well as focusing on the practicalities of implementation. Insightful, informed input from Halcrow’s global integrated water management team – including Swindon’s Elliot Gill and Andy McConkey, and Tampa-based Richard Harpin – contributed to the project’s success.

On the back of favourable client feedback, Halcrow has subsequently been engaged by one of the city’s water retailers to support the development of an integrated water management strategy for Melbourne’s south-east fringes. Phil was also asked to facilitate a national workshop in February this year, organised by WateReuse Australia and the Water Services Association of Australia.

Set against a context of projected urban population growth, climate shifts and chronic shortages, integrated water management looks set to become a central component in the country’s water arsenal – and a staple term in every Australian’s vocabulary. And given Halcrow’s water scarcity growth strategy, the Melbourne review represents a significant step in positioning the company to win further work.

Beating the big dry

Vox | issue five14


Further plaudits for the Caldew and Carlisle City flood alleviation scheme came in the form of an overall project excellence award – celebrating the ‘best of the best’ from the four main categories.

Rounding out the honours, Halcrow’s work on the Folkestone to Cliff End strategy was recognised with an award for the best national review group submission.

Paul Turney, Halcrow’s Environment Agency client account team director, said: “Our performance in the Environment Agency’s supplier performance measures to date, together with these awards, truly enhances our client care programme and puts us in a strong position for the future.”

Halcrow’s scope and influence were clearly evident across the board at the UK’s Environment Agency project excellence awards 2009 when the winners were announced on 10 December last year.

The company had a hand in six out of seven category-winning projects at the awards, which recognise outstanding projects undertaken on behalf of the Environment Agency.

Topping the project management category, the Caldew and Carlisle City flood alleviation scheme was delivered as a joint venture between Halcrow and Jacobs. The team was praised for its strong relationships and commitment to knowledge sharing.

Demonstrating exemplary health, safety and environmental risk management during construction, work on the Stanah sea defences was carried out adjacent to sites of special scientific interest and Ramsar designated areas.

Halcrow’s Pegwell Bay to Kingsdown strategy bagged prime spot for its sustainable construction and environmental enhancement elements. Veering away from physical barriers, this inventive tidal relief solution will both reduce flood risk and potentially create up to 220ha of new environmental habitat.

Porter’s Lock fish and canoe pass fended off the competition in the innovation and technical merit section. The first of its kind in the UK, the pass incorporates components made from recycled plastic brushes. Its success has led to the design being rolled out at other sites on the River Medway and is being considered for other rivers.

the facility’s exposed structure structure seamlessly integrates timber framing with steel.

Working closely with architect SOM, Halcrow Yolles provided full structural engineering services for the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, New Jersey – a bespoke 12,000m² athletic, coaching and management headquarters for the New York Jets football team.

In a muscular display of aesthetic prowess, three Halcrow Yolles projects topped the field at the 2009 Athletic Business Conference awards. The trio picked up facilities of merit awards at the December event, which focuses on the fitness and recreation industry.

Halcrow Yolles teamed up with architect Shore Tilbe Irwin and Partners on two projects, providing structural design services for the Cassie Campbell and Newcastle community centres.

Named after the former captain of the Canadian women’s ice hockey team, the eponymous Cassie Campbell Community Centre features flexible spaces for indoor and outdoor activities. The bold, cantilevered ‘gull wing’ roof lends the 15,300m² multi-use complex a soaring, majestic feel, while an extended timber trellis on the building’s exterior connects the east and south entrances.

Themed to blend harmoniously with its rural surrounds, the Newcastle Community Centre captures the essence of the quintessential Ontario farmstead. Extending into the adjacent landscape,

Half-dozen haul

Cas

sie

Cam

pb

ell C

omm

un

ity

Cen

tre,

inte

rior

an

d e

xter

ior.

Imag

e co

urt

esy

of S

hor

e T

ilbe

Irw

in a

nd

Par

tner

s

Halcrow’s Robert Kleinjan and Adam Schofield with Environment Agency chief executive Paul Leinster and members of the Pegwell team

Halcrow’s Nick Pettitt (far right) with members of the Stanah team and Environment Agency chief executive Paul Leinster (second right)

AwardsCelebrating achievement

Big ideas won the day when Halcrow’s master plan concept for Tunisian project Les Cotes des Anges trounced the competition in the ‘waterfront future projects’ category at the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Awards 2009.

Presented at a gala dinner at Emirates Palace Hotel, the awards highlight projects in the Middle East and Africa that represent the pinnacle of design, functionality and innovation.

The category celebrates the most distinctive waterfront developments – those which show design sensitivity and maximise water as a resource. Located on the north shore of Africa, Les Cotes des Anges covers an area of 219ha with some 2.5km of coastline and includes a marina at the heart of the project. The development will be a hub for luxury boating in the Mediterranean, with leisure facilities, such as a golf course and wellness resorts, to ensure year-round tourism trade – in line with Tunisia’s national strategy for tourism promotion.

Project manager Michelle Baracho explains: “The vision was to create a contemporary interpretation of traditional building styles, while

Winning vision for Tunisia

respecting the natural features of the site. Creating strong vistas, providing value for traditional architecture and being sensitive to the site ecology have been vital to the overall project design.”

Environmental issues are at the centre of the proposed site and marina layouts. With previous experience of Mediterranean conditions, the team included a buffer zone of a minimum 100m wide along the shore, to allow for ongoing climate change and sea level rise. This will address likely future coastal erosion, reduce the risk of coastal squeeze and enable interaction between the beach and the dunes inshore.

All construction – except the Marina Hotel – will be low-rise, with the marina development designed as a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Tunisian fishing village. Retaining existing vegetation and planting native trees is also a key part of the landscape plan.

Building of the yearThe restoration of Ashton Market Hall in Tameside has been recognised as Greater Manchester Building of the Year by the city’s chamber of commerce.

Devastated by a fire in 2004, this grade II listed Victorian landmark has been completely overhauled with a new interior created to complement the historic building’s facade.

Described as the ‘heart of Ashton’, the hall reopened to the public late last year. Working with architect Taylor Young, Halcrow Yolles designed the building services engineering aspects, including the external public realm lighting scheme.

Counsellor Kieran Quinn praised the team’s achievements: “There were many people who said after the fire that we would not return the market hall to its former glory. We not only did that – we surpassed it.”

Heading off strong competition, Halcrow took home the consultancy of the year award at the UK’s Construction Industry Awards 2009.

Organised by Contract Journal magazine, ‘The Hard Hats’ reward excellence across the whole supply chain, recognise innovation and celebrate best practice.

Halcrow’s encouragement for collaborative working, strong team integration and commitment to health and safety across the business all helped secure the top prize. Its claim to glory was also underlined by successful business performance and examples of effective management throughout 2008.

Chief executive Peter Gammie said: “This prestigious award recognises our support for the delivery of major projects, such as the Thames Tideway, Qatar Bahrain Causeway and Crossrail. It also highlights our leading consultancy role in four of the Highways Agency’s managing agent contractor commissions. I was pleased that our emphasis on training, development and quality was acknowledged, as was our recently restated commitment to health and safety. The award is a great accolade for the whole business.”

If you want to get ahead, get a hat

Vox | issue five16

Giving generously Halcrow FoundationAwards Celebrating achievement

Swit

ched

on

: A

shto

n M

ark

et H

all

Main image: an artist’s impression of Les Cotes des Ange. Inset: aerial master plan

hree Halcrow projects received red carpet treatment at the British Construction Industry (BCI) Awards for 2009 – widely regarded as the UK industry’s ‘Oscars’. This year once again

saw a huge response, with over 170 UK and international projects vying for honours.

Halcrow’s Dames Point container terminal scheme won the prestigious international award, while the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) Woolwich Arsenal extension scooped the best practice award at the 14 October event. Halcrow’s efforts on the Dounreay site restoration project were recognised with the civil engineering award.

Members of the judging panel visited each of the 35 shortlisted UK projects, quizzing the on-site project teams. Representatives from the six shortlisted international projects were interviewed in London, with the judges visiting the top two schemes to glean further information.

Halcrow’s Dounreay site restoration in Scotland fought off seven rivals to win the coveted civil engineering award, for projects valued between £3 million and £50 million. This work involved constructing a high-quality grout curtain around the 65m-deep shaft, created in the 1950s as part of the nuclear power station’s offshore discharge tunnel. Presenting the award, the judges commented: “This highly complex project saw technical innovation save millions of pounds and protect the environment.”

The DLR Woolwich Arsenal extension took home the best practice award, open to projects that adopt processes to understand and meet client needs, support team working throughout, and promote continuous improvement. Comprising 2.5km of new railway in parallel twin-bored tunnels under the River Thames, the extension will serve a newly constructed underground station in Woolwich town centre.

Dames Point container terminal in Florida, US, received the international award for projects delivered outside the UK for which either the principal designer or contractor is a UK-based firm. Despite a challenging 42-month schedule, the project was delivered on time and to budget – creating 6,000 jobs in the process. The judges were impressed with the client’s comment that: “The largest project in the port’s history was completed on time and under budget – a truly rare occurrence in public infrastructure construction projects, reflecting well on the professional calibre of the team provided by Halcrow.”

Halcrow’s chief executive Peter Gammie was at the ceremony. He commented: “Our three winning entries exemplify the diversity of our expertise and are a testament to the talented teams we have working right across the company.”

T

Dam

es P

oin

t co

nta

iner

ter

min

alDounreay nuclear power station. Courtesy of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd

DLR Woolwich Arsenal extension

Ben

Bra

dsh

aw M

P, s

ecre

tary

of

stat

e fo

r cu

ltu

re, m

edia

an

d s

por

t, a

nd

Geo

ffre

y D

enn

is,

chie

f ex

ecu

tive

of

CA

RE

In

tern

atio

nal

UK

, pre

sen

t H

alcr

ow’s

Pau

l Sta

rr (

mid

dle

) w

ith

th

e in

tern

atio

nal

aw

ard

And the winner is…

In addition to the BCI award Dames Point has secured a slew

of prestigious accolades, including:

• Gold project achievement award – Construction

Management Association of America, south west and

central Florida chapter

• Project excellence award for large project – the Coasts,

Oceans, Rivers and Ports Institute’s project excellence

awards

• Individual consultant of the year (Paul Starr, highly

commended), major consultancy project of the year and

environmental impact award (both commended) – British

Expertise Awards

Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...Awards Celebrating achievement

Vox | issue five18

of the castleThe events of 16 August 2004 are indelibly etched in the minds of Cornwall residents. Flash floods in Boscastle swept away vast swathes of the quaint seaside village after the average monthly rainfall pelted down in just two hours. Among the infrastructural casualties was the grade II listed Boscastle Lower Bridge, which was damaged during the devastating one-in-400-year deluge.

The company’s role in the ongoing rebuilding programme was recognised at the UK’s national Concrete Society Awards 2009 in November, where the Halcrow-designed replacement bridge was awarded a certificate of excellence.

The bridge forms part of a wider flood defence scheme, promoted by the Environment Agency and delivered by Halcrow’s Exeter-based team. To reduce further flood risk, the original bridge had to be replaced with a much larger, wider structure.

Consultants from Halcrow Yolles are part of a winning formation responsible for the New York Jets’ new headquarters and training facility.

At 20,160m² the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the National Football League’s largest practice site. Halcrow Yolles was the structural engineering consultant for the project working alongside architect SOM.

The new centre received an award of merit in the best of 2009 sports/recreation category in New York Construction’s 13th annual ‘Best of…’ awards. Recognising construction excellence from across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the awards assess project management, client service, safety, design and functionality.

The football franchise scouted more than 40 sites before relocating its practice facility from Long Island to New Jersey. The centre includes four outdoor football fields and an artificial turf field in a structured field house.

Two cutting-edge Canadian university projects by Halcrow Yolles graduated with honours at the Ontario Concrete Awards for 2009, held in December.

The gleaming five-storey engineering technology building at McMaster University and the Varsity Centre Pavilion, which forms the entry to the University of Toronto sports facilities, are both eye-catching buildings.

The 11,600m² glass-clad McMaster building supports the faculty of engineering’s expansion into emerging areas of research and study. It won the architectural merit award, which recognises structures in which architectural considerations predominantly influenced the overall project.

As structural engineer, Halcrow Yolles addressed challenges such as the requirement for a robust and vibration-free structural system, along with the use of structural concrete as an architectural feature on the building’s exterior.

The Varsity Centre Pavilion took home the structural design innovation award, presented to a project where engineering conditions have a

significant impact on the design. Formerly home to an electrical sub-station and high voltage transformer,

the bustling site in downtown Toronto presented a demanding

working environment, requiring additional

consideration during both design and

construction.

Undertaking the inception, detailed design and site supervision the team delivered an elegant, slender bridge, which is curved on plan, elevation and section. The span and depth ratios and construction techniques were pushed to achieve a wafer-thin deck. Accentuating this effect, the under-drawn soffit creates the illusion of an impossibly slender blade spanning the river, belying its function as a road bridge and minimising its visual imposition on the natural environment.

Neil Harris provided the aesthetic and engineering design lead, ably supported by the bridge team in Cardiff. Close collaboration with contractor Carillion and the precast manufacturer, Cornish Concrete Products, enabled the complex structure to be completed to a demanding £500,000 budget and timescale. Neil commented: “The opportunity to design a bridge in such a sensitive setting was a privilege, and great fun. It was a fantastic team effort to achieve something of real and lasting quality.”

Halcrow’s touchdown for Jets

Concrete proposals

The completed bridge in Boscastle, Cornwall

Pumping iron: inside the centre’s gym

Varsity Centre Pavilion – image courtesy of Coreslab

An aerial view of the site

Safety in numbersHalcrow built on previous successes at the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) awards when it scooped a ‘highly commended’ accolade in the commercial and business services sector category.

The September event honoured the best of 1,700 entries in 21 individual industry sectors, including construction, healthcare, transport and logistics, engineering, manufacturing and education.

RoSPA awards manager Dave Rawlins commended Halcrow for its “commitment to protecting the health and well-being of its employees and others”.

Group health and safety director Nigel Valvona commented: “It is fantastic to have exceeded our success of last year. The award is testament to the efforts of the business. This achievement is a result of employees truly adopting Halcrow’s core safety values.”

Saltire successWith its radioactive contents hoarded an inaccessible 65m beneath the ground, the now-defunct nuclear power station at Dounreay easily ranks among the world’s toughest clean-up projects.

Innovative work on the scheme by Halcrow’s Glasgow office, in collaboration with Dounreay Site Restoration and BAM Ritchies, was commended at the Saltire Society’s 2009 civil engineering awards in October. Presented in association with the Institution of Civil Engineers, the award recognises the exceptionally high level of initiative and skill demonstrated by the team in a hostile, challenging environment.

Isolating the shaft was an unavoidable precursor to cleaning it out. With radioactive material being dumped unmonitored for successive decades, the site lacked reliable waste disposal records and the surrounding groundwater was heavily contaminated.

Work on the project has attracted widespread praise. Just weeks before the Saltire commendation the team took home the British Construction Industry Award for the best civil engineering project in the £3 million to £50 million category, and in February 2009 was highly commended for technical excellence at Ground Engineering magazine’s annual awards.

Glasgow team members had further call to celebrate at the Saltire awards with a project commendation for the eye-catching Tradeston Bridge. The 106m pedestrian bridge links Tradeston on the south bank of the Clyde with Glasgow’s burgeoning international financial services district. The commendation recognised the ‘imaginative design, development and construction of a striking bridge enhancing the local environment’.

Halcrow engineers devised the design in partnership with architects Dissing and Weitling. Its sinuous double curve has led to the structure being affectionately dubbed ‘the squiggly bridge’.

Greening the valleyAdding yet another award to its bulging trophy cabinet, the Halcrow-designed Cross Valley Link Road (CVLR) and associated flood attenuation schemes secured a sought-after prize for its client, the UK’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

In recognition of the project’s extensive environmental mitigation and enhancement measures, the HCA took home the public sector award for encouraging sustainable development when the Estates Gazette Green Awards for 2009 were announced in October.

Providing a strategic road link to the south west of Northampton, UK, the CVLR connects residential and commercial land being developed on either side of the River Nene floodplain, supporting the client’s regeneration aspirations.

The awards recognise excellence in sustainable development and raising environmental awareness – goals close to Halcrow’s heart.

The Dounreay site

Group health and safety manager Peter Campbell accepts the award

Tradeston Bridge

(L to r) BAM Nuttall’s Ian Steel, Heather Reid from BBC Scotland, Iain Salisbury and Peter Lyttle, both from Halcrow

Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...

Halcrow’s global reach was further accentuated at the British Expertise International Awards for 2009 on 10 November, with the bagging of two highly commended accolades. Recognising excellence by UK-based companies in the design, planning, management and construction of international projects, the awards also support continued success in UK professional services worldwide.

Halcrow’s input on the Rio-São Paulo high-speed rail project was highly commended in the innovation of the year category. Halcrow’s Paul Starr also took a bow, winning highly commended ‘individual of the year’ plaudits for his work on the Dames Point container terminal in Jacksonville, US.

Halcrow led alignment studies for Brazil’s first high-speed rail line – set to link the country’s bulging metropolises, with an extension to Campinas. The resulting reference designs pave the way for concession contract awards, keeping construction on track for completion by 2016.

Using the QuanTM modelling system Halcrow planners were able to integrate environmental, community, cultural, engineering and cost factors into a single analysis, delivering an appropriate high-speed alignment within the project’s demanding timeframe.

Halcrow was brought in as lead consultant to help deliver the Jacksonville Port Authority’s flagship facility – one of the largest container ports on the US east coast. Gaining the necessary permits the team designed and managed construction within an intense 42-month programme, completing the mega-terminal on time and to budget.

Hal

crow

’s J

ohn

Mar

tin

an

d B

en H

amer

ac

cep

t P

aul’s

aw

ard

on

his

beh

alf

Ton

y va

n E

mst

rec

eive

s H

alcr

ow’s

aw

ard

fro

m

His

Roy

al H

igh

nes

s T

he

Du

ke o

f G

lou

cest

er

Cantley Marshes

A windy stretch of Norfolk marsh next to a sugarbeet factory sounds an unlikely

destination for a winter holiday.

For hundreds of bean geese fleeing sub-zero Scandinavia, however, the UK’s Cantley Marshes is a real hot spot. When migrating wigeon and European white-fronted geese join in the party, things can get pretty rowdy down on the marshes. And that’s before hordes of bird-watchers descend on the rain-lashed wetland.

Keeping this 296ha special site of scientific interest up to scratch is a continual challenge for Halcrow, working with BAM Nuttall under the umbrella title of Broadland Environmental Services. Together, they deliver the Broadland flood alleviation project for the Environment Agency.

In November 2009, the team’s flood defence work received a special environmental award from the Norfolk branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) recognising considerate development in the county.

Cantley Marshes, a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve, forms a delicately balanced eco-system. High water must be sustained all year round to maintain the marshes’ viability. As well as winter migrants, the bird population includes oystercatchers, lapwings and redshanks. The rare Norfolk hawker dragonfly haunts the reed beds and scuttling water voles make their homes in the soft, muddy banks.

The flood defence works involved the creation of a new double dyke system to improve the marshes’ water management. Throughout the project the highest priority was placed on environmental sensitivity. At one stage, construction was delayed while marsh harriers were nesting nearby.

One of the challenges was to ensure the public was still able to access and enjoy the site while the dykes were bunded to maintain the water height. An alternative footpath was constructed, and now that work is complete walkers are benefiting from a broader, more level footpath, providing an unobstructed view over the marshes. The CPRE award recognised the work on the footpaths, and associated moorings, as well as the improved water management system.

Birds of a feather

Awards Celebrating achievement

Vox | issue five20

Tim

O’R

iord

an, t

he

Sher

iff

of N

orw

ich

, pre

sen

ts

the

awar

d t

o th

e E

nvi

ron

men

t A

gen

cy’s

Pau

l M

itch

elm

ore

and

Hal

crow

’s A

ng

ela

Row

e

Dames Point

In the two years since Halcrow launched its latest suite of ISIS products, the company’s version of this leading software package has become the industry’s first choice for river modelling.

With the release of Halcrow’s ISIS range in January 2008, clients could choose between the existing Wallingford Software version and Halcrow’s new package – and the majority opted for the latter. The company has further developed its modelling offering with the integration of TUFLOW flood and tide simulation software, the introduction of ISIS Mapper in January 2008 and the launch of ISIS 2D the following year.

Halcrow’s masterstroke was a flexible licensing option coupled with a new, significantly lower pricing structure which included ISIS Professional and ISIS Free – a limited version of the software that can be used for commercial purposes. The launch of the ISIS suite also provided all Halcrow employees with access to the software at no direct cost. Two years on from the launch and Halcrow’s customer

Features• add-on fully compatible with Microsoft Excel• robust genetic algorithm optimisation engine• seamless integration into Microsoft Excel• ranges for variable cells and constraints

Benefits• identifies optimum global solutions to complex,

real problems• highest level of efficient computation• no need to leave your spreadsheet• allows progress to be monitored towards

best solutions

Magic wand for knotty problems

takes industry by storm

Finding the optimum answer to engineering challenges is now markedly easier thanks to a handy optimisation software add-on supported by Halcrow’s innovation fund.

OPTISOLV is easy to use, readily integrated with spreadsheets and particularly adept at handling intricate, non-linear problems.

“Virtually any type of optimisation problem that can be modelled in Microsoft Excel can be solved using this add-on,” said Zhengfu Rao, who helped develop the software package.

Using genetic algorithms in a process of selection and evolution, the add-on seeks to find a range of near-optimal solutions. As Zhengfu pointed out, genetic algorithms are highly flexible and make relatively few assumptions about the problem they are being asked to solve.

“OPTISOLV works in a very straightforward way,” he explained. “First, you specify the objective of a proposed project, along with its variables and constraints. Next you set some genetic algorithm parameters and start the optimisation process, which begins generating trial solutions. You can monitor the optimisation process and the best available solution without having to leave your spreadsheet.”

ISIS by Halcrow base has swelled by 50 per cent, with around 350 supported ISIS Professional licenses and 1,500 copies of ISIS Free in use.

The company’s approach to marketing has compounded its success, particularly with the development of an online support community for ISIS users – isisuser.com. This dedicated website provides access to manuals, support forums, useful downloadable information, knowledge bases and other productivity tools for its registered users, who number well over 2,000.

To further differentiate Halcrow’s product, drive traffic to the user website and raise money for charity, the team introduced an initiative where every user interaction generates a donation to WaterAid and the Halcrow Foundation. Over £1,000 has been raised to date.

Vijay Jain, Halcrow’s ISIS and TUFLOW sales and marketing manager, commented: “I have been involved in the marketing of ISIS from the start and it’s great to see it moving from strength to strength. Sales have been increasing year on year and there are lots of new and exciting developments to the software coming up later in 2010.”

Further information: isisuser.com

ISIS is used extensively throughout the world as an analysis tool for flood risk mapping, flood forecasting and many other elements of flood risk management.

Clients include the UK’s Environment Agency – which awarded Halcrow a three-year contract to support and maintain its ISIS software – government bodies, environmental regulators, local authorities and councils, drainage boards, universities and the bulk of the UK’s river engineering consultants.

Other organisations signing up include Arup, Atkins, British Waterways, Jacobs, Mekong River Commission Secretariat, Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Office of Public Works in Ireland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

ISIS two-dimensional model

Optimisation add-on for Microsoft Excel


A

stepforwardwith the evolution of the programme as it unfolds in the months and years to come.”

A fundamental shift Despite the global economic slowdown, significant progress has been made in the programme’s first year. “We believe the rationale for developing our capability in major projects has not been impacted by the recent economic slowdown,” explained Glasgow-based programme director Steve Swain. “In fact, it’s likely that governments in our key global markets will accelerate major projects as part of their fiscal stimulus packages. We’re already seeing the resurgence of major projects in the Middle East, for instance.”

In early 2009, four key employees were seconded from their respective business groups into the major projects office to focus on the programme full-time. Drawing on specialist skills in project management, project planning and controls, fast-track recruitment and IT and work systems, the team will support bids and projects, particularly during the critical first 100-day mobilisation period.

“The programme will enhance our capability to deliver large and complex projects in increasingly senior roles in the project delivery hierarchy. We will do this by adding key people, competencies, tools and processes to our core engineering and planning skills,” said Steve. “This has moved a long way from an intellectual statement of intent to a living, breathing and very real programme. It will translate into bigger opportunities for employees across the world and strengthen our brand, as well as creating a foundation for Halcrow to move into project and programme management in the medium term.”

uclear new build. US high speed rail. City management. The UK’s Severn barrage for tidal power generation. On the surface, a seemingly disparate smorgasbord

of market opportunities, but they are all united by one common – and critical – denominator. Each is a key target for Halcrow’s major projects programme.

This bold programme is a critical initiative underpinning Halcrow’s ambitious Strategy 2018, which seeks to deliver a £1.5 billion business in under a decade.

There is no escaping the major project programme’s significance in achieving this aim, as it will be responsible for delivering some 30 per cent of that figure – £450 million. That’s virtually the same as Halcrow’s current global turnover.

And such a seismic shift in the global fortunes of Halcrow cannot be achieved solely by an executive task force spearheading it from the top. By its very nature, it requires – demands, in fact – that each and every Halcrow employee invests time and intellect to ensure its success.

Group board director Les Buck, who chairs the major projects programme board, echoes these pugnacious sentiments: “This programme’s goals are so big that they have to become the largest single influence behind the business growth plans underpinning our 2018 strategy,” he said.

“We won’t stop doing the current mix of small, medium and large projects, but we have to make a step change to pursue and win an increasing proportion of major projects, too,” explained Les. “It is critical, then, that each and every Halcrow employee fully engages

N

Vox | issue five22

Connecting neighbours: Halcrow is providing programme management services for the £8 billion Bahrain-Qatar Causeway

A

stepforwardA rational beastFor every interested employee to fully engage, it is important to understand the programme’s rationale, basis and differentiators.

Taking each in turn, the rationale is to take on project roles that enhance the wider Halcrow brand and offer opportunities for enhanced profit. Its basis is to maintain the existing Halcrow business while developing a major projects capability through a staged approach.

There are several areas in which a major project differs from routine business:

• pursuit of these projects will involve significant investment to position Halcrow in the mind of the client, with partners and in the wider marketplace, well before any formal solicitation is made by the client. All five business groups have agreed to collaboratively fund pursuit activities well in advance of bidding

• a number of key project management skills – critical to successfully manage large, complex projects – will now be built into project teams

• improvements in project specific recruitment and fast-track deployment

• a structured approach to the first 100 days of a major project

Pillars of the communityHeading up the initiative are the four pillars of the major projects programme board – Les Buck, David Kerr, Yaver Abidi and Alasdair Coates.

This quadratic powerhouse will oversee, steer and inform the programme’s strategy. Along with core governance, they will

>

Getting there... fast: plans for high speed rail are progressing in countries across the world

Current major projects • master planning, design and construction supervision

of the primary infrastructure for the £29 billion Lusail development, Qatar

• lead consultant for all infrastructure elements of the first phase of the £23 billion Yas Island project, United Arab Emirates

• project delivery partner for the £14 billion central section of CrossRail, UK

• detailed design services for one section of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corporation £10 billion Sha Tin to Central link, China

• project management services for the £6 billion Bahrain-Qatar Causeway, Qatar

• lead designer for one section of the £5.6 billion Mass Transit Tunnel project linking New Jersey and New York, US

• programme management services for the £2.7 billion Thames Tideway scheme, UK

• tender design services as part of a consortia (Forthspan) competing with one other for the £2.3 billion Forth Replacement Crossing, UK

• technical advice for Sydney’s £1.2 billion public-private partnership rolling stock procurement programme, Australia

• project management oversight for £1 billion of transit projects funded by the Federal Transit Authority in the US’s north-east region


A

stepforwardA

stepforward

projects are worth tens of billions of pounds, but we need to move closer to the overall management of these projects and look to expand the role we play.

“Currently, we generally project manage as a junior partner but we want to take the lead. Clearly we can’t do this overnight. It will take significant individual, team and organisational change. That is our challenge. You may think this is something for the future – but it is not. It’s happening now.”

Mapping for growthWith such a huge strategic task ahead, getting the implementation right will be critical. Halcrow is following a three staged approach (see box) with the ultimate goal of moving into services that are perceived by clients to be of higher value.

“Industry benchmarking of this sector shows that firms providing programme management services achieve margins of over 30 per cent greater than more traditional design and project management,” said Steve.

This roll-out will not only allow sufficient time for capacity-building, learning and adaptation, but also avoid the pitfalls encountered by some of Halcrow’s competitors. By shifting their emphasis too rapidly to programme and construction management, some of these companies lost capability in their core planning, engineering and design disciplines. The programme’s duration, while extended over several years, maps well to the experience of other organisations that have made a similar successful transition.

With everyone singing from the same proverbial hymn sheet, the future for the major projects programme, Halcrow and its employees, should be so bright, we’ll all be wearing shades.

A three-pronged approachStage one – we will expand our capability to manage large, complex design and construction supervision assignments involving multiple partners and sub-consultants

Stage two – we will develop our project and construction management capability over a period of five years

Stage three – we will develop our programme management capability, experience and reputation

Qat

ar’s

new

est

city

: H

alcr

ow h

elp

ed

del

iver

pri

mar

y in

fras

tru

ctu

re f

or t

he

£2

9 b

illio

n L

usa

il d

evel

opm

ent

provide overall accountability for its successful implementation and roll out across the company.

The benefits of success are immense – brand building, business stability through profitable long-term projects, and a truly exciting expansion of employee career development prospects.

And there is no time like the present in which to crack on, as Steve is quick to testify.

“Most people are surprised to learn that the average Halcrow project size is £90,000. They believe it is much bigger,” said Steve. “Currently, we inhabit the service provision space that delivers traditional design solutions. While we will continue to do so, the programme will transform this focus into one targeted at major design and multi-disciplinary design management and project/programme management services. This will increase the quality of earnings while simultaneously driving down risk.”

With the help of an outside consultant, the team has already commenced an assessment of Halcrow’s major project leader potential, benchmarked against the highest industry standards. “We will use the results of this to identify our potential leaders – each of whom will be fundamental to our success,” said Steve.

Looking forward, the pipeline of potential business is also critical, as Steve adds: “We are engaging with the regional management teams to identify major project leads and opportunities around the world that are set to emerge over the next ten years.”

A vision of successSo what does a major project actually look like? Yaver Abidi explained: “Already our clients are entrusting us to play leading roles in their multi-billion pound projects. Our top ten to 20

Vox | issue five24

y any standards, 2009 was a difficult year as many of the world’s economies slid into recession.

Projects were shelved, downsized or stalled; private sector clients operated with a renewed sense of caution; and the public sector tightened its grip on fiscal purse strings.

Yet despite fragile global markets and difficult trading conditions, Halcrow closed the year with annual profits of £16 million (subject to audit) against a target of £24 million. This reflects the significant costs of restructuring the business and downsizing, which accounted for close to £8 million.

Chief executive Peter Gammie is swift to point out the team’s successful efforts to mitigate financial losses: “With the company rising to the challenges set by our focus on the 3Cs – clients, cash, costs – we were able to pull back £4 million from overhead and regional costs, along with the recovery of some significant debts in the Middle East.”

Looking forwards to the year ahead, the company has set a profit target of £20 million. Two strategic business areas are integral to achieving this: global delivery and business development. As Peter explained: “The step change we made a few years ago with the better bidding process now needs to be revisited. The principles are simple: use the right people; set individual targets and accountability; use common tools and apply best practice. We’re also looking at global delivery and how to maximise the skills and experience of employees around the world.”

To help achieve this, the company will be investing in rail, power and asset management, all of which are important to the three main regions – the UK, Middle East and North America. “We’ll also continue to focus efforts on the major projects programme, which underpins our long-term growth plans,” said Peter.

Halcrow’s emerging regions – Latin America, Australia, India, Europe and east Asia – all

An interview with chief executive Peter Gammie

performed well in 2009, with India doubling in size and Latin America growing by 40 per cent. In response, the company has decided to accelerate growth in these countries.

Expanding on this, Peter said: “Following a review of proposals from each region, we have agreed to focus on Australia. Employee numbers are set to rise from 200 to 500 by the end of 2012 to take advantage of the opportunities the country offers. We’ll also be laying the foundations for accelerating growth in other emerging regions.”

The year also closed with a notable financial success, helping secure Halcrow’s ongoing stability, as Peter explained: “We finalised a deal with a consortium of three banks – HSBC, Lloyds Bank and China Construction Bank – to provide £50 million of working capital facilities, along with additional facilities, including over £45 million of bonding lines. We’ve also secured lease finance for our new headquarters in London.”

The 3Cs remain pivotal as the company enters another challenging period. Halcrow’s client care programme – launched last year – has generated a positive response from around the business, yielding encouraging results. “2010 must be the year of the client,” emphasised Peter. “I’m asking all of our management teams to put client care at the top of their agenda.”

Cost control and cash collection are equally important as Halcrow seeks to ride out the global recession. Reducing costs by some 10 per cent this year is amongst the company’s stated goals. “Cash remains the lifeblood of the business,” said Peter. “Negotiating good payment profiles on new projects, invoicing promptly, resolving issues with clients and insisting that they honour contracts by paying us on time all remain top priorities for 2010.”

nationState ofthe

B

2010 must be the year of the client


Vox | issue five26

f global recession has stalled infrastructure development around the world, it has barely touched the economic powerhouse that India has become over the last two

decades. Halcrow’s business there has doubled in each of the past two years and a repeat performance is expected in 2010, just as its regional managing director of seven years, David Birch, steps down.

David’s tenure has seen some dramatic developments: Halcrow’s operation there has grown from five to 200 people; the Indian government plans to spend £320 billion in the next five years on infrastructure; and economic growth has set the country on course to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030.

Since its decision to enter India, Halcrow has been riding the country’s economic boom. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) peaked at almost 10 per cent in 2006 and 2007 and, while it has dipped during the global recession of the past two years, it was still running at 6.7 per cent in 2009. The country’s increasing wealth is driving an unprecedented increase in spending to improve its notoriously poor infrastructure, which has acted as a brake on its potential and impacted the lives of all Indians.

“In India, we are losing a lot on logistics – 40 per cent of perishable products in India are no good by the time they reach their destination,” said Rajeev Vijay, Halcrow’s regional director for consulting business group.

Halcrow is already helping to realise the government’s infrastructure challenge. By the end of 2010, employee numbers are expected to increase by 50 per cent to 300 and the company is expanding into new market sectors. It has just started work on a major urban planning project there and is moving into the wastewater sector.

Halcrow made its debut in India supervising several highways projects during the then government-financed highways programme. This soon led to hydropower development, which has become a stalwart of the business.

Transport planning and then highway and bridge design for private sector players, who were then entering this market, were soon to follow and these three areas have become the mainstay of Halcrow’s Delhi office.

“By late 2005,” said David, “the property and maritime sectors became potential new business prospects for us and we opened our second office in Mumbai. Our work is developing well in Mumbai with projects like Dighi port, which we are helping to turn into a multipurpose, nine-berth all cargo port that will capitalise on increasing freight movement, taking a bigger share in world trade.”

“We’re going to be very aggressive in our growth,” said Mital Shah, regional director for both the maritime and property business groups. “The greatest challenge is going to be delivering value and innovative thinking.”

More recent developments include work on airports, a move into urban planning and, at the beginning of 2010, the opening of Halcrow’s new office in Hyderabad, which will serve clients in south India, initially in highway planning and design. It will also provide a base for global delivery, particularly for the Middle East.

I

Economic growth has set India on course to become the world’s third

largest economy by 2030

Target market to help

achieve Strategy 2018 goals

Tunnelling for the Bilanghana hydropower scheme

Th

e M

um

bai

tea

m

Included in current projects is a major hydropower scheme at Kishanganga in northern Kashmir where the team is providing mathematical modelling, tunnelling, underground space and power station designs. “We have people working on this project in India, Australia and the UK,” said Iftikhar Drabu, regional director for water and power.

Halcrow is also building a strong relationship with one of India’s premier hotel chains, Taj Gateway. Work is underway on a new Delhi-to-Mumbai freight corridor, India’s first mainline rail link to be built to 21st century standards. The company is also working on a master plan to develop one of the largest industrial regions in the world in Dholera – a largely self-contained new industrial city spread over 900km². Halcrow’s specialist expertise is needed to manage challenges ranging from poor soil conditions, coastal zones regulation, flooding, and the social and environmental aspects of developing infrastructure.

Looking at the achievements over the last eight years, David says that the main legacy he will leave for his successor, Bill Peacock, will be the strength of Halcrow’s management team and relationships with key clients, as well as employees’ extensive capabilities and skills.

Bill is looking forward to building on Halcrow’s business in this emerging region. “This is a great opportunity to build on David’s legacy here,” he said. “We have a strong regional management team and a real platform for growth.”

David, who will continue to work for Halcrow as a consultant, as well as taking on a new consultancy role to a medium-sized Indian company, feels Halcrow’s India operation is well positioned to achieve its ambitions over the coming years. They include a plan to contribute 10 per cent of Halcrow’s global turnover by 2018. That will require sustained average growth of 40 per cent each year for eight years – no mean feat, but one that David believes is achievable given the ever-increasing size of the market for Halcrow’s services.

Chief executive Peter Gammie agrees: “India is going to be a real economic and political force in the world in the coming decades and it is for that reason that we see it as a strategically important country for Halcrow.”

David Birch spent much of his career in the south Asia region and, long before he joined Halcrow, he embraced what has become the company’s purpose: to sustain and improve the quality of people’s lives.

Among other things, he is credited with reorganising much of the irrigation system in Bangladesh at the age of just 28, beginning his career there as a volunteer for VSO.

On his return from Bangladesh he completed a masters degree in irrigation, before joining Halcrow in 1979. He was seconded almost immediately to the World Bank to develop irrigation plans for Bangladesh. In 1983, Halcrow established an operation in Pakistan under David’s direction and until 1997 he travelled between there and the UK. He returned to the UK for three years before being asked to set up Halcrow’s India operation in 2002.

To this day, David is heavily involved in charitable work spearheading a plethora of projects to help severely disadvantaged people, for both the Halcrow Foundation and the Eva Rickett Trust.

Hyd

rop

ower

dev

elop

men

t at

Kis

han

gan

ga

David (second left) on an early irrigation project

Fond farewell: David and his wife, Jane, with the Delhi team

Ind

ia’s

man

agem

ent

team

Dighi port

Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins... Conference circuit

Armed with PowerPoint presentations, exhibition stands, information and enthusiasm, Halcrow experts have been boosting the company’s profile at a host of industry conferences.

British Ports AssociationJohn Martin and Michael Stickley represented Halcrow at the British Ports Association’s conference, held in Scarborough, UK, on 7 and 8 October. John delivered a presentation focusing on the effective management of port assets, while visitors to Halcrow’s exhibition stand gained an insight into the company’s port asset management system, PORTAL.

Visit halcrow.com/portal for more information.

American Shore and Beach Preservation AssociationUnderscoring Halcrow’s growing standing in the US coastal market, abstracts for five presentations were delivered at the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association’s (ASBPA) annual conference.

Held between 14 and 16 October in St Pete Beach, Florida, the event covered a range of domestic and international themes, including shoreline and coastal management; federal, state, and local coastal policy; and global coastal issues.

Emma Fisher, Brian Joyner, Mamta Jain, John Pauling and Adam Hosking all gave talks at the conference. Comprising a significant proportion of the 80 papers delivered – drawn from across the US and internationally – Halcrow’s presentations reflected the capabilities the company brings to the US coastal market. Adam also served on the conference’s abstract review committee, reinforcing Halcrow’s growing stature in this field.

In addition, a booth demonstrating Halcrow’s shoreline and nearshore data system (SANDS) software and its range of coastal capabilities further boosted the company’s presence at the event.

Terminal Operations Conference for the AmericasRounding out the company’s ports prowess Halcrow made its presence felt at the Terminal Operations Conference (TOC) for the Americas 2009, held in Buenos Aires from 9-11 November.

As well as organising an exhibition stand to showcase some of Halcrow’s maritime projects, regional managing director Sergio Sour and the local team co-ordinated all of the conference logistics – significantly raising the company’s profile at the event – while Bob West and Guillaume Lucci featured in the event programme.

Some 350 people attended the conference, including port directors, maritime design and construction firms, equipment suppliers, consultants and government officials, along with a number of Halcrow’s regional contacts.

Halcrow employees from New York, Boston, Houston, Santiago and London flew in for the event.

Further boosting Halcrow’s profile, the company hosted a well-attended networking dinner and tango show. Guillaume delivered a welcome presentation in English and Spanish, which included an overview of Halcrow’s involvement in the region, and announced the opening of its new office

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Looking ahead to 2010, the TOC Americas event will be held in Rio de Janeiro.

Vox | issue five28

Business beat Profiling our expertise

Toronto taps growth marketIf you hop on a train or drive on a toll road in Canada, there’s a growing chance Halcrow’s Toronto-based consulting team will have had a hand in the infrastructure.

Led by David Crowley, this diverse, multinational team has been busy expanding Halcrow’s footprint in eastern Canada’s transportation, planning and engineering markets, while concurrently firming up its presence in the country’s western provinces.

Since its formation four years ago, the team has been responsible for several major transportation and transit planning projects in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. These include ongoing transit planning, policy studies and benefits case analysis for the Greater Toronto Transport Authority (Metrolinx) and modal demand forecasting for the City of Vaughan.

Toronto is the consulting business group’s second Canadian base, following its success in Vancouver.

Warsaw expandsBooming business in Halcrow’s Warsaw office has meant colleagues budging up ever closer over the last couple of years. In 2010, a doubling of available office space will allow them to breathe more easily.

With 475m² of new space the office now occupies a total of 850m² over two floors, meaning the 60-strong team can work in greater comfort.

This is the third major move for Halcrow’s Warsaw employees in less than two years. A shortage of space prompted the shift to the current premises in July 2008. Halcrow opened its Warsaw office in 2005 with a team of just two.

Clo

ckw

ise

from

top

left

: L

eah

Ru

ssel

l, B

aha

Als

hal

alfa

h,

Lis

a W

ang

, Jef

f T

jion

g, D

avid

Cro

wle

y an

d C

hri

s F

ong

Hal

crow

’s J

ohn

Mar

tin

wit

h

Mik

e T

ouls

en, C

osta

in

(L t

o r)

Jon

ath

an G

old

stic

k,

Gu

illau

me

Lu

cci,

Ale

jan

dro

Lab

be

and

Bob

Wes

t

(L t

o r)

Joh

n P

aulin

g, E

mm

a F

ish

er,

Mic

hae

l Sti

ckle

y an

d J

ay J

ahan

gir

i fr

om T

RE

Con

sult

ants

redicting the future has always been a dubious science. Hundreds of years ago Nostradamus stared gloomily into his bucket of water and old Mother Shipton mumbled away

in her Knaresborough Cave.

Engineering consultants make unlikely ‘mystic megs’ but they are certainly in the business of peering into the future when they manage assets. However, unlike the end-of-the pier merchants, they don’t have the luxury of airy vagueness.

“Clients need to know the expected life span of a road network, bridge or drainage system if they are to avoid endless crisis management,” explained Will Williams, urban water asset management growth strand leader. “For financial and practical purposes they need to balance the likely benefits of different options, especially in times of tight budgets. Without solid, reliable predictions about asset longevity, clients could face severe financial headaches down the line; at worst they could face a disaster.”

Awareness of the importance of asset management has grown sharply in recent years, not least because of carbon accounting. But the methodology has lagged behind demand and has often relied on time-consuming inputs based on fragmented historical data.

The Halcrow asset management toolkit is a new all-in-one solution to this increasingly important challenge. Created by the urban water asset management team in Swindon, UK, with support from Halcrow’s innovation fund, the toolkit aims to help technical engineers assist clients in considering investment decisions. The suite of software tools, developed over two years of testing and collaboration with colleagues, allows consultants to get a bird’s-eye view of cost benefits, optimisation, carbon accounting and risk modelling.

Asset management planner Sue De Rosa project managed development of the toolkit, along with colleagues Paul Conroy, Alec Yeowell, Nicola Vemmie and Zhengfu Rao. She says the components can be used individually or in combination to produce an integrated bespoke analysis of assets.

“The tools all complement each other,” explained Sue. “They help with decision making and allow joined-up thinking, boosting our presence in the international asset management market. I anticipate that many people will use a pick and mix approach. For instance,

Give us the tools

The downloadable software suite is available in four separate Excel spreadsheet or Word files:

• a cost-benefit analysis tool providing comparisons of potential investment returns from different options

• optimisation software tools, including a cohort model and a ‘cluster’ tool for infrastructure assets and an energy cost minimisation system (ENCOMS) for non-infrastructure assets looking at the project’s whole life cycle

• a carbon accounting tool measuring all greenhouse gases produced through burning fossil fuels during asset construction, transportation and installation

• a generic risk model, applicable to any set of assets

in a water project you could run the cohort analysis to rank pipes then run the cost-benefit analysis on the different cohorts to assess the options and priorities.”

“Although the toolkit has only recently been released it has generated considerable interest throughout Halcrow,” said Paul Conroy, chief engineer for urban water asset management. “We’ve also had positive feedback from clients, particularly Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water, which used the cohort and cluster models to target their investments, make informed choices and prioritise their decision making.”

With more and more clients seeking asset management expertise, Paul points out that the toolbox will require ongoing development. “Our challenge is to integrate an even broader range of asset management tools and methodologies for a range of asset types,” he said. “We hope this will help Halcrow increase its potential market and reach its targets for life-cycle asset management.”

Halcrow’s new asset management toolkit aids decision making

P

Further information Will Williams on +1 678 461 3412 Paul Conroy on +44 (0)1793 815600

Sustainable solutions It’s in our hands

Vox | issue five30

Life is never easy when you are a member of an endangered species – ask any Cayman Islands blue iguana.

Try meeting the girl or boy of your dreams when there are only 100 or so potential partners on the market…

Fortunately, the daily grind of iguana life on the sun-soaked Caribbean island is looking up with the arrival of some attractive new low-cost housing which should appeal to even the most discerning iguana householder.

Over 100 iguana shelters of different sizes have been built with help from Halcrow Yolles’s Cayman Islands office.

The director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Programme (BIRP), Fred Burton, approached Halcrow Yolles for advice on a resilient material to replace the previous wooden shelters which had rotted away.

The brief was to find a material that was light yet durable and also lent itself to mass production. Halcrow Yolles suggested an unreinforced latex modified grout and the supplier kindly agreed to provide the material for a fraction of commercial costs.

Dozens of shelters have already been cast by volunteers and carried into the Salina Reserve where BIRP is leading

a drive to boost iguana numbers. The shelters will provide a safe hiding place for the iguanas, whose population was decimated by modern farming

practices and predators. In recent years, thanks to BIRP, blue iguana numbers have climbed from an all-time

low of around 25 to over 200.

In addition to developing the new shelters, the Cayman Islands Halcrow Yolles team is standing by to provide structural engineering services for a proposed European Union-funded visitor centre.

Home sweet home

Dreary flood storage areas in the UK could be transformed into ecologically rich havens bursting with wildlife and damp-loving plants as a result of Halcrow research.

While natural flood plains buzz with wildlife year round, man-made flood storage areas (FSAs) have always been their poor relation. Still and stagnant, the deep waters that bank up during flood events swamp any plants lying beneath and are inhospitable to wildlife. The receding floods reveal stretches of parched, dank wasteland.

An imaginative new report from Halcrow, however, should ensure future FSAs adapt valuable lessons from nature. Existing FSAs will also be rehabilitated to create richer habitats.

‘Achieving more: operational flood storage areas and biodiversity’, is one of the more inspirational outcomes of the government’s Pitt Review into the floods that engulfed the UK during the saturated summer of 2007.

With flood events likely to increase as a result of climate change, the review made it clear that improved flood prevention would be needed, but also recommended that the Environment Agency and its partners look at working with more natural processes in managing flood water.

Commissioned by the Environment Agency, Halcrow provided theoretical and practical guidance to ensure FSAs contribute to national biodiversity and designations targets, such as the UK biodiversity action plan. Project manager Jo Cullis and her team worked closely with renowned Open University wetlands expert David Gowing and Cranfield University’s Tim Hess as consultancy advisers. The report will be used to inform Environment Agency policy making and provide practical guidance to its project managers.

Awash with ideas for boosting wildlifeCentral to the new approach is a five-stage biodiversity potential decision key. The key proposes solutions and trade-offs between the engineering requirements of flood management and opportunities to maximise biodiversity. In practical terms, simply creating a wider flood area with reed beds and island refuges could create an enhanced, more diverse environment – allowing reed beds to flourish and layers of nutrient-rich sediment to settle.

“This is a highly innovative project,” said Jo. “Environmental inputs have often been treated as an add-on to the design process. Now, they should be considered an integral part of the project right from the outset with ecologists working in partnership with engineers and designers.

“The project has been very well received by the Environment Agency and we hope it will begin to influence its policy until this approach becomes fully embedded in the design process.”

Diversity beckons: Lower Todmorden flood storage area

A b

lue

igu

ana

soak

s u

p s

ome

rays

As Sowwah Island rises steadily from the sea off Abu Dhabi’s coast, Halcrow’s involvement in the project has evolved and expanded to keep pace with the emirate’s latest mixed-use development.

Halcrow provided environmental services to the dredging and reclamation contractor, Oger Abu Dhabi, as the island took shape. What began as a three-month contract snowballed into a 16-month undertaking, with Halcrow retained for a handful of project extensions after demonstrating its palpable worth. As well as providing a full-time site presence, the team managed all environmental aspects of the project on the contractor’s behalf, including representing Oger Abu Dhabi in meetings with client Mubadala.

The client clearly approved. In December 2009, Mubadala awarded Halcrow a separate two-year contract to conduct environmental monitoring around the island. This work is a built-in requirement of the construction permits issued to contractors.

Halcrow will undertake weekly water quality monitoring at four locations in the channels encircling Sowwah Island, as well as monthly noise monitoring at four sensitive receptor points. Halcrow’s marine biologists are gearing up to carry out quarterly ecological surveys at ten sites around the island’s perimeter, drawing on the team’s specialist diving skills to analyse the environmental effects of construction.

What began as a three-month project worth £50,000 has swelled to three-and-a-half years of work generating over £520,000 in fees – illustrating the potential rewards of a proactive approach to client care and securing repeat work.

Future focused Young engineers at Halcrow are taking on engaging research projects through the Engineers of the 21st Century (E21C) programme; a collaborative initiative led by Forum for the Future.

A conduit for enthusiastic, innovative thinking, the scheme involves partnering strategic clients in cutting-edge sustainability research. As part of the current E21C project Halcrow – together with the Environment Agency, Morrison Construction, Interserve and British Waterways – is developing an appraisal method for construction materials used in flood defence projects.

The project aims to establish a strategic approach to material use; enabling accurate whole-life assessment and costing from the earliest design stages.

More than 30 future leaders from within Halcrow put themselves forward for the current project. “The keenness to get involved was inspiring, and I am looking forward to similar enthusiasm in relation to this year’s project,” commented group sustainability manager Nick Murry.

Further information: [email protected]

Sowwah seeds of change

As well as connecting physical spaces, Glasgow’s Tradeston Bridge has closed the gap on the city’s future aspirations through its forward-thinking, visionary design.

The new pedestrian bridge received the gold award for regeneration at the UK’s Green Apple Awards 2009, reflecting

the judges’ focus on sustainable construction and urban renewal.

Glasgow’s latest landmark picked up further plaudits at the

Saltire Awards – see page 19 for details.

Tradeston bites green apple

Aerial view in November 2008

Artist’s impression of the completed development

Nick Murry with John Barritt, WRAP’s aggregates technical advisor

Halcrow’s Peter Lyttle (right) and BAM Nuttall’s Ian Steele with television presenter Alexandra Bastedo

Construction continues apace, March 2009

WRAPping up construction wasteThe UK construction industry sends some 25 million tonnes of waste to be buried in landfills each year, amounting to almost one third of the country’s total refuse. Halcrow recently signed up to a bold commitment to halve the amount of construction waste dumped by 2012, compared with 2008 levels.

Steered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the initiative represents a tangible step towards treating waste as a resource and boosting reuse and recycling rates within the industry – recognised as an essential step-change by the commitment’s 200 signatories. And the potential carbon savings generated by a consistent, structured approach to waste minimisation and management are undeniable. Materials are extracted, processed and transported to site at considerable economic and environmental expense, frequently only to be discarded unused. Conservative estimates suggest that reducing waste by ten tonnes averts around five tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Group sustainability manager Nick Murry commented: “This represents a collective push from clients, designers and contractors to work together, ensuring we design out waste right from the outset of every project.”

More informationwww.wrap.org.uk

and sweep away camp buildings, the charities’ trustees – aware of Halcrow’s strong coastal management reputation – originally sought the company’s help through its London base in March 2009. With the maritime business group agreeing to find volunteers to assist, coastal market sector director Peter Barter and Glasgow-based Julia Nammuni met with the charities in April to establish the extent and severity of the problem.

His close proximity to Costa Rica and ideally matched skills rendered Simon – from Halcrow’s office in Tampa, Florida – an ideal volunteer. Based on his June site investigation Simon reported back on his immediate findings, recommending further monitoring and modelling to help determine the most sustainable short, medium and long-term strategies to combat both river breaches and coastal erosion.

Meanwhile Julia – a recent graduate of Delft University of Technology’s master of science programme with the Halcrow awards scheme – was ploughing through her network of academic contacts to find willing partners. Through her former professor at the Netherlands’ largest technical institution – renowned as a world-leading research hub for coastal and fluvial science and engineering – an enthusiastic group of graduate students was selected to pick up where Simon’s evaluation left off.

Armed with support, advice and £500 backing from Halcrow, the Dutch quartet formulated a research plan and sought further

Halcrow expertise helps address coastal erosion in Costa Rican conservation reserve

Vox | issue five32

n his first night in Costa Rica, Simon Burchett crouched in the sand and watched by torchlight as a mature leatherback turtle painstakingly dug a hole and laid her

eggs, before slowly dragging her gnarled carapace back down the beach to the waiting tide.

Halcrow’s principal coastal engineer initially headed to Pacuare Reserve on the central American isthmus in June 2009 to assess the extent of coastal erosion. Owned and managed by UK charities Rainforest Concern and the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the reserve is one of the world’s top five nesting sites for the critically endangered leatherback, hawksbill and green turtles. A slender 6km strip of rainforest, it is bordered by the Caribbean Sea on one side and Tortuguero Canal on the other.

Hemmed in by these watercourses, the reserve is only accessible by boat and is devoid of infrastructure connections – visitors to Pacuare must cope without electricity, telephones, fresh water or sewerage mains. Howler, white-faced capuchin and spider monkeys and big cats prowl and chatter through the undergrowth while agami herons construct their nests in the wooded wetlands. “Although the area is very wild and remote,” Simon explained, “it’s readily apparent to anyone visiting that it is also extremely fragile. A delicate equilibrium exists that sustains the overall health of the ecosystem.”

Faced with increasingly frequent breaches from the nearby lagoon and coastal erosion threatening to destabilise nesting grounds

O

funding. During their October visit to the reserve, the group measured beach profiles, river cross-sections and flows. This data was then used to build computer models capable of testing different options for future coastal and fluvial management.

Julia, Peter and Simon provided ongoing support and advice, helping the students with their study where possible.

Back in the Netherlands, the students presented their work on the project, which has formed an integral part of their masters programme. Peter and Simon are hoping to meet the charities over the coming months to present and discuss the findings.

“This research highlights the inter-relationships between river and coastal systems and human intervention” said Simon. “Ultimately, we hope this project will encourage local authorities to promote a more balanced and holistic approach to land-use planning.

“Further, we hope this example of a meaningful intersection between education and charity needs, delivered via Halcrow, can encourage and promote similar projects in the future.”

Giant of the sea

• The leatherback turtle is the largest of all living sea turtles, averaging 1.2m to 1.9m in length and weighing 250-700kg

• It is the only sea turtle with a soft shell – a leathery, oil-saturated carapace that is dark gray to black with white or pale spots

• Nesting at intervals of two to three years, leatherbacks only lay their eggs on lonely stretches of beach in eastern Malaysia, south east Africa, French Guiana, and on Costa Rica’s Caribbean shore

• A male leatherback, found on the coast of Wales in 1988, was 3m long and weighed almost 908kg

• Recent estimates of global nesting populations indicate 26,000 to 43,000 nesting females annually – a dramatic decline from the 115,000 estimated in 1980

Creeping erosion threatens breeding grounds and research buildings

The Delft students on the beach at Pacuare

Why the future is natural

Simplicity: the design and construction of natural wastewater plants are very simple. Even small building companies can build them and little training is required to maintain them.

Cost-effectiveness: building, labour and maintenance costs for these plants are relatively low. They are much more convenient than the conventional (biological) wastewater plants during the operational phase, as they require almost no energy consumption or waste treatment. Mechanical devices are not used in these treatments, which keeps maintenance costs down.

Efficiency: natural systems will generally remove most pollutants, though efficiency is highly dependent on climatic conditions – low temperatures can make them less effective.

Reliability: natural systems are very reliable even in extreme operating conditions, and they can absorb a wide variety of hydraulic and organic feed.

Halcrow’s natural wastewater treatment team – part of the urban water and waste skill group – is preparing for a new wave of water treatment processes.

As the amount of wastewater produced by the global population grows, natural wastewater treatment systems are increasingly being seen as a simple, cost-effective and efficient purification method. These systems are used all over the world to purify industrial, domestic and agricultural wastewater.

Under the direction of Michael Norton, the team has expanded and developed at a rapid pace in answer to this increasing demand, with members in the UK, US, United Arab Emirates and India. The team has recently thrown itself into a challenging programme of research and development activity, strengthening Halcrow’s position as a leader in the field.

The work includes a critical assessment of design approaches for natural wastewater treatment. Also, a quantitative carbon assessment and comparison has been made of treatment plants that service approximately 2,000 people, using alternative methods such as extended aeration, constructed wetlands and waste stabilisation ponds.

Elsewhere, a collaboration with Cranfield University in the south of England includes researching methane recovery from anaerobic waste stabilisation ponds – a type of pond system used in waste stabilisation treatment facilities.

Colin Gittings, who acts as a central contact for the team, explained: “We presented a paper using this research at the third European water and wastewater management conference, held in Birmingham on 22 September 2009. The event offered a terrific platform on which to share our findings. Entitled ‘Low carbon technology for wastewater treatment’, it was written in collaboration with members of the consulting business group’s environment team.”

Upping Halcrow’s profile – in particular in the area of constructed wetland treatment systems – the company has also joined the Constructed Wetlands Association and was recently elected to a position on the committee.

Natural selection

Sustainable solutions It’s in our hands

Vox | issue five34

Canada’s financial capital is now 835m2 greener, thanks to Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) recently unveiled garden roof at Eglinton West subway station.

Halcrow Yolles provided consultancy services and is currently reviewing the feasibility of installing green roofs at other TTC sites.

The Eglinton West roof will capture and absorb storm water, reduce urban heat island effects and protect the roof membrane from weathering, prolonging its lifespan. Life cycle analysis undertaken by Halcrow Yolles demonstrated the net savings available to the TTC.

The hardy sedum plant, which requires little water and provides a ‘green carpet’ look when not in bloom, was ultimately selected for the project.

Motorists and passengers on the city’s public transport network are now afforded a pastoral view as they travel through Toronto’s bustling mid-town.

Over 70,000 sedums blanket the station’s roof, divided into 5,000 pre-vegetated modules and laid out in evenly spaced rectangular rows framed by gravel walkways for easy access and maintenance.

Look up for green space in TorontoEnsuring subway services remained uninterrupted during the roof’s construction, the Halcrow Yolles team delivered a design that complements the original architectural features of Eglinton West, built in 1978.

Installed by Gardens in the Sky, the Eglinton West green roof is the first of its kind on TTC property and adds to Toronto’s existing 200 rooftop green spaces.

Eg

ling

ton

Wes

t: g

reen

sp

ace

in

the

hea

rt o

f th

e ci

ty

A natural wastewater treatment system

A watery wildlife haven near Romania’s Black Sea coast is to be preserved using Halcrow expertise.

Located south of Braila city – one of Romania’s largest port hubs – Braila wetland forms part of the country’s national natural parks network and is home to pelicans, otters and wild boars.

Its ten small islands are threaded through with a tangled network of narrow channels and its position – midway on the migration routes between northern Europe and north Africa – makes it a destination of choice for birdwatchers.

Halcrow’s development planning and design team has won a contract to develop the zoning urban plan (ZUP) for the wetland. The 12-month contract, which began in December 2009, will

Paradise regainedpreserve the natural environment within a protected area, with the overarching aim of developing environmentally friendly tourism.

ZUPs have developed in response to ongoing damage to fragile wetland zones, which are frequently drained and converted to farmland or contaminated by upstream pollution. The contract was awarded by Braila County Council and will constitute the base for future work in the area.

Stream of success for cloud to coast As climate change tightens its grip over the coming century, water is undoubtedly the resource where extremes of scarcity and excess will be visibly manifested. Drought, flooding, chronic shortages and conflicts over water supplies are set to blight communities around the world with increasing regularity – and the effects are already apparent in some regions.

Halcrow’s new approach to water management and investment planning – developed jointly with Cardiff University’s school of engineering in Wales – provides an integrated vision of the water system, aligned with the company’s recently launched water scarcity strategy. The cloud to coast (C2C) concept advocates a holistic method for considering water infrastructure development and maintenance over short and long-term planning timescales. As well as assessing the impact of climate change on water resources, C2C provides a framework for evaluating potential mitigation and adaptation strategies. Weighing up investment decisions, the concept ensures proposed solutions are robust, flexible and cost effective.

Halcrow’s water and power managing director, Michael Norton, and Halcrow professor for water management at Cardiff, Roger Falconer, recently presented the C2C concept at the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering workshop on water security. Michael said: “By considering the water system as a whole, from cloud to coast, Halcrow will be recognised as a thought leader and effective provider of consultancy services related to current and future challenges.” Kunle Akande, who leads the C2C core team comprising Sarah Heardman and Peter Halstead, added: “The global water scene has had, until now, a dual responsibility to provide water and wastewater services and protect water quality, and to prevent damage from flooding – irrespective of the nature of wider water security threats to its water systems. While different, these responsibilities are complementary and fall under the broad umbrella of strategic water management, which is the pivot upon which C2C revolves.”

Fleshing out this system-based approach, the C2C core team and Cardiff University employees are currently developing a unique, multi-disciplinary programme; designed to provide solutions and services for water industry clients. Given its broad range of applications and capacity for adding value, Halcrow’s C2C programme is being targeted at existing and potentially new global clients. These include water utility companies, wholesale suppliers of water and water-based products, international financial institutions, regulators, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and developers.

Halcrow’s chairman, Tony Pryor, commented: “The C2C concept motivates us to think more holistically when addressing multi-disciplinary projects and encourages greater communication, giving clients confidence that we’re providing integrated solutions to their greatest challenges.”

Braila wetland is a wildlife haven

Giving generously Halcrow Foundation

The Halcrow Foundation has donated £7,000 to support the Sunseed Tasmanian Trust’s (STT) fuel efficient stove

programme. Working with three villages in the semi-arid Dodoma province, central Tanzania, STT promotes the use of, and helps to build, sustainable mud stoves.

Previously, local women cooked on open fires inside their huts. As well as being highly inefficient requiring large quantities of fuel, the indoor fires spew out smoke – leading to eye and respiratory conditions – and are prone to spills, causing burns. Harvesting wood for fuel has led to chronic deforestation in the region, with 92 per cent of residents relying on vulnerable forests for survival.

Insulated mud stoves – constructed with locally-sourced, sustainable materials – drastically reduce the fuel requirements for cooking. Requiring less wood, village women have to make fewer trips carrying heavy loads, exposed to the risk of potential animal or sexual attacks. This frees up time for schooling or income-generating activities. External chimneys direct smoke out of the cooking area, promoting better health.

With the foundation’s backing, STT has trained selected villagers as stove builders, helping them invest the money they earn from this work. They are fully trained to monitor stove quality and performance to resolve any arising problems.

Over the course of the first year, the aim was for 25-30 per cent of households in each village to gain an efficient mud stove. By the end of 2009, this means between 750 and 1,000 households – approximately 3,000-4,000 people – have benefited from the Halcrow Foundation’s donation.

Find out more at www.sunseedtanzania.org

Mp

un

gu

zi v

illag

ers

get

to

gri

ps

wit

h t

hei

r n

ew s

tove


Vox | issue five36

Cerci says merciIn just a few short years a school for children with special needs in Maputo, Mozambique, has expanded from a single room, where students watched television all day, to a purpose-built facility providing specialist care, education and support. This rapid transformation is thanks, in part, to £10,000 from the Halcrow Foundation.

Established in 2002, registered local charity Cooperativa para a Educação e Reabilitação de Cidadãos Inadaptados (CERCI) works with children ranging in age from six to 15 years. Their needs and level of disability also vary – students’ conditions include Down’s syndrome, Asperger’s, autism and severe learning difficulties.

The majority of those attending CERCI’s school are unable to contribute towards school fees, severely curtailing the school’s ability to operate.

Project managed by former Halcrow employee Baghi Baghirathan, the Halcrow Foundation’s funds cover running costs for a year.

With the support of a trained, specialist team, providing speech, occupational and physical therapy, the children are flourishing. The school is split into three classes based on the children’s level of disability and each group has made considerable progress.

Intensive physiotherapy has been introduced for those with severe physical disabilities, and two children who were previously unable to walk are now able to do so unassisted. A girl whose movement had been restricted to lying on her stomach can now sit up on her own. Children with moderate levels of mental disability and other disorders are making huge strides in developing their speech, vocabulary, emotions and fine motor skills.

For children with relatively minor disabilities, the goal is to enable professional and social integration with their peers. Motivated and eager to acquire new skills, the majority of this group are now able to read, write and do basic mathematics.

From 20 children at the beginning of 2009, CERCI’s school now caters for 28 students. The support and treatment they receive is helping these vulnerable young people develop to the best of their ability; saving them from a life of hardship on the fringes of society.

Exe

rcis

es t

o d

evel

op fi

ne

mot

or s

kills

Intensive physiotherapy is changing children’s lives

The children and staff of Cerci

cooking

up change

in tanzania

Exe

rcis

es t

o d

evel

op fi

ne

mot

or s

kills

Lessons at Sengera primary school, Kenya, are now shielded from the elements following a collaboration between the Halcrow Foundation and a local charity, the Health and Water Foundation (HWF).

Established in 1937, Sengera is the district’s oldest school. Several classrooms had fallen into disrepair and it lacked sufficient teaching space, with some children forced to take lessons outdoors.

An £11,000 grant from the Halcrow Foundation enabled HWF to construct two classrooms, fitted out with desks for 100 of the school’s pupils. Extensive planning meetings were held with parents and teachers as the project scope and designs were developed, serving to mobilise the community.

Constructed from brick and concrete, the sturdy buildings feature reinforced roofs to combat the high winds that whip through the region. Parents chipped in, providing unskilled labour to complete the build.

Thanks to their improved learning environment, Sengera pupils are thriving. Attendance levels are up and following this success HWF plans to refurbish schools across the district.

A London quiz team blitzed the competition at the Canary Wharf Business Challenge, coming in first place.

Held on 9 November, Halcrow thrashed the competition from such big city names as Morgan Stanley and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Putting the secret of its success down to a well-rounded team, captain Sue Davies said: “We had Ben Hillier from finance, Conan Dwyer and Frances Lubbe from MIS and transport planner Barrie Sheppard, along with modern cultural knowledge from Roy Mustoe and Andrea Warr.” Rounding off the team were Reg Evans, who recently retired from Halcrow, and a guest contestant, Tom Jay.

The quiz was organised by the Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans (F.R.O.D.O.), a local charity – supported by the Halcrow Foundation – that improves the quality of care for children living in Romanian orphanages. The London offices raised £500 to donate to the charity at the event.

London team triumphs at business challenge

The champion quiz team with F.R.O.D.O. chief executive Vanessa Cummings

Sen

ger

a p

up

ils o

uts

ide

one

of t

he

clas

sroo

ms

Opting for a hand up rather than a hand out, a £10,000 grant from the Halcrow Foundation is helping transform the lives of young people from some of California’s most deprived communities.

This much-needed cash injection is set to bolster the International Trade Education Program’s (ITEP) internship scheme, which targets disadvantaged students from Los Angeles and the surrounding region.

Long Beach-based sponsor Stacey Jones recognised the potential to reinvigorate the industry by engaging tomorrow’s workforce. Blowing open predefined life paths and steering isolated young people towards a productive future, the internship scheme’s long-term benefits will permeate the southern California harbour community.

Working with local schools, the ITEP boosts students’ skills and self-esteem through work experience placements, along with workshops and mentorships.

Interns are exposed to a host of professional and personal experiences that mesh together to prepare them for a working future. Graduates leave the ITEP with a new found sense of self-confidence and teamwork, a solid work ethic and effective communication skills.

California dreamin’ becomes reality

Halcrow is working closely with the ITEP and schools in the Wilmington neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Home to the largest port complex in the US, Wilmington is one of the most impoverished and underserved communities in the state.

Complementing the foundation’s financial commitment, local Halcrow offices are both hosting interns and providing mentors for programme participants – nurturing nascent talent and shattering students’ constrained career expectations. Drawing on industry contacts, Halcrow is helping the ITEP set up further placement opportunities in maritime trade, transportation and logistics companies in the area.

Looking forward to a brighter future

Vox | issue five38

The Toronto team donned fancy dress costumes for a

Halloween-themed charity event. A pumpkin carving

mission of epic proportions produced an array of

ghoulish jack-o’-lanterns, raising £615 for

the foundation.

A ‘sweet and savoury’ day in Australia’s

Chatswood office netted £240 for the

Haiti appeal.

As part of its Haiti appeal the Dubai team

swapped houseful furnishings through a novel

‘re-home a chair’ breakfast, raising £730 for

the foundation.

A cake sale at Swindon’s Burderop Park

office in late 2009 brought in £150, while a

recent cake and book sale on 24 February

raised a further £368 for the Haiti appeal.

Family recipes were on show in March

as entrants vied for the title of ‘best

cake maker’ – and the rest of the office

scrambled to purchase the results.

The Chichester office stretched its cake production over several weeks –

dangerous times for dieters but a top result for the Haiti fund, with

£175 donated.

While most employees in the Cardiff office took advantage of the casual

dress code on 30 October, some of the team came to work in super hero

outfits, helping to raise £75.

Sharjah office staff council representatives Manish Anand and Richard

Hatfield organised a local collection for the Haiti appeal, raising an

impressive £1,855.

Employees around the world dig deep to help rebuild shattered communities

Halcrow’s Middle East offices held a regional morning tea in November, raising £1,370 in Dubai, £950 in Sharjah and £661 in Abu Dhabi.

Two cake sales, two dress-down days and a Christmas raffle in London’s Vineyard House and Shortlands offices raised around £3,000, and an international lunch is planned for March.

Flooding in the Philippines, earthquakes in Indonesia,

Haiti and Chile. Over the past six months, the world

has been rocked by a series of natural disasters –

killing thousands, displacing whole communities and

destroying homes.

In response to the Halcrow Foundation’s emergency

appeal, employees in their droves plunged themselves

elbow-deep in flour, ditched their regular office outfits in

favour of jeans and pounded the pavements – all to raise

much-needed funds.

Halcrow offices around the world held cake sales, dress

down days, sponsored walks and raffles, with some even

combining all these activities – and more – in dedicated

fundraising events.

Celebrating Scotland’s patron saint, Glasgow’s City Park office held a Wii championship, golf putting competition and cake sale, raising a total of £450.

Fundraising in Tees Valley raised a grand total £450 for the emergency appeal.

The Bucharest

team ‘dared

to wear their

craziest t-shirts’,

donating £125

to support the

foundation.

The Doha team raised

£980 through voluntary

donations, a buffet lunch

and an office bingo event,

with the Lusail site team

adding a further £375 to

Qatar’s contribution.

Goodbye, old friend Friday 26 February marked the end of an era. After 31 years spent jostling for supremacy with fu manchus, handlebars, pencils, walruses and pancho villas, the death knell sounded for Yaver Abidi’s moustache.

Halcrow’s hirsute group development director pledged to shave off his prized facial furniture once the amount raised hit £1,000. Safety proved fleeting for Yaver’s mo as donations galloped past the target within 24 hours. Vineyard House colleagues met Yaver’s upper lip for the first time after a date with a cut-throat razor, with the total amount pledged tipping the £2,000 mark.

Marysville in the Australian state of Victoria was almost wiped from the map on ‘Black Saturday’ in February 2009, when raging bush fires tore through the peaceful tourist resort claiming 34 lives.

When the flames finally died down the stunned survivors returned to a blackened wasteland. Hearing that fellow Victorians were frustrated by their inability to provide practical help, local resident Judy Jans came up with a novel plan. “I rang up ABC Melbourne and said that one easy way to help was to give a cutting or two to people whose gardens had been completely destroyed,” she said.

Green-fingered well wishers from around Victoria immediately opened their hearts and raided their borders and greenhouses. So overwhelming was the flood of plants that poured in that it looked as if it would be an impossible task to keep them alive – until Halcrow employees and the Halcrow Foundation stepped forward.

Digging deep, Halcrow colleagues in Australia and the Halcrow Foundation donated £1,600 to help provide an irrigation system to keep the valuable gifts alive until local people are able to rebuild their homes.

On a recent visit to the town, Halcrow’s regional communications manager, Tim Dehn, met Judy and witnessed first hand the community’s indomitable spirit.

Pointing to a pipe running around the guttering of her property, from which hang small spray nozzles, Judy explained why hers was the only house on the street left standing: “That’s what saved our home.” she said. “It created a curtain of water as the fire came through, and kept us alive.”

A lump of metal is all that remains of Judy’s car. “It’s hard to comprehend, as a city-dweller, just what bushfires can do,” said Tim. “I’m glad I came. I’m glad there are survivors like Judy. And I’m glad my colleagues and the Halcrow Foundation are playing a part in this community’s recovery.”

Rising from the ashes

Green Phoenix spreads its wingsVulnerable people living in an affordable housing project in Toronto will enjoy better kitchen and dining facilities thanks to Halcrow Foundation funding.

A £20,000 grant is re-equipping the community kitchen in the basement of Phoenix Place – a tower block in the historic Parkdale area of Toronto providing 136 single occupancy apartments for people on low incomes.

Run by the Parkdale United Church Foundation, Phoenix Place has provided homes since the 1970s for people who struggle to find alternative low income housing, in an area where demand greatly exceeds supply. Tenants include mentally and physically disabled people and recent immigrants.

Providing access to healthy food, as well as good quality, affordable housing is a central plank of the Phoenix Place mission. The kitchen facilities are used by members of the local community as well as residents.

Foundation funds will pay for the existing kitchen to be reconfigured and equipped with new appliances, allowing for a possible expansion of the Phoenix Place community dinner programme, which provides meals for up to 60 community members.

The kitchen refit is part of the Green Phoenix project – an extensive overhaul and updating of the apartment complex using green technology such as geothermal heating, green roofs and energy efficient windows.

Katharine Harvey, a personal assistant in Toronto’s Halcrow Yolles office, proposed the grant.

Improving end of life careSt Catherine’s Hospice in Crawley, UK, is leading a local ‘end of life care’ education, training and support programme, partially funded by an £8,000 grant from the Halcrow Foundation.

Working with four care homes in the hospice’s catchment area, the project aims to drive significant improvements in palliative care practices in the region.

According to a recently publicised end of life care strategy, produced by the UK government’s department of health, inadequate employee training is the single largest barrier to delivering quality care in residential homes – and insufficient funding is the primary hurdle to improving training.

With the Halcrow Foundation’s support, the initiative will help influence and shape the delivery of end of life care in the local area. Improved training will enable more people to be looked after and die supported at the home they are familiar with, rather than in hospital. The project aims to produce an educational model that can be passed on to other care homes, making a real and lasting contribution to the quality of end of life care.

Employees from Halcrow’s nearby Crawley office took part in St Catherine’s annual dragon boat race and bike ride in 2009, and the team is planning further fundraising activities to support the hospice.

Ph

oen

ix P

lace

res

iden

ts

Lending an ear: a hospice employee with patient

Dwarfed by flame

Marysville, November 2009

Judy Jans in front of the nursery

A green-fingered gift

successful pilot biocentre in Kibera has been serving up to 500 people since 2007. Now, thanks to a £20,000 grant, a new centre is to be built in Kisumu, western Kenya.

Crowded together in the low-income settlement of Obunga, the industrial area of Kisumu, people face a grinding daily struggle for fresh water and toilet facilities. Latrines are few and far between and of poor quality. In recent years cholera has broken out several times in Obunga’s densely-crowded back lanes, claiming dozens of lives.

The £20,000 two-storey biocentre will house a public toilet block divided into male and female sections with showers and water taps. Solid waste will be converted to organic fertiliser with methane piped to a gas cooker in the first floor kitchen.

A community centre on the second floor will be used for meetings, markets or as a café. A water kiosk will be erected beside the biocentre, ensuring a constant supply of fresh water.

Around 500 local people will use the sanitation facilities on a daily basis, and the kitchen and community facilities should also provide a focus for up to 3,000 people in a settlement which has practically no infrastructure. It is hoped the centre will be open by late 2010.

The design will be based on the highly successful Gatwekera biocentre in Kibera – also funded by the Halcrow Foundation – but will be adapted to suit local needs through consultation with the community. The Gatwekera project has already been used as a pilot leading to a further three centres funded by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).

Opened in 2007 to serve people living in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest slum, the Kibera biocentre received a £10,000 grant from the Halcrow Foundation. Prior to the facility’s construction, residents endured squalid sanitary conditions with faeces lying in the streets. Women walking to communal toilet areas late at night were especially at risk of assault and attack.

The foundation’s involvement with the project is led by Halcrow employee and WSUP programme co-ordinator Rob Clarke. Rob works closely with local non governmental organisation the Umande Trust to ensure the scheme’s safe delivery.

“The biocentres are planned to be sustainable community facilities,” he said. “Local people gain valuable skills through being trained to do the building work and they take part in operating the centres. The income generated by the centres covers their running costs and ensures their sustainability.”

The Kisumu biocentre is the latest Kenyan project to be funded through the Halcrow Foundation. As well as the Kibera biocentre, the foundation has funded emergency relief work in Kibera and the construction of a latrine block for children at a school in Rirumi.

Vox | issue five40

A


The original biocentre in Kibera

Thousands of desperately poor people living in Kenya’s overcrowded urban areas are seeing their lives transformed by all-in-one biocentres, funded by the Halcrow Foundation

Children are benefiting from improved sanitation

Global razorblade sales dipped slightly in November as men in their thousands shunned a daily shave to raise money for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer. Ten follicly-facile employees from Halcrow’s Edinburgh office shelved their razors, cultivating gravity-defying moustaches for the month of ‘Movember’.

Clean-shaven at the start of the challenge, their ensuing stubble blossomed into an ambitious range of styles – from dense caterpillars and impassive pancho villas to graspable handlebars and other comical appendages.

Once the inevitable concerns faded – ‘Will my girlfriend still be attracted to me?’ ‘How will my Gran recognise me?’ – the tached ten embraced the

Ten taches raze Movembermonth-long challenge, grooming and trimming their rampant facial hair with relish. As Movember wore on, visitors to the office could have been forgiven for thinking they had inadvertently stumbled into a Burt Reynolds appreciation convention.

The team’s bristly commitment raised £850, contributing to the £24 million donated worldwide.

“Don’t worry, it will grow back,” is the standard appeasement dished out after a particularly bad haircut.

Halcrow’s Norwich office, along with teams from the Environment Agency and BAM Nuttall, took this adage to the extreme to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and the Breast Cancer Campaign.

Shelving their razors at the beginning of October clean-shaven colleagues Matt Philpot and Ben Raybould cultivated enviable beards, while the usually closely shorn Tom Jones stopped shaving his head for a month.

Upping the stakes, Kevin Marsh bet BAM Nuttall’s Adele Dodgson and Halcrow project administrator Angela Rowe they couldn’t maintain a week’s solid silence in the office. Turning uncharacteristically taciturn, the communicative pair secured the sponsorship for charity.

On 30 October the team swapped office attire for head-to-toe pink and held a cake sale. Lyle Mersey had his legs waxed – an eye-watering experience through which the entire office gritted its collective teeth – while Jamie Manners sacrificed his prized flowing locks. The team’s efforts saw over £800 raised for the charities, with more than a few follicles shed in the process.

With millions of Peruvians heavily reliant on the stately – yet increasingly unstable – Andean glaciers for their water supply, the future of this delicate water cycle hangs in the balance. Donating his time and skills to the cause, Atlanta-based Ernesto Gianella played an integral role in a water mapping project in the country’s northern region.

Halcrow’s principal engineer – who originally hails from the Latin American republic – joined a specialist volunteer team for the two-week stint in October 2009, based in Cascas (La Libertad) and Cajamarca. Working as part of the Water for People’s volunteer programme, the group mapped and assessed existing water supply sources and sanitary conditions in the area. Ernesto dipped into his annual leave to participate in the project, funding the trip himself.

Reflecting on the experience, Ernesto said: “I’ve always wanted to volunteer my time and engineering skills. Having the opportunity to do this in my native country was especially meaningful.”

Rated residentReinforcing its reputation as a valued neighbour, Halcrow received effusive thanks at a prize-giving ceremony held by the Brook Green Association – a local residents’ group active in the area adjacent to London’s Vineyard House office.

Halcrow donated £500 to support community projects, three of which were recognised at the awards – a church meshing together diverse societal groups, a newly-created play space initiated by local gardeners, and the Kilornan Trust, which provides respite and support for carers.

London regional director Sam El-Jouzi, who attended the ceremony, commented: “Local residents I spoke to were pleased Halcrow has decided to stay in the area, and our sponsorship was greatly appreciated.”

Pink and hairy in Norwich

Ernesto volunteers skills for Peru

Ernesto discusses hand-washing habits with the next generation

Jam

ie (

seat

ed)

wit

h M

att

and

Tom

The team goes pink for a day

Hirsute pursuits in Edinburgh

Packing the van with supplies


Vox | issue five42

Continuing its support for Prospect Hospice in Swindon, the Halcrow Foundation has provided £15,000 towards the overhaul of one of its specialist inpatient bathrooms.

The foundation had previously written an £8,000 cheque for a new patio, completed in April 2009, which provides residents and visitors with a sheltered space overlooking the hospice grounds.

With over 300 admissions last year, the hospice’s inpatient facilities must be capable of

Another project for Prospect

As the white speck drew closer, shrouded in a pulsing dust cloud, unbridled anticipation rippled through the remote Gambian village of Bakary Sambouya.

After more than a year’s wait and lengthy delays in transit, the new community bus finally arrived in the rural hinterland – tightly packed with essential equipment and supplies – to an ecstatic welcome.

Since the previous vehicle spluttered to a halt residents had no means of transport to bridge the long distances to neighbouring villages or vital medical services. Halcrow Foundation funding has helped UK-based registered charity The Kambeng Trust implement several projects in the rural village, including a bee-keeping initiative.

The trust applied for a £10,000 grant to source a replacement bus, and then spent a year trying to find a suitable vehicle – one old enough to

Jubilant arrival: community driver, Pa

Bre

ath

of

fres

h a

ir:

a P

rosp

ect

resi

den

t ta

kes

in t

he

hos

pic

e g

rou

nd

s

The welcoming party

ensure spare parts are available in Gambia, but still with plenty of wear left. Eventually a well maintained ex-police vehicle was sourced from Germany, with sufficiently low miles on the clock.

After a protracted delivery process – the precious cargo was mistakenly shipped to the Ivory Coast, then rerouted to Gambia via Antwerp – the bus was impounded at the docks for several nail-biting days, with its release hinging on a form-filling marathon.

accommodating people during their final stages of life. Originally fitted 12 years ago, the existing bathroom fittings required continuous repairs to maintain even the most basic functions.

Refurbishment work includes a revision of the total available bathroom space with a view to maximising patient independence and control. The existing bath and hoist will also be replaced, meaning even the most physically dependent patients will be able to bathe comfortably and with dignity.

Promoting a sense of well-being is a high priority, and the Halcrow Foundation is helping ensure the hospice’s physical facilities

create a calm yet stimulating atmosphere through the use of specialist planning,

design and equipment.

Get on the bus

A distinguished Halcrow career spanning more than two decades was unexpectedly cut short with the sudden death of David McCutcheon on 1 January 2010.

Joining the company in 1988, David worked on a huge variety of projects in locations around the world – from Saudi Arabia to Asia and the UK. Whether designing roads or nuclear power plants, his approach to all tasks exuded a calm sense of focus.

David’s contribution in Hong Kong and China between 1996 and 2001 is particularly noteworthy, where his input helped deliver strategic regional projects such as West Rail, Tolo Harbour and the East Lantau rail tunnel. More recently, David helped steer Halcrow’s involvement in UK nuclear projects at Harwell, Dounreay and Aldermaston, and was held in high regard by clients and colleagues alike.

At the time of his death, David was working as a senior structural engineer within the water and power business group, based in Swindon’s Burderop Park office.

Water and power managing director Michael Norton said: “David always conducted himself in a calm, respectful and dignified manner and was a role model of Halcrow’s values.”

He is survived by his son, Neil.

To remember Mohammed Altaf from the Leeds office passed away on 26 November 2009. He is survived by his wife, Rizwana. Benjamin Garfield died on 4 January 2010. Aged 92, he was a widower.Philip Morris died on 30 January 2010, aged 84. He is survived by Margaret, his wife.

David McCutcheon (1948 – 2010) A respected role model

To s

end

cond

olen

ces

pens

ions

team

@ha

lcro

w.c

om

Charles ‘Chic’ Walker’s inquisitive streak was clearly evident at many points in his life – one which he lived to the full. He died in November 2009 following a brave, protracted battle with cancer.

Chic joined Halcrow’s Edinburgh-based performance audit group (PAG) in 2001, specialising in contractual issues. Drawing on his extensive experience – gained from a quarter-century spent in Hong Kong and Malaysia – he was a popular member of the PAG team, imparting knowledge and advice with trademark care and humour.

In sharp contrast to his previous work in sweltering tropical conditions he quickly carved out a niche in winter maintenance, helping raise gritting and ploughing standards on Scotland’s trunk roads. Chic’s characteristic modesty, however, meant his colleagues were largely unaware of his extensive charitable work outside the office.

While working in Hong Kong during the 1980s, Chic became fascinated by the story of the Scottish Olympic athlete and missionary, Eric Liddell, who died in a Japanese prison camp in China, 1945. The background to Liddell’s 1924 Olympic track gold was recounted in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire. All traces of Liddell’s grave had evaporated after the war, but Chic set out to uncover it. After months of determined research and several visits to the former camp, Chic identified the grave site and organised a 2m granite headstone to be transported to China. The permanent memorial was unveiled in 1991 at a ceremony attended by Liddell’s relatives and ten former internees from the prison.

Later that year Chic helped set up an international charity based in Hong Kong, the Eric Liddell Foundation, and in 2008 was appointed a trustee of the Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh. The centre operates numerous community care projects for the elderly, and those suffering from dementia and other illnesses.

Mining Scotland’s rich past, Chic profiled some of the country’s most distinguished leaders and achievers in an expansive, reflective book; A Legacy of Scots. He also co-authored a definitive textbook on private finance initiatives (PFI) in infrastructure, published in 1995.

Chic is remembered for his infectious enthusiasm. In typical style, he returned from a Halcrow project in Kazakhstan with an enhanced CV: he had acquired the skill of belly-dancing. Chic retired in 2005 and continued to work part-time with the PAG team until early 2009.

Chic’s former Halcrow colleagues miss a man who lived every day to the full, who shared knowledge and advice freely, and enriched the lives of all he worked with.

He is survived by his wife, Liz, four children and six grandchildren.

An imaginative explorer who loved life

AlumniObituaries

Charles ‘Chic’ Walker (1944 – 2009)

Halcrow pensioners’ 2010 reunion

Following the success of 2008’s Highland gathering, a warm welcome is extended to all retired Halcrovians, partners and associates for the 2010 event.

Where: Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5LY

When: 16 October 2010, 12.30pm – 4pm

Cost: estimated at £35 per head

To confirm attendance: Harry Peterstel +44 (0) 1292 266933 email [email protected]

For accommodation bookings, contact: Atholl Palace Hotel (Gillian Gordon or Jessica Beattie) tel +44 (0)1796 472400email [email protected]

People parade Taking a break

November 2009 saw geotechnical teams from Manchester, Tees Valley and A-one+ Area 7, Area 10 and Area 12 meet at Halcrow’s Manchester office for the annual UK north geotechnical training day.

Highway geotechnics framed the day’s discussion – a topic selected for its relevance to the teams’ ongoing geotechnical support of managing agent contractor areas for A-one and A-one+.

After the day’s activities, 11 nocturnal cavers donned hard hats and followed Derbyshire Caving Club volunteers deep into a local copper mine’s inky depths.

While miners last chipped away at the subterranean rock face during the early 20th century, metal extraction from the Alderley Edge site dates back over 4,000 years.

Azure sky meets cerulean ocean, its glassy surface pierced by statuesque concrete piers rising out of the sea. The bridge span stretches, purposefully but incomplete, from the tunnel portals drilled deep into the rocky island’s sheer face.

Viewed through the lens of Halcrow’s Garry Whitaker, this rendition of South Korea’s Busan-Geoje Fixed Link was recognised by US-based infrastructure magazine

Engineering News Record as one of the top construction images of 2009. Looking east towards Daejuk and Jungjuk islands, the photo captures the project’s scale and magnitude for posterity, providing a record as the 8.2km-long link takes shape.

The Swindon-based communications manager snapped the image from the top of an unfinished bridge pylon – towering a vertiginous 150m above sea

level – as part of an international press visit.

Selected by a panel of judges from 1,752 entries, Garry’s shot is one of 30 chosen to represent the best in amateur construction photography.

Budding young engineers across the US faced a timely challenge in January when they displayed their entries for the Halcrow-supported Future City Competition.

Just days after the Haiti earthquake, the youngsters were exhibiting models intended to ‘create sustainable housing for people who have lost their homes due to the financial crisis or a natural disaster’.

Held as part of National Engineers’ Week, the annual competition is open to middle school students – usually aged between ten and 14 – and aims to introduce young people to engineering. It also encourages problem solving and teamwork, along with research, presentation and computer skills.

This year, Halcrow sponsored special awards in the New York and Tampa regional finals of the competition.

In New York, the Halcrow-sponsored award for the most environmentally friendly city was carted back to the Bronx by the winning school. Halcrow’s judges, Talha Muhammad and Amol Paranjape, applauded the students’ design efforts, which included greenhouses, a water treatment system and solar panels integrated into high-rise buildings.

Halcrow backed the visionary water and wastewater system category at the Tampa finals, judged by Paul Robinson. The water resources engineer met with each of the 20 entrant teams on the day and talked through their designs.

“Many of the teams had come up with strikingly imaginative back stories for their designs,” said Paul. “Some had re-engineered cities in the US and even Cairo in Egypt. Another team had set their city in the year 3429 after most of mankind had been destroyed by man-eating mosquitoes!”

Continuing her involvement as part of the organising committee, Halcrow’s Eva Chan helped co-ordinate corporate funding for the 2010 event.

Going underground

Snapping up recognition

City slickers

Min

e yo

ur

hea

d:

Hal

crow

’s

cave

rs t

ake

a b

reak

Mem

ber

s of

th

e w

inn

ing

tea

m w

ith

th

eir

envi

ron

men

tally

fri

end

ly c

ity

Vox | issue five44

Garry’s winning shot

Halcrow’s ongoing endeavours to make the world of work come alive in Glasgow’s classrooms were recognised at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry’s International Awards 2009, held on 6 November in Edinburgh.

Halcrow took home the Scottish Government’s outstanding partnership working with schools award for its collaboration with St Roch’s secondary school and linked primary schools in Glasgow.

Over the past three years Halcrow has worked closely with teachers and pupils from the schools – located in some of the city’s most deprived areas – to introduce technical concepts in an engaging, practical context. Students get a feel for a career in engineering and the skills involved through projects such as the ‘bridge design challenge’. Run by Colin Walker, this initiative guides primary school pupils through each aspect of the bridge design process – from initial concepts on the drawing board through to construction.

As part of the programme Halcrow’s Glasgow office threw open its doors, steering pupils through computer-aided design techniques to fine-tune their structures and polish their pencilled plans to a professional standard.

Class trips to Halcrow-designed bridges in the city – including the Clyde Arc and Tradeston footbridge – gave the budding engineers an up-close look at the finished product, rendering the project’s purpose in steel and concrete.

St Roch’s pupils further ramped up their employment preparation with a series of Halcrow-led career information initiatives, mock interviews, enterprise events and visits to the office.

Commenting on the accolade, Donald Bell said: “This award puts Halcrow at the forefront of sustainable community development in Scotland and is the result of the imagination and commitment of people across the office. We are proud to be part of the St Roch’s community, helping local young people achieve their potential.”

Model studentsHats off: Halcrow’s Colin Walker and Chris Short with St Roch’s students

Halcrow’s Colin Walker and Donald Bell accept the award with pupils from St Roch’s

Grand standingA hangover from a more genteel era, the UK’s bandstands have enjoyed a recent renaissance as investment is pumped into historic parks. Halcrow’s principal landscape and recreation consultant, Paul Rabbitts, has extended his passion for civic spaces to their ornamental Victorian structures.

In his spare time, Tees Valley-based Paul delved into the history of the bandstand and compiled a book on the subject. “In my last job I was responsible for the replacement of the original Sun Foundry bandstand in Middlesbrough’s Albert Park,” he explained, “and I found the history of it fascinating. Historic parks up and down the country were being restored along with numerous bandstands, and I wanted to know more. Nothing existed on bandstands so it became my subject matter.”

Paul appealed to his consulting colleagues across the UK for examples of bandstands in their local parks, steadily accumulating content material. Bandstands will be published in early 2011, and the manuscript is currently with publisher Shire Books.

As the UK’s resident bandstand expert, Paul was invited to appear in a new BBC4 documentary on parks, due to air in May 2010.

Give us a tune: Paul is interviewed by BBC presenter Dan Cruikshank in Lincoln Arboretum’s recently restored Sun Foundry bandstand

Halcrow achieved a sterling 81 per cent pass rate at the recent Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) 2009 UK professional review session.

The following employees are now corporate members of the ICE:

• Ryan Chan, transportation, Warrington

• Jonathan Copnall transportation, Warrington, (commended)

• Andrew Etheridge, maritime, Chichester

• Marcus Holley, transportation, Manchester

• Kathryn Holroyde, transportation, Manchester

• Iain MacDonald, maritime, Swindon

• Susanne McInnes, property, Glasgow

• Sarah Dye, water, Reading

• Sanjiv Mishra, transportation, London

• Peter Stanbury, transportation, Worcester

• Paul Evans, water, Swindon• Felix Tam, transportation,

London • Nuno Muralha, transportation,

Chichester

The following transportation business group employees successfully passed their professional review with The Geological Society, and have gained chartered geologist status:

• Kate Denton, Manchester• Jenny Green, Swindon • Andrew Doe, London • Chris Jackson, Tees Valley• Joanne Norris, Peterborough• Andrew Hoskins, Cardiff

Gianpaolo Busacchi from London’s tunnels team has gained chartered status through the European experience route by submitting a report of his experience to the ICE.

Lynsey Wallace from Glasgow’s transportation team has become a chartered member of the Quality Institute.

Jet Cameron, a senior planner in Edinburgh, Scotland, has been selected as an examiner for the Architect’s Registration Board, which maintains the UK’s register of architects.

Graeme Forsyth has been appointed as the UK representative to a PIANC working group – the world association for waterbourne transport infrastructure. Seeking to impart best practice for navigation structures – improving resilience to overloading – the international group will develop structural, mechanical, electrical and operational guidance to assure performance during and after a flood event.

Eva Felpel recently completed a masters in economics, gaining a distinction. Juggling part-time study with full-time work, the Edinburgh-based economist’s dissertation focused on the social cost of carbon and its application in UK policy.

IN B

RIE

FAchieving ambitionsRaising the bar

Vox | issue five46

You’re hiredMatt Jones is set to shadow Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Wales Cymru chairman Alun Griffiths during his year in the post. Selected as the chairman’s

apprentice after an intensive interview and presentation process, the Cardiff-based assistant highways engineer will attend seminars and take part in ICE Wales Cymru board meetings

and other activities. Matt’s role amplifies Halcrow’s engagement with the ICE in Wales, strengthening the company’s local networks.

Follow Matt’s 12-month apprenticeship: www.icewales.blogspot.com

Prize-winning poster Back in May 2009, Rahat Ali Siddiqui impressed the judges at the Concrete Society’s annual poster competition with his entry, entitled: Parametric study on snap-fit connection systems using finite element methods.

Rahat was subsequently invited to attend the society’s annual construction lunch in October. The Glasgow-based structural engineer took home second place, awarded by the Concrete Society’s chief executive, Richard England, and Scotland regional chairman Paul Browne.

Two Halcrow graduates won plaudits at the 2009 New Civil Engineer (NCE) graduate awards – the first time any company

has fielded two finalists in one year.

Having both been selected for a six-strong shortlist for the graduate of the year award,

Swindon-based Chris Lloyd was named runner-up, while Glasgow’s Natalie Ward was highly commended.

Entrants were judged on all-round ability, with their enthusiasm for civil engineering evaluated alongside

academic and work-related achievements.

Graduating with honours

Consummate professionals

Julia Gilles, Susan Cross, Gareth James, Richard Smith and David Gregory have been awarded the UK transport planning professional (TPP) qualification via the senior route – a time-limited programme for experienced transport planners who have made a substantial contribution to the profession. They are joined by Clive Tombs, who achieved TPP qualification through the normal assessment channels.

Chris and Natalie with Halcrow’s Caroline Tong

Ch

airm

an A

lun

Gri

ffith

s w

ith

ap

pre

nti

ce M

att

Jon

es

Rah

at A

li Si

dd

iqu

i

Halcrow’s Andy Lowe and Robin Wood, along with two colleagues from the Nile irrigation project, joined 34,000 green-shirted runners surging through the streets of Addis Ababa for November’s Great Ethiopian Run.

With the doyenne of UK distance running, Paula Radcliffe, and Ethiopian double Olympic gold medallist Haile Gebrselassie firing the start gun, the quartet embarked on the gruelling 10km course. Battling soaring temperatures and the formidable 2,300m altitude, Andy was the first Halcrow runner to cross the finish line, posting a time of one hour.

Cool runningsBraving glacial temperatures, Ula Zawadzka from Halcrow’s Warsaw office swept to third spot in a local cross-country ski race. An assistant project manager in the capital’s highways team, Ula ploughed through snow drifts in -20 degree celsius conditions to claim a well-deserved podium finish.

Ula has already lined up her next endurance test – a 30km run.

Sporting successField of dreams

She shoots, she scoresGlasgow’s City Park office fielded two teams for the Ladies’ Engineering Shield five-a-side football tournament in October. After closely contested play-offs, Halcrow’s Thundercats emerged victorious with two wins out of three.

High fivesSix hardy souls from Inverness traded their Sunday lie-in for bone-crunching tackles and sustained exertion on 5 December.

Braving the piercing December chill, Stuart Campbell, Murray Innes, Lachlan Cowan, Darren Richardson, Duncan McKellar and Iain MacCallum took on all-comers at a local five-a-side football tournament.

Despite fielding one of the oldest squads in the competition, Halcrow squeezed through the groups stages on goal difference.

Battling fatigue the team dug deep for the quarter finals, eventually succumbing to a 5-1 defeat.

Daredevils soar to victoryTreacherous off-break spin, blistering pace and venomous boundary strokes were on show at the India team’s annual cricket match on 10 January, as the Daredevils took on the Royal Challengers.

With captain Neeraj Sharma opting to bat first, the Royal Challengers faced a barrage of speed and spin from the Daredevils’ bowling attack, including a lethal second spell by Hari Kumar and Sunder Singh.

Set a target of 109 the Daredevils launched their offensive, with Subhash Nautiyal and Hari anchoring the innings. Despite the toiling of bowlers Jitendra Manwani and Sunder Rawat, the batting side coasted to victory. Subhash won the dual accolades of man of the match and best batsman for a classy half century, while Hari was named best bowler.

Haile and hearty runners

Dav

id B

irch

was

on

han

d t

o p

rese

nt

the

pri

zes

Th

e te

ams

cele

bra

te w

ith

a

pos

t-m

atch

dri

nk

Ula in action

Rig

ht:

An

dy

and

Rob

in

48


Connections | July 2008

AnnouncementsHappy days

Vox | issue five48

1

23

5 6

78

10

9

4

12

1) Mario Arenas from the Santiago office and his wife, Paloma, welcomed their son, Martín Nicolás, to the world on 1 December 2009. He weighed 2.8kg.

2) Delhi’s Komal Prakash and husband Rahul were blessed with a baby girl, Tiruprasundari, on 7 September 2009.

3) Sirinthorn Libwanich from Bangkok and her husband, Pramuan Bungsai, were overjoyed at the birth of Pley on 8 December 2009. She weighed 4.6kg.

4) Roger was born on 6 December 2009, weighing 3.3kg, to Andrew Gao of the Toronto office and his wife, Jennifer Xu.

5) London’s Kuru Kasilingam and Nirushiya Kuruparan became proud parents when their son, Adithya Kuruparan, arrived on 19 September 2009. The baby’s name was chosen based on his birth numerology number of one and means ‘sun god’ according to the Hindu scriptures.

6) Congratulations to Glasgow’s Paul Reid and his wife, Donna, who are now proud parents of a little girl – Megan Elise. Megan was born three weeks early on 11 May 2009, weighing in at a healthy 3.5kg.

7) Mohan Joshi from the Delhi office and his wife, Babli, were overjoyed at the arrival of baby boy Ritesh on 22 September 2009.

8) Ethan Tam was born on 2 October 2009 to proud dad Felix, from London’s Vineyard House, and mum Tracy. He weighed 3.3kg.

9) Roseanna was born on 1 October 2009, weighing 4kg – to the delight of Chichester’s David Hollingsworth and his wife, Robyn.

10) Bing Yao from Shenzhen and husband Roc Jin celebrated the birth of their son on 6 December 2009. He weighs 3.55kg.

11) Double delight for Peter McAteer of the Toronto office and his wife, Erin, when their twin girls were born on 8 February 2010. Eleanor Jane weighed in at 2.47kg and her sister, Abigail Maye, at 2.75kg.

11

12) Krisha Kaur was born on 24 October 2009, greeted by ecstatic parents Ravinder Sason from Delhi and his wife, Kiranjit.

13) Nauras Sayed from the Delhi office and her husband, Saiz, welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Rimsha, into the world on 26 November 2009.

14) Andrew Logie of Glasgow’s environment team and his wife, Daniela, are now the proud parents of bouncing son Alessio, born on 11 October 2009 weighing 3.5kg.

15) Charlotte Grace was born on 9 October 2009, weighing 2.8kg, to overjoyed parents Ian Hellen from the

Edinburgh office and his wife, Alison. Here she is with daddy and big sister Lucy.

16) Catherine Taggart and her husband, Kevin, are proud parents of Maeve Veronica, who arrived on 4 November 2009, weighing 2.95kg.

17) Hannah Yvonne Seymour was born on 13 September 2009, weighing 3.3kg. Parents Laura and John both work in Halcrow’s Manchester office.

18) Delhi-based urban planner Bhavya Purswani celebrated her marriage to Deepak Kukrety in a romantic ceremony on 1 December 2009.

1314 15

17

16

18

19

20

21 22

19) Jiao Mengjun from the Shanghai office married his beautiful bride, Yan Dandan, on 6 October 2009.

20) Shenzhen bridge engineer Sam Ruan and bride Guo Xuan enjoyed their wonderful wedding day on 20 December 2009.

21) Worcester’s Jennifer McInerney tied the knot with husband Steve before family and friends on 19 June 2009 in Whittington Church.

22) Mark and Sally Robinson (nee Balding), both of Halcrow’s York office, exchanged vows on 30 August 2009 at the York Hilton and enjoyed a blissful honeymoon in Crete.

Longbridge Birmingham: Development begins...Out of officeA day in the life

Vox | issue five50

housands of people were left without shelter after large-scale flooding swamped Niger in September 2009, with torrents of muddy water claiming homes and livelihoods.

Halcrow’s Chris Ewing visited the land-locked west African republic in December last year as a volunteer with MapAction. The charity supports disaster relief efforts by providing up-to-date situation maps, pinpointing areas where resources and aid are most urgently needed. More recently, MapAction deployed ten volunteers to Haiti in the wake of January’s earthquake. Working closely with emergency agencies, the team compiled search and rescue maps to co-ordinate the hunt for survivors trapped in the rubble.

In Niger, Oxfam sought MapAction’s help to train local aid agencies in mapping regions devastated by flooding. The London-based geographical information systems (GIS) analyst signed up for the project, which forms part of a wider Oxfam/Water Aid initiative helping communities across west Africa apply water resource management techniques to combat water scarcity.

After touching down in Niger’s capital, Niamey, the team of three spent the next few days training local employees to use handheld global positioning system (GPS) and low-cost GIS tools. Used to chart points of interest, this technology enables Oxfam to build maps of designated areas and share information across project teams – the location of a well or impassable road, for example.

From Niamey, Chris travelled north east to Agadez – a market town in the country’s northern region.

“The area has a rich history and was previously a thriving tourist hub,” explained Chris. “But visitor numbers have dwindled in the face of simmering conflict between Tuareg rebels and government forces, with the local economy faltering as a result.” This lack of alternative income sources means that despite the region’s desolate, dehydrated plains, local communities remain heavily reliant on livestock and agriculture for their livelihood.

The trio led a three-day training programme to introduce Oxfam’s local delivery partner, AIP Takkeyt,

to GPS software and Google Earth. The group then visited a local village that had borne the surging brunt of recent flooding – wells had been inundated, farmland submerged, and mud-walled homes destroyed. Chris continued: “Using their newly-acquired GPS skills, the AIP Takkeyt team located and recorded the location of damaged wells and boreholes. Back in the office we downloaded the GPS data to Google Earth, which was the first time any of the trainees had seen satellite imagery of their surroundings. It enabled them to place the whole exercise in context – after everyone had found their house, of course! Most importantly, the subsequent maps helped show locations where water reserves are low.”

Oxfam’s local employees are now adept at producing community and local-level maps – an essential tool in responding to humanitarian crises. Water Aid and Oxfam plan to replicate this initiative in other countries in western Africa, harnessing mapping techniques for water resource management and helping communities to install basic sanitation and water supply facilities. MapAction is gearing up to provide GIS and GPS training as the project gathers momentum.

Chris’s extra-curricular activities require a hefty time commitment: “Last year I volunteered about 20 days of my time for MapAction,” he said. “We also have to be able to deploy to a disaster area in as little as 24 hours, so it’s helped that Halcrow has been very understanding and supportive.”

Reflecting on his experience, Chris commented: “I was struck by how interested and keen everyone was. It was a highly rewarding trip and the enthusiasm of the local teams means water resources will continue to be mapped at a local level – helping Oxfam see the overall picture in the region more clearly.”

OFF THE MAPChris Ewing helps chart Niger’s road to recovery

T

Flo

od w

ater

flat

ten

ed m

ud

-wal

led

hou

ses

Ch

ris

wit

h t

he

team

fro

m A

IP T

akke

yt

Community mapping in the field, Agadez

More informationAndrew Linfoot, [email protected] Flower, [email protected]

Photomontages help everyone involved in a project – clients, consultants, contractors and all stakeholders – share a single vision.

A powerful explanatory tool, photomontages let you illustrate the transformation of a site – in urban spaces or rural environments.

Enhance the service you offer your clients. Say more with a picture.

Make a differenceMake a difference

Spot the differenceSpot the difference


In uncertain times only the agile survive

Only the most adaptable companies ride out difficult conditions. Providing free, commissioned client, market and competitor research and analysis, the business intelligence unit (BIU) can help you gain a competitive edge.

Get the big picture, assess all opportunities and obstacles, andgain strategic insights.

The BIU – helping you stay ahead of the game

Find out more about the BIUHalnet/business development/business intelligence unit

Date post:	28-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	halcrow
View:	278 times
Download:	21 times

Vox - March 2010

Documents