Anintegratedtransportpolicyma,bere-emerging Comment

III ~-"---'-"~'~-"-,~=

CONTENTS 19-26.01.12

Newcivil Enginèer'

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lst Floor,GreaterLonèlônHoU HampsteadR~ad;LOnd,on,c' EDITORIALENQUIRIES',,', Email: prefixplus@ema'p,cor

',' -'," "' EDITOR1AntonyOliver" ':;:,

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(020)77284541'antony,olive ",

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DEPUTYEDITOR1Mark,Hansford:

(020)77284543 mark,ha~sford"

CHIEFSUSEDiTOR1AndyBolton, (020)77284537 andy,bolton'

NEWS EDiTOR1AlexandraWynne'.^"

(020)7728 4540 alexa~dra,wynne DESIGNER1James McCarthy .,', ,"0;,:

(020)7728 4536 james,mccarthy , REPORTER1DeclanLynch ",:..

(020)7728 4546 declan:lynch, ICE1Olivia Gagan

(020)7728 Li.539olivia,

www,nce.co.uk

1

12

COVER STORY Boldvision

A high speed world needs political consensus

18

FLOODING Surge stopper

Felixstowe coastal defences and beach improvement

(;) 1 f'J-J r) VI. _t'6't~

20

INTERVIEW Santo Rizzuto

SKM's new chief executive talks global growth

Alsoin this issue

05 News

Basic errors led ta Indonesia bridge collapse

08 News

Transport mega-projects gain political support

14 Letters

Hammersmith flyover, Storey's Gate

22 Plant

Remediation, Crossrail TBMs arrive

26 IfE News

ICE Council, What's On, Announcements

30 Concretespotlight

Blackfriars station, Welsh stadium, memorial plinth

Comment

.. AntonyOliver

TOCELEBRATENCE'S40THANNIVERSARY OFINFORMING,INSPIRINGAND CHALlENGINGCIVilENGINEERS,WEWIU

ROUOUTNEWFEATURESANDEVENTS lN 2012.VlSITNCE.CO.UKFORDETAILS

l'I remain convincedthat radical schemes such as H52and the Thames Hub are vital to the nation's futurell

Anintegratedtransportpolicyma, bere-emerging

You don't have to live in the South East of England to be aware of the increasingly hyster- ical debate over a clutch of major transport infrastructure projects proposed for the UK.

And no marrer what side of the various arguments you might be, civilengineers should surely recognise this as a magical moment in which engineering aspiration and our contri- bution to the nation's economy is actually being discussed at the highest levels.

Clearly the decision earlier this month by transport secretary Justine Greening to press ahead with planning for High Speed 2 (HS2) is at the head of the discussion queue.Yet with promises of a phase 2 route to Leeds and Manchester promised after the initialleg to Birmingham, the debate is now nationwide.

ln fact, the mooted promise of an eventual HS2link further north means that passionate discussion has now even reached Scodand (although, this fact may have been over-shad- owed by independence issues).

But to see this project unexpectedly joined

by high level political support for a new UK airport hub to replace an over-burdened Heathrow is nothing short of astounding.

Here we have the ultimate in aspiration, free thinking - a "blank sheet of pàper" infrastruc- ture project capable of solving not just today's problems but that actually builds in the capa- bility to reshape the challenges of the future.

Both are projects born out of a recognition that the nation's economic future is dependent on thinking and acting differendy and radi- ,

cally.Add ta these our existing commitments to Thameslink, Crossrail, the Northern Line Extension in Battersea, motorway widening promises and rail electrification upgrades and one could almost be forgiven for thinking that we are witnessing the re-emergence of integrated transport thinking - a renaissance in planning policy linking railways, airports, roads, port facilities, urban development and communications technology.

Is this a new paradigm in which the Treasury and govermnent departments recognise the

long-term value not only of investment in indi- vidual projects, but also of investment in major programmes linking projectstogether.

Perhaps. Certainly, that is the message that govermnent would, 1am sure, like us all to

believe. ^{, '}

Alternatively,we could simply be witnessing a cynical exercisein stakeholder manage- ment designed to convince the electorate that, despite some fairly substantial evidence to the contrary, the govermnent's public spending austerity programme is delivering the growth necessary to underpin these projects.

Let's hope not. Because fegardless of the spin, 1remain convinced that radical schemes such as HS2, the Thames Hub and extensions to the London Underground are vital to the nation's future.

Yes,they are controversial, but as a profes- sion it is our duty to not only design them properly but also to take them out of the realms of fantasy and see them delivered.

Il AntonyOliveris NCEs editor