CONTENTS 03.12.09
NewCivilEngineer'
nec:
www.nce.CO.UK New Civil Engineerlst Floor,GreaterLondonHouse HampsteadRoad,LondonNW17EJ EDITORIALINQUIRIES Tel:(020)77284544 (fax4666) Email: prefixplus@emap.com EDITOR1AntonyOliver (020)77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1JackieWhitelaw (020)77284542 jackie.whitelaw CONTENTEDITOR1MarkHansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford CHIEFsua EDiTOR1Andrew Bolton (020)7728 4537 andy.bolton FEATURESEDITOR1AlexandraWynne (020)7728 4540 alexandra.wynne SENIORREPORTER1EdOwen (020) 7728 4545 ed.owen TECHNICALREPORTER1JessicaRowson (020)7728 4546 jessica.rowson ADVERTISING
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1
03.12.09 NEWCIVILENGINEER305
NEWS
Water culs fear
Consultants and contractors fear water industry job losses as Ofwatorders efficiencies.
15
SUPPLEMENT Local Government File NCElooks at how authorities are gearing up for asset management plans and spending cuts.
18
IT
3DVisualisation
Digital assistance bas '\1elped to improve time efficiency on Cianbro's oil refinery modules.
Alsoin thisissue
05 News
Ofwat determination squeeze supply chain
06 News
Royal Engineers rebuild flood struck Cumbria
10 Projed News
Latest news on London 2012
Letters
ICE,wastemanagement, low carbon,flooding 13
08 News
ETB becomes EngineeringUK
It is clear frOIDthe comments in this week's NCE LocalGovernment Pile that local authority highways teams are going to find life becoming tough over the next few yeaTs.
with all shades of the political spectrum promising cuts in public spending froID2011, there is legitimate cause for concern among the engineering community at the coal face charged with the difficult task of delivering to ever increasing community needs.
But is it really so bleak for the engineering community going forward? Perhaps not.
It is an overused phrase but the flooding in Cumbria last month certainly did highlight the vital role that local infrastructure piafs in the lives of communities. Pailure of part of that infrastructure system causes danger, discomfort, inconvenience and realloss.
If nothing else it will have provided yet more cast iTOUevidence of the value of investment in decent, modern and capable public infrastructure and in the engineering services that keep it all up and running.
ICENews
Lobby group seeks govern ment green skills strategy 18
Comment
AntonyOliver
"Theanswerof courseisto changethe way the problemistackled.Theanswer isto thinkradicallyaboutwhat exadly we are beingaskedto do"
We haveto delivera lotmorefora lotless
Nevertheless the economic realities of a nation up to its eyes in debt are that the amounts available to invest in such infra- structure will fall- perhaps by up to 30%.
The question is therefore, what to do about this reality. How will local authority
engineering teams IDeel Ibis apparently insurmountable challenge?
The answer of course is to change the way the problem is tackled. The answer is to think radically about what exactly we are being asked to do, leave behind inefficient ways of the past and concentrate on meeting the needs of future communities within the constraints of much tighter budgets.
It will be challenging because of course the feraiT, maintenance and renewal ofhighway and drainage infrastructure bas already seen radical overhaul in the last decade.
We have seen a huge amount of outsourcing, private sector involvement, private sector funding and have learnt a huge number oflessons about what does and
doesn't work. Without question this process bas uncovered a mass of new ideas and introduced new efficiencies.
But the future must involve a lot more of this kind of thinking and must offer both the public and private sector greater opportuni- ries for more change and more innovation.
Because it cannot just be abOut stripping out cost. Yeswe will have to spend less but the future oflocal authority infrastructure management must be about doing things differently, focusing on the real needs of the local communities.
The future will have to involve faTmore insight into what communities actually need and value froIDtheir infrastructure and see engineers having to change the way that they think about prioritisation.
ln short we have to deliver a lot more for a lot less. Not just more of what we already do, but more of what really canuts. And as a taxpayer, l'm excited about that prospect.
