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CONTENTS 26.02.09
NewCivilEngineer
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www,nce,co,uKNew Civil Engineer
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EDITORIALINQUIRIES Tel:(020) 77284544 (fax 4666) Email: prefix plus @emap.com
EDiTOR1Antony Oliver (020) 7728 4541 antony.oliver
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CONTENT EDiTOR1Mark Hansford (020) 77284543 mark.hansford
NEWS EDITOR1John McKenna (020) 77284544 john.mckenna
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www,nce,co.uk 1 26,02,09 NEWCIVil ENGINEER3
05
NEWS
Mega-port on hold
London Gateway port faces delay as client reviews massive fl.5bn civils project.
18
BRIDGES Stonecutters
The Stonecutters Bridge is nearing completion with just two more bridge deck segments to be lifted.
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BRIDGES
Tees viadud
The discovery of important timber bridge piles triggered a redesign for a new crossing of the River Tees.
Aisein thisissue
14 Analysis
CaTIthe government get things moving again?
06 News
ContractaIs voice fears for water spend to PM
07 News
Major projects seek EIE bailouts as funding dries up
08 News
Civilswork falls
Letters
Transport,environment, structures,energy 16
33 ICENews
Highwaysinvestment to help combatrecession
Comment
IIBycontrast to the tat which is put in front of our young, Lego is a very honest toy. fou get out of it what you put in"
AntonyOliver
1PPAEditorof theYearBuilding thefuture:,ellow Legobrickb, ,ellow Legobrick
ln a world of economic and business gloom there was one piece of news this week should have warmed the heart of every civil engineer
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sales ofLego are ur.
And not just up a bit either. Lego this week reported a 51%increase in UK sales, taking its UK market share from 2.2%to 3.3%- its highest level ever. Internationally it was a similar storywith global sales up 18%.
It is not just Lego that is having a good rime. While overall the UK toy market contracted by 2%last year, the UK construc- tion toy market grew by 13%.
That is so good to hear. The fact that there is more Lego being played with by our chil- dren bodes well for the future of engineering.
By contrast to so much of the rat which is put in front of our young, Lego is a very honest toy. You get out of it what you put in.
It has, as Lego itself points out this week,
"timeless appeal" which is benefitting in the downturn. And in my view no parent caTI
afford to be without a bucket of it.
l say that as someone who seems to spend an aIarming amount of rime trying (not always successfully) to persuade and distract my four and six year old children away from the dreaded television, computer games and in fact, any toy that requires batteries.
And the fact is that Lego remains my most successful foil.
Over half term last week the big box of Lego travelled with us. Towers were built and destroyed, cars were built, raced and smashed. While l am resigned to the knowl- edge that l will not be able to fight off the Wii invasion for very much longer, l remain convinced that Lego still provides genuine familyentertainment.
But more important, construction tors like Lego provide a vital part of the education process. They reaIly do provide the bedrock for young minds to learn the basics of design, construction and problem solving and fuels
their imagination as they construct some- thing from nothing - over and over again.
This is a point which the civil engineering profession should not ignore. The continued popularity of this toy should be seen as a key to the industry's future.
ln essence, the more children that are playing, designing and building with Lego radar, the more chance there will be that engineering, design and construction passion will be instilled into our young people tomorrow.
And if we are serious about reigniting the economy with engineering and infrastruc- ture projects such as Crossrail, High Speed Two and a new era of electricity generation we will need that passion and talent.
So for the sake of engineering l urge you to think carefully the next rime you are shop- ping for tors and embrace this new era of the construction toy.
