Gifford services in the Water sector

Two semi-finalist teams from Bournemouth and Portsmouth Universities will compete to be named Universities Project Challenge Winners 2010.

The Challenge helps participants to develop project management theory and skills on a real project. Teams have received mentoring from experienced project and programme managers, developed knowledge of success criteria required to deliver a winning project and experienced the qualities of an effective project manager.

Whilst the judging process takes place, Roger will be giving a talk entitled “Projects and Penguins” based on his experiences of managing a series of projects on East and West Falkland Island for Defence Estates.

Design engineers, surveyors and project management staff from Gifford in conjunction with contractors and architects have undertaken infrastructure assessments studies on the islands. They have designed and constructed three utilities buildings for power generation, water treatment, garage and servicing facilities in remote mountain top locations and for which accommodation units are currently at detailed design stage.

Roger’s theme at the Rosebowl will include the logistical challenges of sourcing and shipping components and materials to the Falklands to meet the tight construction deadlines enforced on the projects by the severe weather constraints. 

Roger will also be the keynote speaker to the Thames Valley Branch of the Association for Project Management on 24 March 2010 when the projects and team-working in the Falkland Islands will be discussed in greater depth.

Gifford Project Management services

All four are 1960s and 1970s built post-tensioned concrete structures and the Gifford team is meticulously studying original construction documents to formulate appropriate site investigation, monitoring and testing programmes to ensure the reliability of the bridges throughout the rest of the century.

Two of the bridges carry the West Coast Mainline over the M6 north and south of Penrith in Cumbria and two carry lines over the M56 in Cheshire.

Jeanette Hunter, Principal Engineer, said: “Assessing all the original British Rail construction documentation is vital to understand the risks associated with the form and method of construction of these post-tensioned structures and to ensure that thorough investigations and maintenance programmes can be carried out.”

Further information on Gifford rail bridge engineering projects.

View some of our other sustainability projects here.

Both projects are part of the Highways Agency’s schemes for managing motorway traffic using variable speed limits and hard shoulder running, to improve heavy traffic flows and motorway safety and reduce pollution.

Gifford is the UK’s leading designer of motorway gantries developing lighter-looking, less cluttered gantries that take advantage of more efficient “plug and play” electronics and the reduced need for maintenance. Atkins is the scheme designer on behalf of the Highways Agency for both projects.

The M62 project requires 35 sign/signal portal gantries spanning across the motorway and 12 cantilever sign gantries located to the side of the motorway providing driver information. The M4/M5 project requires 46 portal and six cantilever gantries.

Simon Benfield, Technical Director at Gifford, said: “We have been evolving our current design range of motorway gantries to make them more efficient and economic to fabricate and erect. The structures are lighter-looking which emphasises the signs and signals they support, making it easier for drivers to take in the information being relayed to them.”

They are part of a team of young engineers at Gifford who, in their spare time, developed a sustainable design for a rural classroom that can be built by local communities and used to create an entire school.

Their design won the worldwide ‘Open Architecture Competition’ organised by the US-based Architecture for Humanity through the Open Architecture Network. It was prepared for an international non-profit organisation, Building Tomorrow, which intends to use the design as a blueprint for building classrooms for less than $3,000 each.

Hayley and Jessica have both been fundraising to help pay for their journey to Uganda which is also being sponsored by Gifford and by Specialist Construction Products, a distributor of specialist, leading brand construction materials. Hayley has also received a QUEST Travel Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers for the trip.

“We’re really excited to be going to Uganda,” says Hayley, “and seeing our classroom design become a reality. This first project is being built at Nakaseeta which is some 40km north-west of the capital, Kampala. We will develop our ideas with the local engineers and community, and work with them to provide buildable, innovative solutions that can help with classroom designs across sub-Saharan Africa.”

Update 24/02/2010 - Hayley and Jessica are now in Uganda for six weeks to oversee the start of building and are sending back regular reports on their experiences which you can read here.

Her work centred on the cultural significance of the buildings and the new techniques and designs adopted by the European builders working in such different circumstances to their experiences in their home countries. The conservation and conversion into a museum of Fort Apollonia, an 18th century British Fort built in the westernmost area of the Gold Coast, was the case study of her thesis work.

Tiziana is a member of Gifford’s specialist heritage and conservation team that offers advice and develops designs for a wide variety of projects connected with some of Britain’s most historic sites and buildings.  

Her current projects include the design of new gallery spaces and visitors’ facilities at the Royal Armouries museum at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth; conservation work at Basing House and Grange Farm in Old Basing, a historic site of Norman origin; and the refurbishment of the Lighthouse Building at Kings Cross in London, an iconic late 19th century building in the heart of the Kings Cross regeneration area.

Further information on Gifford Cultural Heritage services and projects.

Further information on Gifford projects in the healthcare sector.

GiffordFT (Gifford in joint venture with Fehily Timoney) participated as an exhibitor.  Senior staff from both practices also attended as conference delegates and were available to answer queries on our services for the waste sector.

Find out more about this event

Hayley and Jessica are part of a five-strong team of young engineers at independent engineering and environmental consultant Gifford whose innovative rural classroom is designed to be built easily by local communities but still provide a comfortable, stimulating and flexible learning environment within a sustainable structure.

Winning an international architectural competition means their blueprint will form the basis of a schools building programme in Uganda. The design was done in their own time and they need to raise funds for their trip which is part sponsored by Gifford and by Specialist Construction Products, distributors of specialist, leading brand construction materials.

Download the slides from the training course here.

Download full details, including course objectives and programme, here.

Gifford participated as an exhibitor while senior members of our Infrastructure teams were also available to answer queries on our wide-ranging transport planning and highway engineering services.

Find out more