New Civil Engineer
Claire Symes
As the editor of Ground Engineering I am keen to promote innovation and professionalism in the geotechnics industry, so if you are working on anything ground breaking or unusual, please get in touch. Working on GE is enabling me to combine my two careers - I gained a BEng (hons) in Engineering Geology and Geotechnics at the University of Portsmouth and worked for Peter Brett Associates for a few years before I moved into construction journalism in 2000.
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Geological timeline leads the way to new BGS office
17-May-2012
Visitors to the new British Geological Survey office in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire will be able to take a quick walk through geological history on the way, following the official opening today by UK government chief scientist Sir John Beddington. -
Fugro acquisition expands French business
10-May-2012
Fugro has announced that it has acquired France-based geoconsultant Geoter. -
Itmsoil aims for growth
8-May-2012
UK-based geotechnical instrumentation business Itmsoil has announced that it undergone a management buy out. -
Fehmarnbelt archaeological investigations start
3-May-2012
Survey work to check for archaeological remains along the planned route of the Fehmernbelt fixed link has got underway. -
Embankment collapse closes Highland rail line
27-Apr-2012
Heavy rain is believed to have caused a landslip on an earth embankment on the Aviemore to Inverness rail line this morning. -
Ground Investigation contractors selected for Inveramsay Bridge upgrade
24-Apr-2012
Allied Exploration and Geotechnics have been appointed by Transport Scotland to undertake ground investigations for the upgrade of the Inveramsey Bridge on the A96. -
Piling progress for west London school extension
19-Apr-2012
Work on extending Notting Hill and West Ealing High School is now underway following completion of the foundations work by Westpile. -
Bauer reports rising revenues
18-Apr-2012
Ground engineering contractor and equipment producer Bauer has reported a 5.2% rise in revenues to €1.37bn (£1.12bn) for the last financial year, although net profits were down 16.7% at €34.1M (£27.9M). -
Sustainable solution for Yorkshire wind farm
16-Apr-2012
Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering’s piling work on the new Ridge Wind Farm in Yorkshire will help deliver sustainable power but the foundation design is also helping to boost the sustainability of the scheme. -
Drilling rig moves in to start work on Gwynt y Môr wind farm
13-Apr-2012
LDD has announced that its most powerful pile top reverse circulation drilling rig has been delivered to Birkenhead ready to start work on installing foundations for the Gwynt y Môr wind farm. -
Geotechnical: Streatham Hub
5 April 2012
With leisure facilities, supermarket, apartments and transport interchange, the Streatham Hub is certainly cramming a lot into one area and is calling on some complex geotechnics. Claire Symes reports. -
Piletec aids precision piling at One Tower Bridge
3-Apr-2012
Over 1000 rotary bored piles are currently being installed on the South Bank close to Tower Bridge in London by Miller Piling for Berkley Homes’ new residential and retail development, One Tower Bridge. -
Wind farm survey boost for Fugro
2-Apr-2012
Development of onshore wind farms in Scotland is creating a demand for hi-tech surveying work for Fugro-BKS. -
New guidance for piling through coal issued
30-Mar-2012
A new best practice guide published today by the Coal Authority is aiming to reduce the risk from encountering hazardous gases when drilling or piling through coal seams and former mine workings. -
Instrumentation key to LUL value engineering
29-Mar-2012
Monitoring and instrumentation is playing a key role in allowing London Underground to efficiently maintain its geotechnical assets claims Transport for London principal geotechnical engineer Dr Nadar Saffari. -
Rail culvert collapse triggers safety fears
29 March 2012
Poor maintenance and a lack of rigour in recording the condition of small, safety critical rail assets has been highlighted in a report on the collapse of a culvert under a railway line near Bromsgrove, accident investigators said last week. -
New ground movement sensor on trial at Bond Street
26-Mar-2012
Structures around the Bond Street Underground station construction work, being undertaken by the Costain/Laing O’Rourke joint venture, are being monitored using new sensor technology. -
Keller secures Polish contract
26-Mar-2012
Keller has been appointed to construct access ramps and tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch and receiving shafts for Poland’s first TBM-driven tunnel. -
Rankine lecturer calls for objectivity
22-Mar-2012
Cambridge University professor of soil mechanics Malcolm Bolton called for engineers to use objectivity when applying factors of safety rather than arbitrary figures suggested by Eurocode 7 during last night’s Rankine Lecture. -
Lankelma invests to boost New Zealand operation
22-Mar-2012
Ground investigation specialist Lankelma is adding cone penetration testing to its services in New Zealand with delivery of one of its 20t CPT due in Christchurch in April. -
Costain widens its geotechnical division
21-Mar-2012
Costain hopes to target a wider range of work following rebranding of its Geotechncial Services business under the banner of Costain Environmental Services. -
Picture Gallery: Work to stabilise A890 rockfall fast tracked
8-Mar-2012
More than 40 people from TRAC Engineering are working around the clock to stabilise rock face on the A890 Stromeferry bypass near Kyle in Scotland under a contract let by the Highland Council. -
Flood scheme offers protection for Kempsey
6-Mar-2012
Major earthworks, sluices and construction of a new pumping station to protect the village of Kempsey from the risk of flooding from the River Severn are nearing completion, despite being undertaken over the winter months. -
New geological survey map launched for sustainable drainage systems
6-Mar-2012
The British Geological Survey (BGS) has released a new digital map which it claims will help planners, developers and local authorities reduce urban flooding through appropriate use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (Suds). -
Met mast contract for Fugro Seacore
6-Mar-2012
Fugro Seacore has been appointed to design, build and install for a new offshore met mast for the proposed Rampion Offshore Wind Farm. -
Keller merges UK business into wider EMEA group
27-Feb-2012
Geotechnical firm Keller has merged its UK business with its operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to form a new division in a bid to operate more efficiently, it has emerged. -
Sensors trigger closure of A83 ahead of landslide
23-Feb-2012
Tilt meters installed on an unstable section of the A83 Rest and Be Thankful route triggered an alarm and led to closure of the road ahead of a landslide event yesterday. -
London council imposes tighter basement restrictions amid growing safety concerns
22-Feb-2012
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) in London plans to tighten regulations for the construction of new basements. -
Guidebook aims to give model results
21-Feb-2012
Improving the quality of geotechnical analysis is the aim of a new guidebook called Obtaining Parameters for Geotechnical Analysis that will be published today at the Case Histories of Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering seminar in Nottingham. -
London borough tightens basement rules
2-Feb-2012
The London borough of Kensington & Chelsea has announced plans to tighten regulations on construction of new basements following a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) inspection of sites across the capital at the end of last year. -
Final funding plea for heritage rail repair
30-Jan-2012
Work to repair a collapsed embankment on the historic Gloucestershire Warwick Railway is about to get underway despite funding falling £170,000 short of the full £670,000 cost of the scheme. -
Ground Engineering: A little nail treatment
26 January 2012
Combining soil nailing with electrokinetics is enabling embankment stabilisation on a busy route through Kent to be carried out with minimal impact on nature and traffic. -
Ground Engineering: Rising to the occasion
30-Jan-2012
With more than 245,000m3 of fill needed to redevelop a site in the coastal Devon town of Seaton, an innovative approach was needed to avoid clogging up the narrow rural roads. -
Ground Engineering: Contamination conundrum
27-Jan-2012
Remediation technologies have advanced in the last 20 years, but the classification of what levels of contaminants are actually harmful to health is still very much a grey area. -
Crossrail tunnels: Delivery driver
26 January 2012
Crossrail’s first tunnel boring machine, is now being built on site ready to start work in March. Claire Symes reports from west London. -
Ground Engineering: A dam good job
25-Jan-2012
Life as an engineer can be rewarding, but for Arup dam engineer Ljiljana Spasic-Gril it has meant weeks away from home to undertake remote site visits - a sacrifice she believes has been worth it. -
Nordsee Ost wind farm foundation contract awarded
24-Jan-2012
Work on the grouted foundations for RWE Innogy’s 295MW Nordsee Ost wind farm is set to get underway following the award of the contract to Found Ocean. -
Site investigation for river clean up to start
19-Jan-2012
United Utilities has announced that site investigations for a major scheme to clean up the River Lune in Lancaster will get underway next week. -
South west expansion for Frankis
13-Jan-2012
Remediation specialist Frankis Solutions has announced that it is expanding into the south west with the opening of a new office in Cornwall. -
Lack of codes makes excavations challenging in seismic urban areas
12-Jan-2012
Excavations in dense urban areas that are seismically active are poorly covered by existing building codes, said Arup principal Nick O’Riordan at a joint British Geotechnical Association and Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics meeting last night. -
Wall Street
15 December 2011
First UK use of a reinforced soil retaining wall is helping one road scheme in Essex meet the client’s architectural and cost demands. Claire Symes reports -
A Life In Foundations
15 December 2011
Many in the foundations industry were surprised at the news that Roger Bullivant had agreed to sell his eponymous business to Bachy Soletanche. But he’s as committed to the sector as ever, he tells Claire Symes -
Contractor Aarsleff announces UK restructure
20-Dec-2011
Denmark-based contractor Aarsleff has announced that it is to expand its business in the UK with the addition of a sewer relining division to the existing piling operation. -
Ritchies wins £1.5M transmission line ground investigation contract
20-Dec-2011
Geotechnical contractor Bam Ritchies has been appointed by Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions to carry out a ground investigation for a new 200km Scottish power transmission line. -
Lee Tunnel: Ready to Rumble
16-Dec-2011
Thames Water’s Lee Tunnel is set to win the race to be the first of the current plethora of London tunnelling projects to launch its TBM. Claire Symes reports. -
The Digital Engineer
15 December 2011
Although Mike Chrimes has notched up almost 35 years of service with the Institution of Civil Engineers he confesses to having strong feelings for the British Geotechnical Association. Claire Symes reports. -
A Grounded Academic
15 December 2011
As Kingston University’s Professor Eddie Bromhead prepares to deliver this year’s Glossop Lecture he talks to Claire Symes about his unexpected career in soil mechanics and his views on education. -
Defending The Front
15 December 2011
Tide and time may wait for no man, but Galliford Try is tackling both with the construction of new coastal flood defences in north Wales. Claire Symes visited the site to find out more. -
Crossrail’s first TBM ready for delivery
14-Dec-2011
The first tunnel boring machine for London’s Crossrail project is going through final testing and will soon be dismantled for transport to the Royal Oak portal near Paddington. -
Australia’s Toombul project scoop Fleming Award
8-Dec-2011
Presentation of work on one of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects helped a team from Arup, Benaim, URS Scott Wilson and RD Geotech win the Fleming Award last night. -
Power Tunnels reach new milestone
8-Dec-2011
The second London Power Tunnel tunnel boring machine (TBM) is set to be lowered into the Willesden launch shaft tomorrow (Friday), main contractor Costain revealed. -
Thames Tunnel to target Asian contractors
8-Dec-2011
Thames Water hopes to attract bids from Asian contractors when the Thames Tunnel project is put out to tender to improve the value of the scheme. -
Slope stability missing out on full instrumentation benefits
7-Dec-2011
Many slope stability projects are not getting the full benefit of instrumentation because there is no funding for long term monitoring, according to Kingston University’s Eddie Bromhead. -
Cofferdam helps preserve submariner history
5-Dec-2011
Balfour Beatty is currently working on installing a cofferdam around the only surviving World War II era submarine at the Royal Naval Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire. -
Piling federation pilots apprenticeships
5-Dec-2011
The Federation of Piling Specialists has announced that it has launched an apprenticeship scheme for the piling industry. -
Mark Thorn to head up SKM’s geotechnics division
30-Nov-2011
Project management company Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) has announced that Mark Thorn has joined the firm to head up its geotechnical engineering division. -
BRE aims to Impact on foundation sustainability
29-Nov-2011
The BRE is calling on the ground engineering sector to help provide data to improve understanding of how foundation design can improve sustainability. -
Initiative targets testing standards
28-Nov-2011
Geotechnical testing laboratories are being invited to benchmark their skills against others worldwide in a bid to improve standards. -
Planning concerns lead to new contamination campaign
28-Nov-2011
The Environment Industries Commission (EIC) Contaminated Land Working Group is launching a major campaign next week in response to concern within the industry over sustainability failures in the proposed National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). -
Worley Parsons adds London office
28-Nov-2011
Worley Parsons has announced that it is to add a geotechnical division to its London office to meet growing demand for skills in the ground engineering sector. -
Conference to profile coastal slope best practise
28-Nov-2011
Halcrow’s new “A Good Practice Guide” on coastal instability is to be presented at GE’s Slope Stability 2011 conference next month. -
High Flyers
24 November 2011
Foundations work for the UK’s first urban cable car is under way in east London. Claire Symes visited the site to find out more about the scheme. -
Online Eurocodes launched by BSI
24 November 2011
British standards organisation BSI will launch a web-based version of Eurocodes on 28 November in a bid to ease use of the system. -
The Man With Tunnel Vision
24 November 2011
Tunnelling is the answer to society’s urban problems, according to Halcrow’s Martin Knights. Claire Symes met him to talk about the industry’s prospects and the drivers for future growth. -
Caisson foundations needed for next generation of wind farms, says expert
10-Nov-2011
Future deep water wind farm developments and government targets will demand a different foundation design approach from the current monopile technique used in the UK, an Oxford University expert has said. -
Carillion pulls out of the piling market
10-Nov-2011
Carillion has confirmed that it will close its piling business, which recorded a turnover of £12M last year. -
Downpour triggers Somerset wall collapse
10 November 2011
Heavy rainfall is believed to have triggered the collapse of a retaining wall on the River Parrett close to the town centre in Bridgwater in Somerset. -
High line lowdown
10 November 2011
Foundations work for the UK’s first urban cable car is under way in east London. Claire Symes visited the site. -
Eurocode 7 underlines need for broad knowledge
9-Nov-2011
Implementation of Eurocode 7 (geotechnical) has underlined the need for engineers to have a broad knowledge and not to be too specialist, Buro Happold technical director Peter Scott said this week. -
Piling programme completed at Reading station
8-Nov-2011
Contractor Bachy Soletanche has announced that the third phase of piling work for new bridges for the upgrade at Reading station has been completed. -
Experts call for carbon calculator guidelines
8-Nov-2011
Carbon calculators’ potential to improve sustainability is being undermined by the absence of government guidelines on how such programs capture and measure emissions, according to speakers at an industry conference yesterday. -
Heavy rainfall blamed for Bridgwater river wall collapse
7-Nov-2011
Heavy rainfall is believed to be the cause of a collapsed wall on the River Parrett close to the town centre in Bridgwater in Somerset. -
Galliford Try success with new tidal technique
4-Nov-2011
Contractor Galliford Try has just completed work on four tidal wall upgrades on the River Thames for the Environment Agency. -
Fleming Awards finalists announced by Skanska
3-Nov-2011
Tottenham Court Road, the extension of the M74 and the Toombul jacked box tunnel in Brisbane have been announced by Skanska as finalists in this year’s Fleming Awards. -
New hollow pile design promises benefits, says Balfour Beatty
3-Nov-2011
City University London has patented a new hollow tubular concrete pile design that it claims could improve foundation sustainability and allow for easier site redevelopment. -
Skelair reports rising rental demand
31-Oct-2011
Delivery of three new Klemm drilling rigs has bolstered the drilling rental fleet of plant supplier Skelair, the company has announced, and will help meet the growing demand for rental equipment. -
Gender quotas are not an answer
28-Oct-2011
Look around any engineering company and the proportion of male to female staff is imbalanced at every level. This surely can’t be because women are excluded from the profession but more down to the fact that, for whatever reason, engineering seems to be a more attractive career for men rather than women. -
Man On A Mission
27 October 2011
Rab Fernie clearly has a passion for geotechnics and as the new chairman of the British Geotechnical Association, he plans to channel it to better the industry. Claire Symes reports. -
Fixing A Hole
27 October 2011
Imagine dealing with a project that has hundreds of “clients” and the extent of the work is unknown. That was the challenge facing engineers after ground instability was found in a residential area in Reading. Claire Symes reports. -
UK guidelines for baseline reports needed
21-Oct-2011
Lack of consistency among geotechnical baseline reports (GBRs) is impacting on their potential benefits and UK guidelines are need to ensure the potential is realised. -
Taj Mahal faces collapse
20 October 2011
Indian politicians and historians claim that the Taj Mahal could collapse within five years if work to repair the structure’s timber foundations is not carried out. -
Infrastructure Show: Women reject quotas to achieve equality
19-Oct-2011
Women should reach board room positions in engineering based on merit not tokenism or box ticking, said Port of London Authority chairman Dame Helen Alexander at the Infrastructure Show yesterday. -
Bachy subsidiary forms joint venture with Menard
18-Oct-2011
Bachy Soletanche has announced that its subsidiary Vibro Projects has merged with ground improvement specialist Menard in the UK to form VibroMenard, following success on a joint trial project in London. -
Record breaking barrier takes the strain
17-Oct-2011
Rock fall barrier specialist Geobrugg and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) have set a new world record during trials for a new barrier system in Switzerland. -
Capita completes historic anchor foundations
14-Oct-2011
The anchor from the QEII cruise liner now has a permanent mooring following completion of some challenging foundations work designed by Capita Symonds. -
Tony Dixon to head up Balfour’s piling division
14-Oct-2011
Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering (BBGE) has announced the appointment of Tony Dixon as its managing director as part of a management restructure. -
Foundations contract awarded for Copenhagen Metro
12-Oct-2011
Trevi has been appointed to carry out €90M (£79M) worth of ground engineering work for main contractor Salini Costruttori on phase 4 of Copenhagen’s Cityringen metro line. -
Coffey’s Badelow to co-chair tall building foundation group
6-Oct-2011
Australia-based Coffey Geotechnics’ Frances Badelow has been appointed as co-chair of the Foundations Working Group for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). -
Crossrail readies Wallasea to receive waste
6-Oct-2011
Work to prepare Wallasea Island in Essex to receive waste from Crossraill construction is continuing, with the construction of a new jetty now in progress. -
Foundation failure could threaten Taj Mahal
6-Oct-2011
Historians and politicians claim that the Taj Mahal could collapse within five years if work to repair the structure’s timber foundations are not carried out. -
Partnering will be crucial for foundations industry, says expert
3-Oct-2011
The future of the foundations industry in Europe is difficult, but the key to growing the business will be partnering, European Federation of Foundations Contractors (EFFC) outgoing president Maurice Bottiau has said. -
Bauer wins US dam remediation contract
23-Sep-2011
Bauer Foundations has won a $106M (£68.6M) contract to install 29,000m2 of underground cut-off walls and pressure grouting of the Center Hill Dam in Tennessee, USA. -
Herrenknecht to build final two TBMs for Crossrail
23-Sep-2011
Orders for the final two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for Crossrail have been placed with Herrenknecht. -
Izmit bridge design will be earthquake resilient
21-Sep-2011
Building a bridge in one of the world’s most seismically active areas is set to test consultant Cowi’s engineering skills following its appointment as designer for Turkey’s Izmit Bay bridge. -
Crossrail to benefit from Lafarge rail restoration
21-Sep-2011
Transportation of waste from tunnelling at Crossrail’s Royal Oak portal will benefit from restoration of a rail freight line by Lafarge Cement in north Kent. -
California to test earthquake warning system
21-Sep-2011
Researchers in California are reported to be testing an earthquake warning system similar to that which was credited with saving thousands of lives in Japan during the earthquake in March. -
London Power Tunnels TBM powers up
21-Sep-2011
Tunnelling work on National Grid’s London Power Tunnels was due to get under way this week following the lowering of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) into a shaft at Eade Road in Haringey. -
Ground engineering market still “difficult”
16-Sep-2011
Too many companies scrabbling for too few jobs is making the ground engineering market challenging, according to Roger Bullivant director John Patch. -
Roman remains revealed by Network Rail
16-Sep-2011
Engineers working on the Thameslink upgrade close to London Bridge Station have discovered what is believed to be the most extensive Roman find south of the Thames. -
Crossrail on track to reduce costs through value engineering
16-Sep-2011
More than £50M of cost reductions have already been made through value engineering on Crossrail, programme director Andy Mitchell told a British Tunnelling Society meeting last night. -
Skanska wins New York subway station contract
15-Sep-2011
Construction work on New York’s Second Avenue Subway line’s 86th Street Station is to start this month following award of a $210M (£133M) contract for the scheme to a joint venture of Skanska and Traylor Bros. -
British Geological Survey launches new website to maximise exposure
14-Sep-2011
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is aiming to improve geological knowledge through the launch of the new GeoExposure website. -
New milestone reached on London's cable car project
14-Sep-2011
Main contractor Mace has just taken possession of the site for the north tower on the London cable car project in east London. -
Bachy starts piling on Reading rail upgrade
9-Sep-2011
Piling for the third phase of Network Rail’s bridge upgrade work around Reading station is now under way to improve both rail and road capacity. -
STRONG POINT
1-Aug-2004
SLOPE ENGINEERING -
Taking care of business
1-Mar-2004
PILING & FOUNDATIONS -
Resurfacing in the fast lane
25-Sep-2003
Highways: Emergency resurfacing -
Getting on famously
1-Aug-2003
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING -
Careful to a fault
17-Apr-2003
Geotechnics: Foundations -
Piers of the realm
1-Apr-2003
GEOTECHNICS OF TRANSPORT -
Averting the skills disaster with Coventry
6-Mar-2003
Careers: Courses -
Bring on the centurions
1-Mar-2003
SITE INVESTIGATION -
City climbers
1-Dec-2002
Concrete Melbourne Yarra Waters -
Sweet smell of success
1-Nov-2002
REMEDIATION -
Time to settle down
1-Nov-2002
GROUND IMPROVEMENT -
Grow your own skill
12-Sep-2002
Courses -
Operation Aggregate
1-Jun-2002
RECONSTRUCTION -
Test of character
17-Jan-2002
Highways Road base recycling -
Sphere of influence
27-Sep-2001
HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT - M25: Operation of the M25 and its main tributaries has moved under control of just one organisation. Claire Symes takes a look at the changes. -
Voices of the people - best courses
13-Sep-2001
Courses and training -
Base instinct
21-Jun-2001
ROADS: ROAD BASES - Performance concerns over High Modulus Bases have left a gap in the road base market which inventive suppliers are hoping to fill. Claire Symes reports. -
Reclaiming port records
1-May-2001
Work on the biggest and the last container terminal to be built in Hong Kong’s Rambler Channel is now well under way as Claire Symes discovers -
On course for catastrophe?
8-Mar-2001
Almost every sector of the construction industry is bemoaning the shortage of engineers, but what can be done to improve supply? Claire Symes reports. -
Flying start for Finningley
25-Jan-2001
RAF Finningley was one of the RAF’s busiest stations until it closed in 1996 and now presents an ideal opportunity to create a new regional airport in the North East. Claire Symes reports. -
Leith at leisure
30-Nov-2000
Derelict areas of Edinburgh’s dockland are being revived in readiness for a royal resident. Claire Symes reports. -
Ready to start spending
30-Nov-2000
Release of public funds plus substantial private investment is putting a smile back on the face of Scottish civil engineering. Jon Masters, Claire Symes and Mike Walter begin NCE’s special feature by reviewing prospects north of the border. -
Building up reserves
1-May-2000
Sustainable development may be the key to a conservation dilemma in Vietnam. Claire Symes reports -
Flying squad
1-Mar-2000
An air crash, land mines and Russian sensitivities combined to make the upgrading of war-torn Pristina airport less than straightforward. Claire Symes reports -
Weathering the storm
27-Jan-2000
Baptism of fire would be a good way to describe Ringway Highway Services’ first winter looking after Kent’s roads, if it were not for the cold and rain. Claire Symes reports. -
Hole leaves 16 Reading families homeless
20-Jan-2000
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