During a recent mentoring session, a mentee asked: “what is the most effective way to learn and develop?” The stock answer is the 70:20:10 model, which suggests that 70% of knowledge and understanding is gained from on-the-job experience, 20% from self-study, mentoring and learning from others, and 10% from training courses and the like. This model originated in the 1980’s based on research into what helped successful managers develop. So is it valid for the construction industry? We have been thinking about this further as part of our mentoring work and we have prepared a short article on it, mainly aimed at graduates but others may find it useful too. If you are interested to read it then just click here.
Category Archives: Geotechnics
DESIGNERS GEOTECHNICAL ADVISOR APPOINTMENT
Over recent months we have been working for a developer on the geotechnical design of an acoustic bund adjacent to the M1. We have been liaising with Highways England (HE) on behalf of the Client, to help them steer through the HD22/08 process as their Designers Geotechnical Advisor. The aim of the work is to secure the HE’s approval of the development in due course, as the project is ongoing.
HOWARD MEDAL AWARDED
As announced previously, we are very pleased and honoured to announce that on 6 October 2017 our Dr Andy Goodwin, Simon Ellis (Mott Macdonald), Prof Liz Laycock (Sheffield Hallam University) and Dr Chris Hurst (Mott MacDonald) were all awarded the Howard Medal by ICE Publishing for a paper jointly published in 2016. The awards dinner was held at the ICE headquarters near Westminster. The happy recipients are shown below on stage, and both before and after perhaps a little too much champagne!
Entitled “Use of crushed brick in reinforced earth railway structures”, the paper was published in ICE’s Construction Materials Journal. Targeted at improving the sustainability of the development, the work reported on a short practically-focused research project undertaken in association with Sheffield Hallam University with a clear focus on assessing the suitability of crushed bricks to be sourced from a viaduct for re-use as engineered fill. It shows the benefits that can be gained from integrating focused research into a large project.
More details of the project can be seen in the paper, which can be downloaded for free from http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/10.1680/coma.15.00014.
LAST FEW COURSES IN 2017
The end of 2017 is approaching and we are busy preparing the course calendar for 2018. There is still time to book onto just a few courses with spaces in 2107:
- Slope Stability – Principles and Practice (28 November)
- Mentoring for Engineering Geologists on Geotechnical Engineering (30 November)
- The ICE Professional Review – Overview and Preparation (7 December)
- Introduction to Structural Design to the Eurocodes (12 December)
Each course is running in Chesterfield. Discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course. Please call or email us to reserve your place on a course.
Remember too that all courses can be run bespoke for your company if there are sufficient numbers – just call us to see what we could do for you.
OPENCAST BACKFILL SETTLEMENT ASSESSMENT
We have recently been commissioned to assess the long term movements that are likely to affect housing to be built over old backfilled opencast workings at a site in Derbyshire. The aim is to identify whether movements are likely to be tolerable for shallow foundations to be adopted rather than using a more costly piled solution. The work is being undertaken as a sub-Consultant in association with the ground investigation contractor and the structural engineer for the site.
The project demonstrates the benefits and added services that a GI contractor can offer with the support of geotechnical specialists. If you think we could assist you in this respect, as we already do for a number of GI contractors, then please contact Dr Andy Goodwin on 01246 807808.