Elsewhere in ICE Proceedings

A. Hamilton

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, No. 2, May, 82–87

Delivering outcomes in today's business world is increasingly achieved through undertaking a collection of projects, which frequently involve teamwork with multiple experts and organisations. But not all civil engineers are naturally comfortable working in this way. For some of us it involves a potentially cataclysmic shift towards ‘softer’ sciences, increasing our behavioural skills and getting things achieved through people. This paper examines the skill range needed to be an effective project manager and reports on an on-the-job training programme that was run successfully for four years in Sweden and Ireland.

A. Hipkiss

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, No. 3, August, 126–131

Getting ahead in civil engineering today is, like most other professions, very much down to an individual's own efforts. Based on in-depth interviews with senior civil engineers and human resources managers at five major UK engineering organisations, this paper concludes that the traditional hierarchical, linear and predictable nature of civil engineering career development no longer exists. Promotion today depends very much on how individuals manage their own careers. Civil engineers need to make the best use of the support resources available to them and then follow their passions, be proactive and grasp opportunities. They should also build and share expertise, take considered risks, use positive politics, raise their visibility, promote their profiles, network and find role models and mentors.

J. Platts and V. Tomasevic

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, No. 3, August, 132–137

In any group of people, cohesion depends on relationship competence. This involves insightful, intuitive and empathetic noticing of each others' needs and proactive taking of responsibility to help each other, deeply founded in good intent; indeed, it is the basis of all professional behaviour. This paper reports on a study of productive relationships in civil engineering that has given rise to a model and a framework for guiding and assessing the development of this aspect of professional competence. The model is outlined in the paper along with comments from civil engineers and other construction professionals.

K. Clarke

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, No. 4, November, 171–177

Recent shifts in the ownership structure of the civil engineering profession, with many of the large consultancies and utilities now trading as public companies, have raised concerns that engineering excellence is taking a back seat to share-price performance. This paper, which is based on the author's 2006 Hugh Ford Memorial Lecture at ICE, argues that public engineering companies are under considerable pressure to achieve demonstrably better performance year on year. This demands a more complex type of engineering excellence which is perhaps less convenient for the many civil engineers who love deep but narrow problem solving.

M. Sohail, J. Bateman, A. Cotton and B. Reed

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 1—Water worldwide: principles and practicalities, May, 16–20

Most of the billions of people without drinking water or sanitation are very poor. While private-sector companies are becoming increasingly involved with infrastructure provision in developing countries, their contracts for water and sanitation services tend to forget the social aspects of providing services to poor people. As such, public–private partnerships in particularly poor countries are unlikely to be sustainable in the longer term and UN targets for improvements will fail to be met. Based on a four-year research project in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explains how concession contracts need to be more suited to the needs, resources and aspirations of local impoverished communities–in other words, to be more pro-poor.

C. Lewin

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 4–9

This paper discusses enterprise risk management and shows why it is important to civil engineers. Its three component parts are strategic risk management, project appraisal and operational risk management. Enterprise risk management is holistic and complex. It is best carried out within a structured framework, enabling each person involved to play their part.

The aim is to accept risk at appropriate levels for the risk tolerance of the business as a whole and to manage risk efficiently in ways which will optimise the chances of overall business success.

N. Allan and J. Davis

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 10–14

This paper reports on the findings of a UK research programme (STRATrisk) sponsored by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the actuarial profession, the Department of Trade and Industry and over 50 leading construction-related companies and organisations. The programme aims to understand and improve board-level decision-making regarding risks and opportunities. New ways of thinking about strategic risks and opportunities are suggested in light of these findings, which in turn provide insights into their identification and management.

P. Thompson and N. Thompson

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 15–20

The authors believe that the incidence of uncertainty in factors affecting construction performance will continue to increase in all types of engineering projects during the current century and that this will demand rigorous application of risk management. Many organisations currently fail to derive full benefit from the risk management process. This paper examines the reasons for this shortfall and uses a selection of assignments undertaken during the past 25 years to illustrate the problems, opportunities and realities of risk management.

J. Hall, R. Dawson, L. Manning, M. Walkden, M. Dickson and P. Sayers

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 21–27

Civil engineering infrastructure systems are vulnerable to the effects of natural hazards such as flooding, landslides, windstorm and coastal erosion. Risk analysis provides a rational approach to analysing the threat these phenomena pose and identifying efficient options for system management. This paper presents a general formulation of the risk-analysis problem for an engineering system subject to environmental loads. However, most of the variables that determine system behaviour may be subject to long-term change, for example due to climate change or structural deterioration. The uncertainties in appraisal of infrastructure over extended timescales can be considerable, so a framework is presented for systematic analysis of uncertainties and robust decision making.

M. Free, S. Anderson, C. Milloy and J. Mian

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 28–34

This paper presents generic guidance for construction professionals for the assessment of geological-related hazards and risks for infrastructure projects. The risks presented by such hazards to a project are dependent upon their potential size and impact. Drawing on practical experience of civil engineering projects in the UK and worldwide, the authors show that, through a carefully planned risk management framework, the potential impact of uncertain events related to geohazards can be identified, appropriately investigated and mitigated. The corresponding reduction in uncertainty provides improved control over both costs and programme to the advantage of all parties involved.

J. Le Masurier, D. Blockley and D. Muir Wood

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 35–40

The observational method, which has its roots in geotechnical engineering, is shown to be a particular instance of a generic approach applicable to the management of a range of construction project risks. A methodology is described for ensuring robustness in the observational method process, by applying the same principles on which it is based in a holistic way to the management of all project risks, not only those associated with the ground. A model is presented of the broader application of this approach to risk management and a practical example is given of a successful application of the developed methodology to a project with a complex range of risks.

A. Gibb, R. Haslam, D. Gyi, S. Hide and R. Duff

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 46–50

This paper describes aspects of the findings of a three-year research project, Construction Accident Causality, funded by the UK Health and Safety Executive. The project developed a causality model, through a combination of focus groups and detailed study of 100 construction accidents, using an ergonomics systems approach, to identify where safety is compromised and why. It concludes that stakeholders responsible for the immediate accident circumstances, shaping factors and originating influences must all work hard to remove flaws in their safety systems to ensure that accidents are reduced.

G. MacDonald

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 51–56

Risk assessment is the cornerstone of modern health and safety legislation and of accepted approaches to safety management. However, based on detailed interviews with construction site managers on a mix of small- to medium-sized projects–and by drawing on existing, widely based, risk-perception research–this paper provides evidence that risk perception, as opposed to a formal risk assessment, plays a significant role in safety decision making. It also highlights marked and disturbing differences between on-site risk identification, assessment and decision-making processes and those envisaged in safety management teaching as well as current legislation.

J. Carpenter

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 57–61

The management of risk is an essential element of all engineering projects. Whereas the elements of risk may vary between projects, the need to have regard to other people–that is, the health and safety risk–is always present and an obligation on us all. In order for this risk to be embedded in an engineer's thinking it is essential that the fundamental concepts are introduced within the education base, built upon with experience during the initial development phase and honed throughout the career span. This paper describes how this is happening and adds some suggestions for strengthening its provision.

J. Baster and M. Davis

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Civil Engineering, 159, Special Issue 2—Risk: facing the reality, November, 62–64

Over recent years, both large and small consultants have faced sharp increases in professional indemnity (PI) premiums and self-insured excesses. There are now real questions over future availability, and affordability, of cover. In many ways, PI insurance is ill-adapted to the modern complexities and demands of the construction industry, with its highly fragmented and interrelated roles. It is certainly not good at meeting the needs of clients and it propagates the conflicts and antagonisms that need to be left behind if the industry is to thrive. This paper explores some of these issues and looks at recent developments in project-specific insurance.

S. E. Mustow

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Engineering Sustainability, 159, No. 1, March, 11–21

A number of methods have been devised to assess the environmental performance of construction materials. Less attention, however, has been paid to social and economic issues associated with different construction products, which are frequently sourced from a wide range of countries. The extraction and manufacture of construction products can have positive effects by creating jobs, increasing skills and boosting economies. Negative impacts have, however, also been known to arise, which at their most extreme may involve the confiscation of land, use of child labour, corruption and dangerous working conditions. Given that the global construction industry is worth approximately US$3·2 trillion, there is great potential for positive action by specifiers to drive significant improvements in social, economic and environmental conditions on an international scale. There is also increasing pressure for organisations to reduce corporate risk through adopting ethical procurement practices. The lack of information and understanding relating to social and economic issues makes it hard for architects, surveyors, engineers, building managers, property owners and others to make informed choices regarding ‘ethical procurement’. This paper reviews initiatives, organisations and tools that are relevant to the ethical procurement of construction products.

R. Lane and J. Wells

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 2, June, 77–83

The use of planning agreements to provide funding for transport improvements required to support development proposals is discussed. The legislation and Government guidance referred to applies to England, but there is similar legislation and guidance applicable to Scotland and Wales. Planning policies since the late 1980s have required developments to be accessible by non-car modes of transport as well as by private vehicles and planning agreements are thus usually used to secure improvements to all transport modes. Planning agreements have been in use since the early 1970s and many agreements have secured highway improvements. These have usually been for single large-scale developments. Securing improvements needed to meet the cumulative impact of a number of developments has not been very successful with the result that many developments cause an impact but the necessary transport infrastructure has to be provided by the transport authorities. New Government advice issued in 2005 has made it clear that standard charges and pooling funding from several developments for the provision of transport infrastructure is acceptable. Some methods have been developed and are reviewed in the paper. Compared with the standard charge methods that have been developed for the provision of open space and educational facilities those for transport lag well behind. The result of this is that much needed funding for transport is not being collected.

A. Finch

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 2, June, 85–90

Since 1998, Portsmouth City Council (PCC) has been acutely aware that the condition of its highway stock was in decline through lack of investment. Acknowledging that the highway is a universal service used by all residents and visitors, and is key to the future prosperity of the city, PCC looked to identify a better way of delivering a highway maintenance service. Ahead of its time, PCC developed an asset management approach to highways maintenance by defining service standards and levels, and developing an innovative road and footway condition index. An evaluation of options was undertaken prior to selecting the private finance initiative (PFI) route as the mechanism to address the identified maintenance backlog and for funding the long-term future of highway management in the city. The Department for Transport has described this pathfinder project as ‘a pioneering and innovative way of procuring better road maintenance’. After a lengthy procurement process this pathfinder project was granted £121m of PFI credits, and the contract was signed on 30 July 2004. A short six-month mobilisation period followed, with full-service commencement on 31 January 2005. The contract is proving to be an outstanding success, acknowledged by positive comments from both residents and the local media. It has seen a step-change in not only the volume of maintenance work undertaken in the city but also in the profile of the service corporately, nationally and internationally.

M. S. Snaith and D. M. Orr

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 2, June, 91–95

The introduction of resource accounting for public assets in the United Kingdom and elsewhere has brought with it the need to determine the capital value of road networks, including the loss of value due to deterioration in service. Various methods have been proposed for this, some of which have depended on fairly simplistic and arguably inappropriate accountancy practices that are more appropriate for assets with a straight-line depreciation. However, roads are ideally retained in a good order to ensure satisfactory service to the travelling public. As a result of this, considerable work has been undertaken over the last few years to develop a practical way of determining the value of a road network based on its measured condition. This work is now accepted for use in Northern Ireland on non-trunk routes and has proved both useful and effective in operation. The basis for the calculations is presented in this paper.

M. Kendrick and A. Taggart

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 2, June, 97–104

The highway network is the largest and most visible community asset for which local authorities are responsible. It is used daily by the majority of people and is fundamental to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the community. It helps to shape the character and quality of the local areas that it serves and makes an important contribution to wider local authority priorities, including regeneration, social inclusion, community safety, education and health. In order to fulfil its potential it is crucial that the highway network is maintained. Increasing traffic growth has brought increasingly widespread recognition of the importance of highway maintenance and the high value placed on it by users. However, this importance has not generally been reflected in levels of investment, and public concern has been increasing about the implications of this for safety and journey reliability. Recent increases in investment have been welcome but a sustained long-term programme that is efficiently managed and supported by effective technical and management systems is required.

The 2005 edition of Well-maintained Highways: Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management, together with the updated Well-lit Highways: Code of Practice for Highway Lighting Management and the new ‘Management of Highway Structures: A Code of Practice, provide the basis for these technical and management systems with detailed guidance on standards and procedures. The codes, so far as possible, seek to harmonise approaches in all parts of the UK and between national and local roads, support the new requirements for asset management and link national and local transport policies. For the first time, the code of practice for well-maintained highways includes the management of public rights of way as part of the highway asset.

This paper summarises the key features of the code, highlighting areas considered to be of particular importance. Copies of all codes can be viewed on the website of the UK Roads Liaison Group (www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org).

A. J. L. Ferreira and A. dos Santos Duarte

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 2, June, 113–120

The infrastructure departments of the Portuguese municipalities must make great efforts in beginning or continuing to use advanced information technology tools to increase institutional productivity and effectiveness in managing infrastructure. At present, they use or are beginning to use independent management systems for each type of infrastructure, such as road pavements, bridges, signs, water pipelines, sewer pipelines, or parks. In the future, they need to begin development of an integrated infrastructure management system (IMS). This paper focuses on the issues and needs that emerged from studies in Portugal involving the implementation of transportation management systems in local municipalities. The functions of various participating divisions inside a municipal department are introduced and discussed. The issues and needs that must be fully understood and considered in the development of an integrated IMS are identified. Doing so involves determining and standardising an effective base linear referencing system, standardising data terminology, determining the shared data needs of the several divisions inside a department, and developing a comprehensive database design with special attention given to the types of data analysis functions performed by each division. The paper also describes the application of the integrated IMS in road maintenance management, road safety management and sewer network management using the same base linear referencing system.

A. Hamilton

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 3, September, 141–146

The management of project work is an increasing challenge to most organisations. Projects are becoming the fundamental internal building blocks that organisation and business entities use to satisfy their missions, strategies and outputs. Project management, as a management discipline, is not generally understood nor is it commonly practised at strategic level by public sector organisations that commonly handle a mix of project work and non-project work. This paper explains the increasing recognition of projects as vehicles for creating internal change alongside, in the public sector, the provision of new products to satisfy social need. The paper also introduces the concept of the project support office. This type of support facility offers a visible entity for organisational reform and a means to establish a balanced working ethos between project work and, the often predominant, non-project work. Although project support facilities have been established in some organisations, their benefits are anecdotal and little information has been published that would clearly confirm the advantages. Launching a research programme that would investigate project delivery performance by organisations with such facilities is thus a matter of great importance and urgency.

A. El-Assaly, S. T. Ariaratnam, J. Ruwanpura and H. Ng

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 3, September, 155–160

Sewer authorities are facing the onerous task of planning strategies for allocating funding levels to rehabilitate aging sewer infrastructure. Numerous modelling approaches have been developed by previous researchers that predict future condition based on various physical criteria. This paper develops a cost forecast model that employs a deterioration prediction. The deterioration model uses condition assessment data from inspections and incorporates these into a logit regression model that includes five independent parameters: age; waste type; material type; diameter; and depth. The deficiency probability generated from the logit regression model provides the catalyst for the cost forecasting model of sewer infrastructure presented in this paper.

D. Singh and R. L. K. Tiong

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159,

No. 3, September, 161–166

Economic slowdown and fierce competition in the construction industry in recent years has led many construction companies to pull out of projects due to deep financial and cash flow problems. As a result the risks of project failure in terms of time and cost overruns as well as poor quality products have increased. The reduction of such risks demands a closer examination of the financial soundness of candidate contractors before awarding a contract. This paper proposes a quantitative method using financial ratios to evaluate changes in the financial health of contractors and to enable a comparison of financial soundness during a tender evaluation process to be made. The concept of the entropy method was employed to calculate the objective weights of financial ratios and a multi-criteria decision-making method was used to produce overall performance scores of contractors. An empirical study of real company case data in Singapore was carried out to illustrate application of the method. The results show that the approach can be used to assist construction clients in assessing the financial capability of contractors.

S. Wamuziri

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Municipal Engineer, 159, No. 3, September, 167–174

This paper provides an evaluation of safety culture in the construction industry. Safety culture is part of an organisation's culture. The concepts of safety culture and organisational culture are discussed, including the main characteristics of organisational culture. The cultural changes that health and safety law has sought to bring about in the construction industry are provided; these include top management commitment, employee involvement, training, co-ordination, communication, information sharing, forward planning, risk assessment and control. Research on safety culture in the aviation, mining, nuclear and offshore sectors is assessed with a view to drawing lessons for the construction industry. It is concluded that the safety climate or culture of an organisation can be assessed and a toolkit to assist in this process has been developed and published by the UK Health and Safety Executive. However, studies are required to develop this toolkit further to take account of the regulations, risks and management systems that are specific to the construction industry. Furthermore, it is concluded that safety is more than a cultural issue; it is an ethical issue as well. Although safety performance in construction has improved in recent years, it remains an unresolved issue for the industry.

A. Ahern, N. Tapley and G. Anandarajah

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Transport, 159, No. 4, November, 153–157

This paper describes the level of service offered by intercity rail in Ireland and analyses the importance of attributes in prioritising railway projects for investment. The study also quantifies the number of additional passengers who would use rail if ticket prices were subsidised. A stated preference study conducted in 2004 shows that current levels of satisfaction with the intercity rail service are low. The study shows that passengers are willing to pay higher ticket prices in order to improve service quality. The average values are: €13·6/h of saved journey time, €0·38 to reduce the gap between actual arrival time and scheduled arrival time by 1 min, and €0·16 per additional train to increase service frequency. The analysis finds that user benefits are the most important attributes in investment decision-making, followed by safety/accident benefits and total economic benefits of the project. The estimated values show that reducing the ticket price by 5% would increase the revenue by 0·12% under the Department of Transport forecast; similarly, the revenue would increase by 1·1% if the ticket price were decreased by 10%.

D. Metz

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Transport, 159, No. 4, November, 159–163

The value of accident savings is commonly an important element of the economic benefit of a road improvement scheme, as estimated by standard cost–benefit methodology. The other important economic benefit is supposed to be the value of travel time savings. However, average travel time has remained constant for many years, which suggests that in the long term the benefits of road improvements are taken in the form of additional access to more distant destinations at higher speeds, rather than in the form of time savings. Such additional travel will result in extra accidents, which are not adequately taken into account in conventional economic appraisal methodology. The value of such extra accidents has been estimated for a number of UK highway schemes. On average the value of these accidents exceeds the value of the accident savings claimed for the schemes. Road improvements designed to reduce accidents therefore need to avoid increasing traffic speeds.

A. Kovacs

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Transport, 159, No. 4, November, 173–176

Studies and debates on the introduction of road user charging, on the definition of an EU-wide European Electronic Tolling Service, and on the interpretation of the European Commission's Electronic Fee Collection Directive are currently in high gear in several EU countries. The basis of this paper is to promote a better-informed consideration of these issues through expanding our geographic and historic perspectives. When following the ongoing debate surrounding road user charging issues, it might be considered that this is a recent European issue. The reality is very different, however, as some Asian countries have many years' experience of road user charging. There certainly could be something to learn from that accumulated knowledge. Through an overview of electronic tolling systems in Asia, the focus is set on possible lessons that these countries might provide for us.

A. Ahern and G. Anandarajah

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Transport, 159, No. 4, November, 177–181

There are many factors that influence demand for rail travel, including rail and road travel time, ticket costs, fuel costs and income. This paper empirically examines the influence of per capita GDP and rail fares on intercity rail journeys using cointegration and error correction techniques. The price and income elasticity of demand for rail-passenger transport is estimated. The findings of this study are that rail passenger demand is elastic with price in the long term, having a value of − 1·08, but it is inelastic with income in both the long and short run. The study recommends that reducing intercity rail fares could be one of the tools used to increase the demand for intercity rail passenger transport. That is, reducing the ticket price by 1% will increase the per capita number of journeys by intercity rail by slightly more than 1% in the long term. However, the authors point out that additional research is required to examine the impacts of other factors on railway demand, such as travel times, GDP and cross-price elasticities.

R. J. Couth, J. Enright, J. Snape, C. Whiteman and J. N. Davies

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Waste and Resource Management, 159, No. 2, May, 75–82

This paper describes the development and structure of Defra's (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs') electronic Waste Procurement Toolkit. The toolkit was developed jointly by Enviros and Nabarro Nathanson to aid local authorities in drafting waste contract documents, guiding them through the procurement process and helping them achieve their objectives in relation to eGovernment. The objectives of the toolkit are to: improve the standard of contract documents used by local authorities and the waste industry; reduce procurement costs for all parties; and ensure long- and short-term government targets are reflected in contracts. It is aimed at managers and those involved in waste procurement to ensure all relevant issues are considered in contract development. The toolkit was developed from first principles in consultation with a group of stakeholders from the waste management industry. The toolkit consists of three parts: a procurement plan to determine the procurement strategy; a contract toolkit to prepare the contract documents; and a procurement process toolkit to lead local authorities through the procurement process. A help manual is also included in the toolkit. The toolkit is a living document that is regularly updated to include new waste legislation and guidance.

E. Evans, J. Hall, E. Penning-Roswell, P. Sayers, C. Thorne and A. Watkinson

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers—Water Management, 159, No. 1, March, 53–61

The Foresight Future Flooding project has analysed future flood risk in a scenario framework for the whole of the UK. The analysis predicts increasing flood risk unless current flood management policies and investment levels are changed, with up to a twentyfold increase in economic risk by the 2080s. The increase is attributable to a combination of climate change and increasing value of household, industrial and infrastructure assets. Potential responses are assessed in terms of the three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. The work described has formed much of the evidence base for the new government strategy for flood risk management in England, ‘Making space for water’.