Improving transport to transform lives page 14-15

ISSUE 29 | March/April 2018RAILGoing underground– an inside look at Crossrailpage 16-18

INTERVIEWWe speak to StantecUK’s managingdirector Cath Scheferpage 24-25

Produced for the industry by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering

PLUS: l Carillion l Road charging l Public procurement l Labour and infrastructure l Smart transport

Improvingtransport totransform livespage 14-15

INTERNATIONALWe unpick DonaldTrump’s £200bninfrastructure planpage 8-9

ii29-mar-apr2018.qxp_print 02/03/2018 09:09

2 Infrastructure Intelligence | March/April 2018

MESSAGE FROMTHE EDITOR

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Contents

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Follow us on twitter @infra_intelJoin the Infrastructure Intelligence groupon LinkedIn

News round-up 3 Northern Powerhouse Rail; London transport plans

Carillion crash 4 Industry leaders call for major change following Carillion’sdemise

Book review 6 Roma Agrawal’s BUILT –The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures

Roads 7 ACE argues for a new approach to road funding

International 8 Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan unpicked

Sports and 10 Birmingham looks to build a Commonwealth Games legacyleisure

Think tank 11 Ramboll’s Mathew Riley kicks off a new column on bigindustry issues

Opinion 12 Getting match fit for Brexit; NIC must continue to challengegovernment; Community impact

Interview 14 We interview Barry White, Transport for the North’s newchief executive

Rail 16 Going underground - an inside look at Crossrail

Project 19 Establishing an effective joint venture workstreammanagement

Politics 20 Why construction needs to influence Labour’s policy plans

Smart working 21 Making future infrastructure more robust

Procurement 22 Interview with Mark Robinson, chief executive of publicprocurement organisation Scape

Interview 24 Stantec UK’s managing director, Cath Schefer, talks about herfirm’s future plans

ACE news 26 Brexit update; ACE advisory board; Governmentconsultations; Carillion

EIC news 29 Working together is key to greener living

Transport 30 The need to set information free to transform transport

Infrastructure 31 How asset recycling can help fund infrastructure more politics transparently

Andy Walker,editor, Infrastructure Intelligence

The collapse of Carillion has dominated much of Infrastructure Intelligence’s onlinecoverage over the past couple of months and it is inevitable therefore that ourlatest print edition and my editor’s comment also follow suit by looking at thefall out from the demise of what was a construction household name.

As Nelson Ogunshakin correctly highlights in his excellent article on page 28,Carillion’s fall should be seen as an opportunity for wholesale reform of businesspractices in the construction industry.

We have been here before of course and to address some of the pressingstructural problems facing the industry and to avoid repeating the mistakes ofthe past, we will need to have honest, open and difficult conversations on issuessuch as procurement, supply chains, profit margins and value for money. Clientsand government will need to be more enlightened and informed. Above all, theywill need to look beyond the short-termism of the immediate balance sheet andtake the longer view.

Politicians, some of whom have taken the opportunity to bash the industry inthe wake of Carillion’s collapse, will also need to think carefully about howpublic sector projects are planned, procured and delivered. They need to engagewith the industry at all levels, listen to what people tell them and act on it as amatter of urgency.

There must be no more Carillions. We cannot be here again.


March/April 2018 | Infrastructure Intelligence 3

News round-up

Acollection of northern mayors, MPs,and business leaders have cometogether calling for a major

overhaul of the northern rail network. A campaign launched by the Northern

Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) is calling onthe government to deliver NorthernPowerhouse Rail at the same time as HS2Phase 2B, which is expected to open in2032/33.

Campaigners argue that improvingtransport links between big cities such asManchester, Liverpool and Bradford wouldmean the north-south divide does notwiden in the coming years.

NPP vice-chair Lord Jim O'Neill said:“Getting Northern Powerhouse Raildelivered to the recommendations ofTransport for the North is crucial for thesuccess of the Northern Powerhouse.Without connecting as quickly andefficiently as possible the many closely-located towns and cities of the NorthernPowerhouse, it will not be able to createthe agglomeration benefits that would

transform the economy of the UK, nevermind just the north.”

“Indeed, by doing it, the financialinvestment justification for centralgovernment would vastly exceed the usualcautious value for money criteria, and beone of the most exciting things for postBrexit Britain, notably for an area that hasmany disillusioned voters.”

Decision-makers in the north claim that

thousands of new jobs and increasedoverseas investment could be just two ofthe benefits created by cutting journeytimes to cities and towns. To make thishappen, the NPP is requesting a redesignfor Manchester Piccadilly (pictured above)to create an underground station and afurther NPR station in Liverpool, alongsideHS2, which would help create 20,000 newjobs and generate £703m for the economy.

Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2must start together, say campaigners

Mayor reveals 25-yearLondon transport plans

The mayor of London has revealed hisrevised transport strategy whichcommits to ploughing ahead with

Crossrail 2 and tube line extensions whilereaffirming his commitment for 80% ofjourneys to be made by walking, cyclingand public transport by 2041.

Included in the plans for the next 25years is a West London Orbital rail line thatwould connect Hounslow with Cricklewoodand Hendon, with Sadiq Khan claiming itcould potentially support the delivery ofanother 20,000 homes. He has also pledged“record-breaking investment” across theentire tube network which would financethe extension of both the Northern andBakerloo lines.

The mayor published a draft of hisstrategy for consultation last June and therevised document has now been presentedto the London Assembly for considerationbefore final publication in the comingweeks.

A total of 6,600 responses were receivedon last year’s consultation and there hasbeen a number of amendments followingthe feedback received. These include acommitment to work with the London

boroughs of Merton and Sutton to developthe proposed Sutton Tram extension and anincreased focus on the opportunities fromnew technology.

Chief executive of the Association forConsultancy and Engineering, NelsonOgunshakin, commented: “Successfulinfrastructure demands careful long-termplanning, so Sadiq Khan should becommended for London’s responsibletransport strategy which, for possibly thefirst time, looks beyond near-term mayoralpolitics to offer a bold vision for the futureof transport in the capital. We would urgethe new metro mayors, and groups likeTransport for the North and Transport forWales, to mirror the London mayor’s long-term approach to infrastructure planning.”

Croydon to getupgrade afterfunding pledge

Croydon is set to benefit from anexpanded train station, extratracks and flyover junctions after

the government committed funding tothe Brighton main line upgrade project.

The funding boost for the Brightonmain line upgrade programme shouldmean major improvements inpunctuality between London, GatwickAirport and the Sussex coast with thepotential for more frequent services inthe longer term.

Known as the Croydon AreaRemodelling Scheme, it would seeconstruction of a series of new grade-separated junctions north of EastCroydon station to remove the ‘Croydonbottleneck’ where several routes to andfrom central London converge.

As part of the plans, East Croydonstation would also be expanded andrevamped with the number of platformsincreasing from six to eight. Travellerswould also benefit from new concourseareas with better access to the platformsand surrounding areas.



Philip Green, chairman ofCarillion, described thecollapse as “a very sad day”,a decision that came “withthe deepest regret”.

Carillion collapse

Two months on from the collapse ofone of the UK’s construction giants,more than half of Carillion’s

workforce remain in limbo as they await tohear what their futures hold. Theimplications are still being felt and arelikely to be for months as the firm’s supplychain attempts to mitigate the impact. Butwhat lessons have been learnt and howdoes the industry safeguard itself from arepeat episode?

The date of 15 January 2018 will alwaysbe remembered as a sorry day for theindustry as Carillion liquidated withmultimillion pound contracts unfinished,£800m of liabilities and a pension deficitestimated to be just short of £1bn. It’sestimated the firm was the maincontractor on 57 construction projectsworth a total of £5.7bn on the day it fell.

Announcing the collapse, Philip Green,chairman of Carillion, described it as “avery sad day” and a decision that came“with the deepest regret”. The trade unionrepresenting many Carillion workersreacted angrily with GMB’s nationalsecretary Rehana Azam saying the factsuch a massive government contractor likeCarillion had been allowed to go intoadministration showed a “complete failureof a system that has put our public servicesin the grip of shady profit-makingcontractors”.

The construction company’s liquidationhas impacted the lives of the 19,500-strongworkforce in the UK. The official receiver,an office of the government’s InsolvencyService, continues to try to find newemployers for the thousands who areunsure on where their futures lie. Theirefforts have seen approximately 8,000 jobssaved but sadly more than 1,000 have losttheir jobs.

Even though the firm was struggling tocope with a gigantic debt deficit, bosses heldonto the slight hope of staying afloat rightup until the day before Carillion folded. In a

revelations come out of the woodwork.Questions are now being asked about howlong the collapse was in the making andwhether those at the top concealed theextent of the problems Carillion was facing.

In the aftermath, it has become clearthat last July’s shock profit warning wasnot the same surprise to those within thecompany. An inquiry launched by twogovernment select committees broughtabout a humbling day for former directorsand chairmen as MPs scrutinised theirindividual roles in the company’s demise.

One of those called before thecommittees was former Carillion chiefexecutive Richard Howson who provided ableak picture of non-payments well beforeJuly 2017. He revealed how theconstruction company had signed up to a£200m World Cup construction deal withQatar that meant the company couldn'twalk away even if money did not exchangehands. Speaking to MPs, Howson said: “Theamount of energy and effort to make surethere was enough cashflow each monthwas extraordinary,” he added. “I felt like abailiff just to try and collect cash.”

Industry leaders callfor major change afterCarillion’s demise

January 2018 saw the end of one of the top three construction companies in theUK, but how did Carillion end up going bust? Ryan Tute looks back at how theconstruction giant reached the point of no return and what the future may hold.

last-ditch attempt to salvage the company,Green approached the government on 13January for £160m of funding over fourmonths, but this was rejected.

What led to the collapse?The inquest into Carillion and the state ofthe construction sector is firmly underwayand continues to accelerate as more



MPs also heard from former chairmanGreen, who reiterated how he believed thecompany could have been saved and heldout hope right until 14 January - the daybefore bosses announced liquidation. Heoutlined three reasons for collapse: highlevel of debt from 2013-16, a small numberof contracts that went wrong and theinability to secure short-term funding lastmonth.

Suspicions that directors knew it was indifficulty earlier than they admitted inpublic have now meant former shareholderslike Kiltearn Partners have considered civillegal action with a view to recovering aproportion of its clients’ “crystallised losses”following its profits warning last summer. Inevidence released, two investmentinstitutions said they believed managers hadbeen underplaying the deterioration inCarillion’s finances before it announced an£845m write down of key contracts andissued a profit warning in July last year.

A few of the major projects Carillion wereresponsible for have been consistentlyhighlighted as a big contributing factor inthe eventual downfall. One of those beingthe construction of the £450m RoyalLiverpool Hospital. Problems encounteredagain are thought to have been known longbefore bosses made it public. Crackedhospital beams at the hospital have plaguedthe completion of the project and estimatedto have set the company back to the tune of£20m.

But what does the future hold for theindustry and those connected toCarillion?The latest rival to reveal it has suffered inthe hands of the Carillion is Galliford Try.Recently it openly called on shareholdersfor a cash injection of £150m after taking a£25m hit on the cost of picking upCarillion’s share of their Aberdeen bypassjoint venture.

It’s estimated that about 30,000 SMEshave been and continue to be affected bythe collapse. From cleaning, consulting,building to landscaping, thousands weresubcontracted to carry out much of thefirm’s work.

It’s become apparent the former giantwas a notorious late payer, meaning manycompanies operating on tiny margins havelost out on even more money owed withthe loss of contracts that could have beenpivotal in their long-term financialplanning. Court documents revealed lastmonth that those companies are unlikelyto get anything back. This could forcebosses around the country to take theregrettable measures of firing people, oreven folding their business entirely.

As for major projects where Carillionwas the main contractor, the workcontinues to find a solution. So far, theInsolvency Service has found some newcontractors, or is paying for work tocontinue as normal in vital public servicessuch as school catering. But the futureremains unclear on at least big hospitalprojects, the Royal Liverpool University

Hospital, and the Midland MetropolitanHospital in Birmingham. While workcontinues to be at a standstill, projectionson costs and time spiral leading many towonder how much damage the delays willmean.

How do we avoid a repeat of Carillion?Despite the unfortunate consequencesthat comes with any firm liquidating,Carillion’s demise has been described bymany as the wake-up call the industry andthe government needed. The Associationfor Consultancy and Engineering chiefexecutive, Nelson Ogunshakin, believesthe collapse would have a number of“major ramifications” for the industry andthat a complete rethink of how it operateswas needed.

“In the long term, this is an awakeningfor major structural change in theconstruction industry,” said Ogunshakin.“The challenges of low profitability andnegative cashflow experienced by thecontracting sector confirm that thecurrent procurement process is broken. A new business model, coupled with clientleadership, is urgently required to makeour industry fit-for-the-future and ensurewe won’t experience difficulties with othermajor players,” he said.

The Federation of Master Builders hasclaimed that relying on a handful of largerfirms is too risky in today’s currentclimate. Its chief executive Brian Berrysaid: “Carillion’s liquidation raises seriousquestions for the government, not leastabout its over-reliance on majorcontractors. The government needs toopen up public sector constructioncontracts to small and micro firms bybreaking larger contracts down intosmaller lots. That way, it can spread its riskwhile also reaping the benefits that comefrom procuring a greater proportion of itswork from a broad range of smallcompanies. Construction SMEs train two-thirds of all apprentices and are a sure-fireway of spreading economic growth moreevenly throughout the UK.”

The crisis has also gripped the politicalarena with the government facingincreasing pressure to address thesystemic and damaging late-paymentculture within the sector. The end ofJanuary saw an early day motion inparliament tabled by Bury North MP JamesFrith calling on the government to honourall outstanding payments on publiccontracts for work completed and toenforce public sector 30-day paymentregulations. The motion epitomises theview that many within the industry agreewith, namely that tighter controls andconsequences for those who fail to abide isthe way forward.

“A new business model,coupled with clientleadership, is urgentlyrequired to make ourindustry fit-for-the-future.”

Carillionexecutivesbeingquestionedby MPs atparliament.



Book review

Once in a while you read a book thatmakes you think differently aboutthe world around you. BUILT: The

Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures, is quitesimply a book about engineering and onewoman’s passion for construction that Icould not put down. So much so that I readit in a single day.

Its author, structural engineer RomaAgrawal, has written a book that is asreadable as it is fascinating. Even forsomeone who regularly writes aboutinfrastructure, engineering andconstruction, this book made me lookanew at the world and the builtenvironment that underpins it.

BUILT is Agrawal’s first ever book (hardto believe given its lively and accessiblestyle) and she transports the reader on anexciting and always interesting tour ofhow engineering works and the forces atplay that underpin – and in some casesundermine – structures and buildings. Anatural communicator, Agrawal won theConsultant of the Future and DiamondAward for Engineering Excellence in ACE’sEngineering Excellence Awards in 2015and after reading this book I think thejudges’ decision was a prescient one.

In BUILT, Agrawal charts herinspirations and what drove her topursuing a career in engineering as well astelling us the stories behind some of theworld’s landmark buildings. Agrawal’sinfectious enthusiasm for engineeringshines through every page of this book, asdoes her respect for the naturalenvironment and the many geniusesthroughout the years that have shapeda world we now take for granted.

The book’s fly sheet asks thereader to imagine a worldwhere everything created byengineers had disappeared.What would you see? Theanswer of course is almostnothing – no cars, nohouses, no phones, bridgesor roads, no tunnels either, orskyscrapers. Agrawallooks at howconstruction

has evolved from the days of the mud hutto mega structures made of steel thattouch the sky. She also describes in somedetail the way that sewerage systems haveevolved and her account of the trade inhuman excrement in early 17th centuryJapan is especially fascinating!

Through detailed archive images,photographs and her own hand-drawnillustrations, Agrawal brings engineeringto life. She rightly highlights the role thatwomen have played in engineering downthe years and devotes a whole chapter toher engineering idol, Emily WarrenRoebling, without whose skills andexpertise, the Brooklyn Bridge inNew York would never have beencompleted. Agrawal is a staunch

advocate of diversity andinclusion in engineeringand speaks widely onthe issue with somepassion.

Her accounts ofhow some of theworld’s iconicbuildings andstructures came into

being are inspiring and her descriptionsof the far-sighted visionary geniuses whodown the years have made the seeminglyimpossible possible are equally jaw-dropping. Agrawal clearly knows hersubject inside out and wants the reader tofeel her enthusiasm for engineering too.

Reading the book was a real eyeopener and it made me think anew aboutmore ‘technical’ subjects like physics andmaths that as a writer I thought I’d left atthe secondary school gates. Agrawalmakes engineering accessible andexciting, highlighting how the engineermakes the most extravagant of dreams areality. This book deserves the widest

possible audience,especially amongst theyoung.

On a practical level,Agrawal also informs us whyyou should never ever takeon an engineer at Jenga,which is something I willalso remember after readingthis fantastically interestingand inspiring book. I can’trecommend BUILT too highly.

How engineers makedreams a reality

The wonders of engineering are revealed in a new book by an inspirational engineerwho worked on The Shard. Andy Walker read the book in a day and was suitably impressed.

Roma Agrawal (left). Her book BUILT –The Hidden Stories Behind OurStructures is published by Bloomsbury and retails at £20 but can be

purchased for £12.99 from Amazon or £6.99 on Kindle.

Emily Warren Roeblingwas the first femalefield engineer and sawout the completion ofthe Brooklyn Bridge.


Transport

“It’s vital that the government startsthese conversations with the public now,as to date there have been suspicions ofroad user pricing and fears that people willbe priced off the road. This doesn’t have tobe the case and there is a great opportunityto develop a fairer-for-all road fundingsystem which delivers the first-class roadnetwork that this country needs long intothe future.”

Some of the report’s otherrecommendations are to:l Develop a new overall National RoadsStrategy outlining a co-ordinated approachbeyond the national network, includingintroducing a Local Roads Fund toamalgamate and ring-fence funding forlocal roads;l Look at short-term reforms to widenthe scope of Vehicle Excise Duty toinclude zero emission vehicles, thereforesecuring revenue for the National Roads

Fund;l Reform the existing HGVroad user levy, using it as apilot for the broaderintroduction of dynamic roaduser-charging across thenetwork;l Establish a LocalInfrastructure Tariffallowing councils to developa sustainable revenuestream for local roadinfrastructure investment;

l Increase private investment in England’sroad network.

Funding Roads for the Future wasdeveloped with detailed input from ACE’sroad sector interest group. Dave Beddell,managing director strategic highways(Europe) at AECOM and chair of the groupsaid: “Such is the importance of the roadnetwork to our national economic andsocial wellbeing that we cannot allow theway in which we fund its futuredevelopment and operation to becomemisaligned with emerging customerneeds.

“Alongside the increased levels of spendwe have seen allocated to parts of thenetwork in recent years comes an equallyexciting opportunity for industry to workalongside government in order to create aninvestment framework that supports amodern and sustainable road network.”

The launch of the report gainedextensive media coverage. Speaking onBBC Radio Four’s Today programme,Ogunshakin said that increasingdevolution across the UK provided anopportunity for a national debate on theapproach ACE is advocating and that localcouncils would have a key role to play innew funding models.

“With devolution empowering localauthorities on ways to regenerate theirlocal economies, it seems like an ideal timeto start a conversation on the futurefunding the road network,” Ogunshakinsaid.

The report claims that congestion willbe a major issue for England’s roadnetwork in the future. Given that thegovernment expects congestion toincrease 63% by 2030, ACE is calling fornew options to be considered to ensurethat England’s road network is fit-for-purpose for the future with budgetaryconstraints. Promoting private investmentin the road network and giving more toolsto local authorities for road funding aretwo options the government must explore,the report says.

James Ketchell is senior communications executiveat ACE.

Drivers should be charged for usingthe UK's road network based ontheir individual circumstances and

when they are using the roads, accordingto a new report from the Association forConsultancy and Engineering (ACE).

Funding Roads for the Future calls on thegovernment to introduce dynamic roaduser pricing which takes into account adriver’s journey (motorways or countrylanes), the time of day, congestion on thenetwork, and even their financialsituation, such as whether they’re astudent, pensioner, or unemployed.

Currently, motorists pay fuel andvehicle taxes and the funds raised areinvested in roads but ACE says that thismodel is failing in the face of newtechnology and changing social trends,such as zero-emission vehicles, ridesharing, and increased urbanisation. ACEwants to see short-term reforms to theexisting road taxation system, pushing ittowards the longer-term aim ofdynamic road user pricing.

Commenting on the report,ACE chief executive NelsonOgunshakin said: “Our reportargues that in the years aheadonly a reformed funding regimebased on dynamic road userpricing will manage traffic flowsand deliver the significantinvestment needed to keep thecountry moving.

Changing social trends means that a newapproach to road funding is needed, accordingto a new report from ACE. James Ketchell reports.

Road user chargesshould be tailoredin favour of drivers




US infrastructure

On paper Donald Trump’s newinfrastructure plan appears boldand based on a lot of common

sense. Its central premise, for generatingthe big uplift in dollars needed for theUnited States’ transportation, water andenergy networks, is pump-primingfederal funds to attract state and privatesector investment. The amount promisedis $200bn over ten years, with the aim ofthis garnering a total of “at least” $1.5trfor the nation’s infrastructure.

The plan lacked impact, only becauseits central idea was much consulted andthen the draft leaked in the run-up topublication in February. This came afterTrump’s business-friendly tax reformsand cuts elsewhere in the overall federalbudget for an administration focused onreducing the nation’s debt pile.

US infrastructure has been funded by ageneral 80/20 split of federal to statespending. Trump wants to reverse that.His plan includes $100bn of facilitatinggrants, which come with the caveat thatthey can only contribute only 20% ofproject funding. There were few surprisesin the infrastructure plan. Now thecentral questions are over whether it canbring about the desired effect.

The needAnalysis by the American Society of CivilEngineers (ASCE) in 2016, put the USinfrastructure spending gap for 2016-2025 at $1.4tr if funding continues atcurrent levels across all sectors, against atotal need of $3.3tr. According to ASCE’s2016 Failure to Act report, the costs of notreversing the deficit will be a $4tr loss inGDP and 2.5 million jobs by 2025, withevery household losing $3,400 in annualdisposable income.

The ASCE publishes score cards everyfour years on the condition of USinfrastructure, gathered from scores

submitted by every state across 16different categories. This has become anoften-quoted state-of-the-nationmeasurement, particularly for politiciansas they lobby for increased spending. The2017 Infrastructure Score Card gave anoverall D+ ‘poor and at risk’ rating due tobacklogs of maintenance.

In advance of Trump’s infrastructureplan, ASCE and the US Chamber ofCommerce called for a strengthening ofall existing federal infrastructure loanprogrammes, of which there are at least13, including the Highway Trust Fund andsimilar for dams, waterways, harbours,rail and drinking water.

The Chamber of Commerce made fourkey recommendations for USinfrastructure. In addition tostrengthening and expanding loanprogrammes (to encourage public privatepartnership projects), it called for anincrease to the federal fuel user fee – thenational gas tax – plus streamlining of thepermitting (planning consents) process

and expansion of the workforce.Echoing others including ASCE, the

Chamber of Commerce has lobbied foran additional 25 cents on the national gastax, which is the primary source offunding for the federal Highway TrustFund and has stayed at 18.4 cents onpetrol and 24 cents on diesel since 1993.

The Highway Trust Fund hasdiminished by about 40% as inflation hasrisen and receipts lowered due to greaterfuel efficiency and the rising popularityof hybrid and electric vehicles. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office hasestimated a further $121bn is neededbetween 2021 and 2026 just to maintaincurrent maintenance of the InterstateHighway System.

Speaking at its Infrastructure Summitin January, the chamber’s president andCEO, Thomas Donohue, said: “By a 22-point margin – 50 to 28 – voters supportimplementing a federal fuel user fee,provided the money will go towardmodernising our infrastructure. And I am

President Donald Trumpfinally unveiled his plan toreform and invest in USinfrastructure in February.But will it bring the big lift

in delivery needed?Jon Masters weighsthe odds.

1. InfrastructureIncentives Programme:$100bn to beadministered by the USDepartment ofTransportation, Army

Corps of Engineers andEnvironmental ProtectionAgency. State applicantsfor funds will be scored onhow much non-federalfunding they can commit

to construction andlifecycle costs, evidence ofefficient approaches toprocurement, deliveryand technology, plussocial and economicreturns. Incentive fundingcannot exceed 20% of thetotal to be raised. 2. Rural InfrastructureProgramme: $50bn to bedistributed to states forrural infrastructureprojects based on aformula of ruralpopulation and lane milesof roads. 3. TransformativeProjects:A $20bn

The plan essentials

Trump’s infrastructur



not surprised voters are willing tocontribute to this investment. Increasingthe fee by a total of 25 cents, indexed forinflation and improving fuel economy,would raise $394bn over the next 10years.”

States add their own tax on top andaccording to the Chamber, 39 of themhave increased levies on fuel since thenational rate was last increased. “Not asingle state lawmaker has lost their seatfor supporting a gas tax increase,”Donohue said. Nationally, however, thegas tax appears too hot an issue forCongress. Trump has reportedly indicatedhe would support such a rise, but itwasn’t included in his December taxreforms.

The reactionResponses were predictably mixed in theaftermath of publication, for aninfrastructure plan that New YorkDemocrat congressman Jerrold Nadlerdescribed as a “scam that would put most

of the burden for funding ourinfrastructure on commuters and cash-strapped states”. The Senate minorityleader Charles Schumer said the planwould place “unsustainable burdens onlocal government and lead to Trump tollsall over the country”.

Republicans were understandablymore supportive. A White Housespokesman had described the plan as“the start of a negotiation – a bicameral,bipartisan negotiation – to find the bestsolution for infrastructure in the US”;pointing to the substantial barriers theplan has to hurdle before a bill is passed.Reports in the days after the plan wasunveiled painted a picture of Democratsopposing on principle and someRepublicans being wary of the fact that itstill needs funding by pinching fromother pots.

Nonetheless, among those speaking infavour was Indiana Republican senatorTodd Young: “By streamlining onerouspermitting regulations, empowering

states to invest in their owninfrastructure priorities and significantlyinvesting in rural America, this proposalis welcome news for Indiana as we workto ensure our state is equipped for thejobs of today and tomorrow.”

Others urged the US lawmakers onCapitol Hill to just get on with it. Over thepast decade US infrastructure has beencharacterised by spending plans stymiedand stalled and existing bills extendedrather than new ones enacted. “The planreleased is an important first step, butCongress must also find a solution toshore up federal transportation trustfunds,” said AECOM’s chairman and CEO,Mike Burke. “Inaction is not an option.Congress should proceed with a sense ofurgency to advance our nationaleconomy and improve the standard ofliving for all Americans through moderninfrastructure,” said Burke.

The ASCE’s managing director ofgovernment relations and infrastructureinitiatives, Brian Pallasch, wasremarkably sanguine, given that hopesfor a significant federal spendingcommitment have been dashed. “The$200bn over ten years is not enough andthe big funding gap in the report cardwon’t all come from the private sector,but existing programmes that work wellstand to be strengthened and thelegislative process has started,” Pallaschsaid.

“Trump has even stated that he’llsupport a gas tax rise, which no other USpresident has been willing to do in 20years, so he’s showing a moderation ofcourage at least and there are otherpositives, such as plenty of big equityinvestors waiting in the wings.Meanwhile a lot of states are working onstuff and finding their own way of raisingfunds and there’s no shortage of projectsthat can use the money,” he said.

programme forsupporting ‘bold,innovative andtransformativeinfrastructure projects’.Applicants will competefor funds for schemes thatare commercially viable,but too technical or riskyfor attracting privateinvestment. 4. InfrastructureFinancing: $20bn tobolster existing federalfunding programmes;including expanding TIFIAfor transportation andbroadening its applicationto ports, waterways and

airports; strengtheningthe RRIF fund formainline rail andsubsidising credit riskinsurance premiums toencourage local railapplications; expandingWIFIA for water andbrownfield clean-up;extending tax exemptionregime of Private ActivityBonds for public-privatefinance projects. 5. Additionalprovisions: relaxingrules preventing tollingon interstate highways;demanding value capturefinancing as a condition

of transit (publictransport) funding;eliminating constraints onPPP transit schemes;greater allowance ofairport privatisation;allowing federal fundingfor privately owned waterprojects. 6. Permitting reform:proposing a new andfaster regime with adeadline of 21 months forlead agencies’environmental reviewdecisions; with greaterdelegation of decisions tostates and judicial reformof permitting.

cture plan unpicked



Commonwealth Games

With promises of multi-millionpound investments, housingdevelopments, new transport

links and a boost to the economy, theWest Midlands could be set to reap thebenefits of a successful CommonwealthGames bid but can it generate more thanjust 11 days of sporting success?

The decision to hand the prestigioussporting event to the city of Birminghamin December was described by WestMidlands mayor Andy Street as a“fantastic Christmas present” but itcertainly isn’t one that comes free ofcharge. Questions over affordabilitycontinue to plague the city withestimates for the overall cost amountingto £750m.

The concerns surrounding a cash-strapped city council being able to fundthe games are being offset by the benefitsit could entail. Financial experts claimthat holding an event of this magnitudewill see an estimated £750m pumped intothe regional economy, while improvingvital infrastructure in not justBirmingham but the wider region.

Hundreds of new homes in Perry Barr,increased transport investment for newmetro tram lines and rapid bus systemswere all part of the case to promote thebid. The construction of an athletes’village will provide a much-needed 1,000new homes for the region, while thecreation of thousands of jobs and trainingopportunities, and improved facilities forcommunities should leave a much-needed legacy, according to thoseinstrumental in the bidding process.

But in order for the games to beconsidered a complete success then theWest Midlands as a whole needs to be leftin a better position, according to KathrynVentham, who is part of the Birminghamteam at the planning and designconsultancy Barton Willmore.

“If they get it right then we will betalking about the benefits to a joined-upregion and not just Birmingham,”

Ventham said. “Tackling areas like PerryBarr is much-needed and attracting thegames here means kickstarting alongstanding aspiration to regeneratethat part of Birmingham. The date of2022 provides an unmissable deadlinethat can help bypass planning processeswhich are notoriously difficult tonavigate and usually overrun. Withoutthe prospect of the CommonwealthGames then we would have not got thesame parties around the table and the co-operation needed to deliver a project ofthis size,” she said.

Birmingham will become the firstEnglish city since Manchester in 2002 tohost the Commonwealth Games. But weonly have to look back to 2014 to learnwhether a fellow UK city has prosperedfrom a successful games bid.

Back in July 2014 as a fresh-facedstudent, I was bringing the curtain downon my university experience in Glasgow. Iremember walking down Byres Road inthe west end of the city on one of the fewsunny days to grace Scotland’s biggestcity. The streets were buzzing withexcitement as the first CommonwealthGames in the UK for over a decade takesplace.

The transformation of Glasgow’s eastend is however where anyone can see thephysical impact of the event. Central tothis was the Clyde Gateway, Scotland’sbiggest and most ambitious regenerationprogramme, estimated to have attracted£1.5bn of investment, bringing in morethan 4,500 jobs, with 80% of its 60,000sqm completed business occupied.

Stephen Tucker, was part of the CityLegacy team that was involved insecuring the planning consent for theGlasgow athletes’ village and deliveredthe regeneration of Dalmarnock. TheBarton Willmore planning expertcompliments those behind the bid foraligning projects already underway at thetime with the sporting event.

“Without the successful biddingprocess then we would never have gotthe public and private sectors workingtogether for the good of the city todeliver a project to a timescale that wasprior agreed,” said Tucker. “Theathletes’ village has probably had themost significant impact on the east endwith the construction of 300 newhousing units every year which is anumber you would struggle to find inany other housing development inGlasgow. I believe the games reallyopened up people’s eyes and changedpossible misconceptions some hadtowards Glasgow and the east end fromwhat they saw on their televisionscreens,” he said.

With Birmingham set to host the CommonwealthGames in 2022, Ryan Tute looks at what the event could mean for the region and looks back

at Glasgow 2014 to see what legacy has been left.

Birmingham bids for Games legacy

“The Games reallyopened uppeople’s eyes andchanged possiblemisconceptionstowards Glasgow.” Stephen Tucker, Glasgow (with the athletes’village in Dalmarnock pictured above)

“Without theprospect of theGames we wouldhave not got thesame partiesaround the table.”Kathryn Ventham, Birmingham (with anartist’s impression of the proposed athletes’village in Perry Barr pictured above)



revolutionise how the industry is run. Engineers are developing suites of

advanced digital design tools torevolutionise the way we design, plan andbuild. Created to solve real life engineeringand construction challenges, they allow usto model and analyse multiple designoptions faster and earlier, shortening theplanning process, and allowing for easierassessment of changes and options.

There has already been much discussionabout the benefits of offsite constructionand a real driver will now be the acuteshortage of affordable housing right acrossthe country. An increasing number oforganisations are developing their ownoffsite supply chain, to help tackle this crisiswhen called upon. This is encouraging, butonly part of the story. By combining digitaldesign with offsite construction, theindustry can feasibly deliver design,engineering and construction the way itshould be. I believe that embracing suchtechniques could boost overall productivityin the sector by up to 40%.

However technological advancementwithout practical experience can createsolutions that don’t deliver or integrate.We need both the government andindustry leaders to wake up to the

potential transformative benefits ofinnovation and help deliver astandardisation of digital tools andmethods.

However, realising the benefits of thesedevelopments will become easier the morethey are adopted. Massive timecompression will result (and time ismoney), along with safer design anddelivery, productivity and improvedsustainability. The construction industrywill reap rewards, such as a new set of skillsto offset the perceived skills shortage,dramatically reduced onsite labour costs,and most of all a sustainable businessmodel that competes alongside otherindustries for the best talent. Complexproblems can be solved with dynamismand innovation, to deliver iconic projectsand contribute to the wider builtenvironment.

So, in light of the recent economiccontraction, this is good news for theindustry and economy. If embraced, suchan approach will transform productivityacross our industry, saving potentiallyhundreds of millions of pounds.

This is design, engineering andconstruction the way it should be – and therevolution could be about to begin.

There’s been a flurry of activity inrecent months from a number ofmajor contractors and specialist

traders reporting losses and lower margins– the UK construction market iscontracting.

If this is to be a period of prolongeddownturn in construction activity while weawait the outcome of Brexit, will we see areturn of the ‘race to the bottom’ biddingmentality in construction that normallyaccompanies an economic downturn?

The answer is “No”.Those hoping to take advantage of

adverse market conditions may at firstglance be disappointed. The reason for thisis quite simple. In periods of high demand,organisations can be more selective andaccept lower risk projects thus improvingmargins, and in periods of lower demandthe reverse is true. However, as theindustry enters potential stagnation, therehaven’t been the traditional periods ofsustained growth to bolster companybalance sheets. Recent publicity aroundtrading difficulties illustrates this.

UK construction has a habit of playingthe victim in times of hardship, andlooking to central government to bail theindustry out with sharp increases in publicspending. But this is unlikely to happenthis time, if one takes a look at the size ofour national debt.

So what next? Fortune will favour thebrave.

In today’s modern world there is noexcuse for poor productivity in UKconstruction. However, if we hope to fulfilits potential then we first of all need totackle an industry image of technophobeswith low productivity, limited innovation,and a high dependency on low cost semi-skilled labour.

Digital design techniques are becomingmore widely available, and it is vital thatsuch innovation is both encouraged andinvested in. Rapid advances incomputational design, and the ability tofully utilise data, create opportunities to

The Think Tank is a new InfrastructureIntelligence initiative where we give a voiceto big ideas affecting the industry. To kick

things off, Ramboll UK managing directorMathew Riley calls for a digital revolution.

Innovation and disruption willsave construction millions

Giving a voice to big ideas

thethinktank

Shake off the industry’s negative image –encourage and invest in digital design techniques.



Opinion

The government has placed improving theUK’s lagging productivity levels at theheart of its industrial strategy and budgets.The rationale for this is simple – if we areto improve living standards, grow oureconomy and compete on the global stagewe need to be more productive.

Many of the problems are well known.It takes a German worker just four days tocomplete what a British worker does infive, while UK R&D spending and thenumber of those with professional ortechnical skills lags behind most otherwestern countries.

With our exit from the EU now only 12months away, we need to do all we can toget match-fit for the opportunities andchallenges Brexit presents. One of the bestways to do this is investment in ourinfrastructure.

Infrastructure can make it easier toconduct global trade, allows businesses toaccess more skilled people and allowstowns and cities to work more closelytogether to output greater than the sum oftheir parts. Plus, it allows British firms todevelop the major programme expertise tothen export those services overseas.

To the government’s credit, they toohave recognised this. Investment ininfrastructure and house building arecentral planks in the productivity planwhich is backed up by the £31bn NationalInvestment Productivity Fund and agrowing £600bn national infrastructurepipeline.

With the demise of Carillion, questionsare being raised about the constructionsector’s ability to deliver this enormouspipeline of work and the business modelsin our sector.

Over the last two decades productivityin construction has been pretty much flat,

while other sectors such as manufacturingand services have seen improvement ofover 40%. With a quarter of theconstruction workforce due to retire in thenext decade we need to see a 33% increasein construction productivity just to standstill.

With incredibly tight margins andchallenging projects to deliver, it’s nowonder that some in our sector arestruggling to invest in the technology,skills and R&D required to see the changerequired. The £170m Construction SectorDeal is welcome, and will help, but to see areal transformation we need to change therelationship between asset owners andthose who have to deliver those projects.

More often than not in recent yearsprocurement on major schemes seems tohave been heavily driven by cost. While weall want to deliver the best value for moneyfor taxpayers and investors, this can oftenbe a false economy – as we have seen withCarillion. If margins are unsustainable andcompanies go under, the risk is passed backonto the client’s shoulders. We need tomove to a truly collaborative relationshipwhere outcomes are shared and so are therisks and rewards. It’s only by changing therelationship will we be able to deliver theproductivity improvements our sector andour country needs.

Because of infrastructure’s critical rolein the economy, moderate improvementsto our sector’s productivity would havesignificant positive benefits for the UK. Ifthe construction sector could catch up tothe productivity levels of manufacturingwe would see an extra £100bn added to theeconomy resulting in £40bn of extra taxrevenues. That’s enough to build 60 newhospitals or completely wipe out the UK’sbudget deficit.

Jason Millett, chiefoperating officerfor consultancy atMace

Getting match-fit for Brexitopportunities

Working on iconic infrastructure carrieswith it a heavy responsibility, for theimpact of that work today and for futuregenerations. And, getting communityimpact right is crucial for those workingon sensitive projects.

Expectation. That’s the medium tomanage for any infrastructure project –how we conceive the audience to aproject is fundamental. And none moreso than for Highways England’s A303Stonehenge scheme.

Dubbed ‘the tunnel’, proposals to borebeneath the ancient landscape to burythe dual carriageway, to unlock thesouth west’s economy and reducecongestion, have ignited diversecommunities whose opinions rangefrom opposition to advocacy. Theirexpectations are around change to thelandscape status quo. For some its

Rosie Hughes, innovation andcontinuous improvementlead for strategic highwaysEurope at AECOM

Gettingcommunityimpact right

welcome progression, for others itsproblematic intervention.

Given its already iconic symbolism,the Stonehenge landscape has cementedits place in national and internationalpopular cultures. Imagery thatsilhouettes the stones in winter mist, oratop rolling green quintessentiallandscape, along with angledphotographs of the summer solstice, allshape the cultural context to thisinfrastructure project.

The proposed tunnel’s potential forbecoming an iconic scheme owes muchto well-established cultural notions of theBritish countryside. Romanticism of ruralidylls permeate popular consciousness ofsuch sites as Stonehenge and as aninfrastructure industry, we must workhard to accommodate them to achievesuccess in both the physical and the

“With the demise ofCarillion, questions arebeing raised about theconstruction sector’s abilityto deliver this enormouspipeline of work and thebusiness models in oursector.”



“For a project to beconceived as historicallyiconic, then they mustget their communityimpact right.”

cultural landscape that could ultimatelydefine the scheme as iconic.

In recent years, particularly since theLondon 2012 Olympics, managing end-user expectation has been packaged upunder ‘legacy’. The concept remindsinfrastructure developers that the outputsof their design, construction, operation ormaintenance must be outcome focused.

It’s a powerful notion because it isincredibly simple. For a project to beconceived as historically iconic, then theymust get their community impact right.They meet expectation, or may evenexceed expectation. Recognising thatpeople define histories, through theirsocial, cultural and economic behaviours,means that to be an iconic success, theaudience for the project is key.

So why might the A303 Stonehengescheme have the potential to be iconic?

Quite simply its visibility on a globalplatform through the UNESCO WorldHeritage Site status means people arewatching and they’re engaged in how theproject may shape the landscape. It will beone of, if not the, country’s mostimportant infrastructure projects as it hasthe cultural presence to demonstrate to

the world how our industry makesinterventions for improved operationsthat don’t re-write past histories, but canshape future stories to come.

Every infrastructure project is part of alifecycle story that means they should beconceived as integral to the wider culturalfabric of society. Our responsibility is tothe legacy of infrastructure interventions.It’s to the expectations for linearimprovements, multi-use developments,cable-less network connectivity andbeyond – of those infrastructure projectswe cannot yet even conceive.

They’re projects that enable not enforcechange, that can incite, encourage, nudgeor transform the way people engage withthe landscapes around them in way that isexpected. Get that balance right and ourfuture generations will have many iconicprojects to reflect upon.

Infrastructure is political. We know that,we respect that and dare I say enjoy that?Yet there is no doubt in my mind that theimpacts of the National InfrastructureCommission (NIC) and the NationallySignificant Infrastructure Project (NSIP)regime have been profound in re-shaping how we approach infrastructurein the UK in the face of short-termpolitical cycles.

Between them, they have taken someof the political heat out of complex andcontentious decisions without harmingdemocratic principles, tackling how wedo long term integrated strategy, howwe set policy to address national need,and how we make our decisions in atransparent and considered manner.

They have not been without growingpains, flaws and critics and both the NICand the NSIP regime continue to evolveas a result. The complexity ofinfrastructure strategy requiresindependence, a multiplicity of voicesand ultimately clear direction that leadsto action. In a short space of time, theNIC has created an authoritativeorganisation with a growingconstituency of people committed toengaging with the challenges.

Not only that, they have been able todrive the direction of infrastructurethinking beyond traditional sectors oftransport and energy, tackling digitalconnectivity, housing delivery andmore and seeking to build broadengagement extending to a youngprofessionals’ panel ‘beyond the usualsuspects’.

This type of open-minded drive isinfectious, and we were delighted to beone of four finalists in its designcompetition for the Cambridge-Milton

Keynes-Oxford corridor. It enabled ourdesign, planning and infrastructureteams to draw on our collectiveexperience, think critically aboutdelivering significant new developmentat scale and contribute that expertisedirectly to the national debate. Thistype of visionary problem solving canoften get caught up in short termpolitical challenges and the NIC isdemonstrating an appetite and abilityto cut through it without losing the buy-in required to deliver complex projects.

At the front, Lord Adonis was exactlythe kind of outspoken and influentialvoice that was needed to hold the UKgovernment to account oninfrastructure delivery and the futureneeds of the UK. I don’t think that theNIC would have been as successful as ithas been if a less vocal, party-loyal peerhad been in the hot seat.

I hope that new NIC chair, Sir JohnArmitt, will be willing (and able) tochallenge government as theinfrastructure needs of the UK will onlybe addressed if we can think beyond thefour to five-year political cycle and partyinterests.

Tom Carpen, planningassociate at planning anddesign consultancy, Barton Willmore

The NIC mustcontinue tochallengegovernment

“The NIC and NSIP havetaken some of the politicalheat out of complex andcontentious decisionswithout harmingdemocratic principles.”



“Currently 10,000 people canaccess four of the major citiesin the north within an hour.When Northern PowerhouseRail is up and running thatfigure will be 1.3 million.”

Interview

Barry White has taken over at thehelm of Transport for the North at anexciting time. On his first day in his

new role in January, the House ofCommons voted overwhelmingly in favourof TfN becoming the UK’s first sub-nationaltransport body. Just six days later, theorganisation launched its new StrategicTransport Planwith a series of events acrossthe north and a large-scale consultationprocess. White is clearly in for a busy time.

“Our strategy is as much an economicplan as it is a transport plan and we’re veryinterested to hear what people think ofthat linkage and what people think abouthaving a long-term plan,” says White.Having a long-term strategy over 30 years isa different way of looking at things and wewill distil it down into a series of five-yearinterventions working with Network Railand Highways England,” he says.

The 30-year plan will cost £70bn and TfNsays it will generate a £100bn boost to theeconomy and create around 850,000 jobs.The scale of the ambition is clear and willbe crucial in winning public and politicalsupport. White says that infrastructure

spend has been cyclical in the past and it isimportant to move beyond this.

“We wanted to take a longer view,” hesays. “But there also short-term thingshappening now, such as over £100bninvestment in the Transpennine andNorthern rail franchises with more than500 new carriages and new trains comingthis year. Smart ticketing is also on the waytoo. “People need to see progress and quickwins,” says White.

The TfN strategy is based on solidindependent economic research and Whitesays that by having a long-term plan theycan make a big difference to the economyand local people. “I’m a big believer that

infrastructure and economic linkages arereally important. It’s also about quality oflife,” says White.

White sees improving transportlinkages across the north as crucial toopening up opportunities for local people.“If you change jobs in London there’s a veryliquid employment market because, as aresult of good transport links, you can stayliving in the same place and change yourjob; you can move around.

“Currently 10,000 people can accessfour of the major cities in the north withinan hour. When Northern Powerhouse Railis up and running that figure will be 1.3million. For individuals that is importantbecause you can access a bigger jobsmarket and you can stay living where youlive now and still change jobs. It makeschanging jobs less risky and staying in yourlocal community is good for quality of life,”White says.

White sees transport as an economicand social enabler and clearly has a visionof the role that infrastructure can play inmaking people’s lives better in the north.White has a wealth of experience in

As Transport for the North (TfN) preparesto become the UK’s first sub-nationaltransport body,Andy Walker spoke to the organisation’s new chief executive Barry White about TfN’s future plans.

A passionfor usingtransport totransformlives



“Success will also be gettingthe development funding inplace for the next roadinvestment strategy.”

from the public sector working with theprivate sector so both sides couldunderstand each other a bit better,” Whitesays.

White thinks that there is still a big gapin the understanding of each sector’sposition and he says that cross-fertilisationof ideas and experiences from differentsectors and cultures is essential. “Theredefinitely needs to be a betterunderstanding of each other’s drivers andwhat different parties can bring to thetable. The key question for TfN and for ourdelivery partners, Network Rail andHighways England, is how can we getprivate sector delivery partners who aregoing to build things for us to put reallyhigh-quality people on those jobs becausethose high-quality people leading theconstruction will add significant value,”says White.

Post-Carillion there are many lessons tobe learned and White’s thoughts are worthlistening to. “If the public sector justclamps down on margin then your abilityto get the best people onto those jobs toadd the value that can save you moneyoverall is limited. So, the big question iswhat procurement approach do you usethat says we will reward you for giving us abetter product rather than a mechanismthat says we will try and put you in a box totake lots of risk and that protects us butdoesn’t necessarily help you,” says White.

“A lot of the work has been done alreadyand there’s a lot of good practice out therebut we need to think really carefully aboutgetting all the incentives right. We shouldbe very worried in the public sectorwhenever private sector contractors arelosing money on our jobs because that isn’tsuccess for us at all. We need a healthycontracting industry to deliver projects forus. It’s about how you engage with anindustry where margins are tight in a waythat is fair and incentivises rather thanpenalises,” White says.

TfN is increasingly been seen as anauthoritative voice on transport and

economic issues across thenorth and has excellentlinks with political andbusiness stakeholders.“We have 19 constituentlocal authorities – themembers of TfN – andsitting alongside that willbe a partnership boardthat has the businessleadership plus ourdelivery partners, theDepartment forTransport, NetworkRail, HS2, HighwaysEngland, so we havethe business

delivering major investment programmes.Previously chief executive at ScottishFutures Trust where he led theorganisation in improving the planningand delivery of infrastructure investmentand asset management in Scotland, he hasalso held high profile private sector rolesincluding as managing director of BAM’sUK infrastructure investment companyand also as a director of SkanskaInfrastructure Development.

Given hisexperience in bothpublic and privatesectors, I asked Whiteabout his views onprocurement, especiallyrelevant in the wake ofthe Carillion crash.“Procurement is asubject that’s very closeto my heart,” he says. “Iwould love to see morepeople from the privatesector coming onsecondment to the publicsector and more people

leadership, elected leadership and thedelivery partners sitting on thatpartnership board and they will feed intothe Strategic Transport Plan,” says White.

TfN is engaging with businesses and thepublic on the plan and White himself isspeaking at ten consultation events acrossthe region. “We’ve already had thousandsof downloads of the Strategic Transport Planfrom our website and the level of interest isfantastic. This is not just about transportthis is about the north and our vision of athriving north of England, where moderntransport connections drive economicgrowth and support an excellent quality oflife,” says White.

White says he is looking forward togetting the plan finalised and publishedand then identifying the clearinterventions needed to make a difference.In five years’ time he wants to seeNorthern Powerhouse Rail fundingsecured, get the rail franchises deployingthat strategic investment and deliveringand also looking at the next franchises.“Success will also be getting thedevelopment funding in place for the nextroad investment strategy and a rollingprogramme of work and future planningunderway,” says White.

That planning will also need to beflexible enough to take account oftechnological advances in the transportsector. “Transport planning is changingmore now than it has ever done for 70years. With the advent of autonomousvehicles and the pace of change, we willhave to be quite nimble as we develop ourstrategies and plans.”

What struck me most from talking toWhite is his passion for seeing transportimprovements as a key driver forimproving the lives of local citizens in thenorth. “This is not just a transport strategy,it’s about transforming the economy andimproving people’s lives,” says White.



“We have hit so manymilestones now that there isno reason why this stationcannot be complete in time.”Andy Scholes, Farringdon site manager

Major projects

Going undergroundAn inside look at Crossrail

As Europe’s largest infrastructureproject speeds closer to itsscheduled finish date of later this

year, the pressure is building to make sureeverything is on time and on budget. Justabove the hundreds of workersunderground at each station are thousandsof potential future rail users who aregrowing increasingly curious about whatDecember 2018 holds.

To answer some of the questions thegeneral public may have about the ten-yearproject, Infrastructure Intelligencewas takenunderground at Farringdon and given aglimpse into the future. It is one of the tenstations that has been built from scratchand is a central component of the line.

Now in its final stages, the centralreason for the major project is an urgentneed to help a capital city which isdesperate for an increase in capacity. Oncecompleted, Crossrail is set to boost centralLondon’s rail capacity by 10%. Transport forLondon (TfL) says the line will also help itkeep pace with London’s growingpopulation set to rise from 8.6 milliontoday to around 10 million by 2030.

Farringdon as a central point of thenetwork will have 140 trains passingthrough every hour as it expects towelcome as many as 155,000 passengersthrough its doors every day. Each trainpassing into the station will measure in itat over 200m in length, will equate to thesize of two football pitches and will havespace for 1,500 passengers in ninecarriages. At over 200m in length, they areover one and a half times longer than thelongest tube train.

From one end to the other, the station is350m in length. The Crossrail networkitself is more than 100km long, runningfrom Reading and Heathrow Airport in thewest to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in theeast. It will run underneath central London

As workers begin to add the finishing touchesto numerous Crossrail stations, Ryan Tutewasgiven the opportunity to take an exclusive lookat how the final preparations are coming



dergroundthrough new tunnels and using existinglines on the Great Eastern and GreatWestern Main Lines.

The station’s site manager Andy Scholesstarted the tour of Farringdon and one ofthe first impressive sights the public willencounter is a 360-tonne reinforcedconcrete structure which will form adiamond ceiling at one of the ticket halls.The construction represents the diamondquarter of London that is unique to Londonand the station. The new ticket hallcurrently being constructed at CowcrossStreet will connect with the Thameslinkticket hall and has been designed to be ableto accommodate and manage the increasedcapacity caused by Crossrail services.

Stepping onto the platforms below iswhere you really start to see the majority ofcontractors working away down the 250mlong stretches -which are around twice thelength of your average LondonUnderground tube station platform.Stations are due to handed over to TfL inJuly but Scholes believes there isn’t anystandout reason why that won’t happen.

“The pressures of the completion date iswhat it is, we just have to grind it out,” headded. “That’s something I say often withmany aspects of the project as essentiallythat’s what the majority of us have to do atthis late stage. We have hit so manymilestones now that there is no reason whythis station cannot be complete in time.Everything is in place, it’s just a case ofmaking sure it all comes together and ishanded over to TfL to play around with.Effectively it’s a new toy for them and theyneed to come in make sure they know howeverything operates and where to go ifanything should go wrong.”

Moving down to track level is whensomeone can really appreciate the scale ofthe project and how much work has goneinto creating the central network ofCrossrail, essentially from scratch. In orderto build the Elizabeth Line, eight tunnel-boring machines have excavated around 26miles of concrete under the streets ofcentral London. The west to eastbreakthrough which happened in 2015 ishighlighted by Farringdon’s site manageras one of the major milestones since firstcoming on site in 2010.

continued on page 18 >>>

Clockwise, fromfar left: The 360-tonne reinforcedconcretestructure whichwill form adiamond ceilingat one ofFarringdon’s

ticket halls;Underground atFarringdon ascontractorscontinue towork on the line;One of thetunnel-boringmachines that

excavatedthrough miles ofconcrete;Escalators at thestation have nowbeen fitted asworkapproaches thefinish line.



Major projects

Carving out tunnels under centralLondon’s complex underground can bepin-pointed as the crucial element ofensuring the network came to fruition.The TBMs, named Ada and Phyllis, firstembarked in November 2012 with thelatter tunnelling four miles from RoyalOak Portal to Farringdon. A TBM was thenmoved 30m east of the west branch andburied underground. The process was 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with arolling crew of 15 swapping shifts every 12 hours and ultimately finished in 2015when the breakthrough was made.

The tunnelling now seems a long timeago and all efforts are currently focused onnot going over time or budget. Contractorscontinue to press ahead with work around40m below ground as the completion dateof December approaches and the finalelements are now concerned withensuring the escalators are fitted andplatforms are tiled. The project itself isnow said to be 90% complete and despitereported delays at Whitechapel andWoolwich, Scholes says Farringdon is ontarget for late 2018.

He added: “Here at Farringdon, we areokay in where we would want to be. Couldwe be a bit further ahead? Yes, but at thesame time it could certainly be a lot worse.It’s an extremely complicated project andwe have just ‘tickled’ a railway runningthrough the heart of central London andcreated brand new stations. It was nevergoing to run smoothly from start to finish.If you look at the problems that have beencaused then there hasn’t been too muchdisruption. There might have been a littlecongestion but if you’re going to bebuilding something of this size fromscratch then of course there will be one ortwo issues.”

The Farringdon manager insists whencomplete that Crossrail is going to be“absolutely fantastic” for the city. It isestimated to bring an extra 1.5m people

within 45 minutes of central London,thereby providing the public with anothervital link to London’s key employment,leisure and business districts, includingHeathrow, the West End, the City andDocklands. It’s this reason why Scholesbelieves the project is so important to thecapital.

He said: “When you add 10% capacity inone fell swoop then you really help relievecongestion on the Central line which weknow can be horrendous at the worst oftimes. The line will open up the city topeople who would not have access beforeor wouldn’t have come in. It’s a high-frequency service and from Farringdon youcan basically get to three airports whichessentially opens up the planet.”

The next big challenge at the centralstation is turning the power on with teamscontinuing to work with a limited amount

of temporary power. But first projectleaders have to ensure all the cladding isinstalled, temporary ventilation is removedand all systems are functioning.

As we head towards the bright light ofoutside following the 90-minute tour,Scholes provides one final reflection ofwhere the station’s current progressionlies. While conceding that constructioncould be further ahead, the boss insists thatthings could be a lot worse and furtherbehind. Scholes remains confident ofremaining on time.

“We are doing okay,” Scholes said.“Would we like to be further ahead? Yes.Are we still good to handover to TfL in July?Yes. Are there challenges? Yes. It’s just littlethings that have come out of thewoodwork that have been hard to plan forthat have delayed us sometimes.

“It’s only very recently that we have gotto the point where we know for definitethat we have a path in place to open intime. Before we have always just assumedit, but now is the time to be delivering itand making sure we are talking to theLondon Underground, TfL and Rail forLondon to make sure we’re all on the samepage and we know how stuff is going to bedelivered.”

>>> continued from page 17

“The line will open up thecity to people who would nothave access before orwouldn’t have come in.”Andy Scholes, Farringdon site manager

Left: How one ofthe platformscurrently looks.Below: An artist’simpression ofFarringdonstation, oncecompleted.



Project management

Most joint ventures begin in a spiritof hope. The reality however isthat all teams engaged in large

projects are inherently dysfunctional.Whilst humans are hard wired to work ingroups, the dark side of human nature iscontinually working to erode trust andimpede effective teamwork.

As I explained in my article in the lastissue, joint ventures have an even moredifficult challenge to build and maintainteam cohesion. So, what might be done toimprove the chances of building acollaborative team? Part of the answer is toestablish a project workstream specificallyfocused on establishing and thenreinforcing strong behavioural norms. Thefollowing points provide an initial checklist of the steps that need to be put in place.

1. Eyes wide openBefore the team start to plan thecollaboration workstream, they shouldfirst review the environment they findthemselves in. What are the constraintsposed by the project governance, budget,programme and stakeholder expectations?Too many projects start with a strategybased on hope, only to find that the realityof the environment makes the projectimpossible to deliver within the initialparameters. If the constraints are too tight,discussions with the relevant sponsors andstakeholders should take place before theproject starts.

2. Set upBuilding an effective team starts as soon asyour core team has come together. Thegreatest impact is usually achieved in atwo-day workshop, where you have thetime to think through the challengesahead, and the type of behaviours you aregoing to need to be successful. Many teamleaders are resistant to spending two daysaway from the project, but having thistime will allow the team to start to get toknow each other and to learn tounderstand their differences and recognisethe potential strength in the team.

3. Compulsive visionSpend some time talking through why theteam exists and its ultimate purpose. The

goals and objectives of each of the JVpartners will often be different. Do notunderestimate the importance of thisexercise. It provides you with the ‘BigWhy’ that will help the team workthrough the difficult times.

4. Roles not jobsWe frequently talk about roles andresponsibilities without a clear idea ofwhat this means in practice. Each roledescription has three elements:a) Action – what activities the role involves.b) Output – what happens when the rolesis performed.c) Accountability – what the personundertaking the role is prepared to beaccountable for.

Setting this information down inwriting is a simple and uncomplicatedexercise that should take no more than 20minutes to complete. The payoff is muchgreater clarity of who is expected to dowhat.

5. Agree acceptable behavioursAll groups create a set of rules which theyapply when working together whichgovern how they behave. They are usuallyunwritten but evolve very quickly. Unlessyou take the active step of setting outthese rules in some form of team charter,the team will follow the lowest acceptablelevel of behaviour. To ensure that you raise

the bar on team interaction it is necessaryto co-create the rules that will govern whathappens in meetings and how the teamcommunicates outside of them.

6. Agree the mechanisms for managing conflictIt would be highly unusual for a jointventure team to not to come into conflictat some time during the project cycle. It istherefore important to work out amechanism for dealing withdisagreements before they becomedisputes. The collaborative workstreamgroup should be authorised and trained tomanage disputes quickly and fairly.

Whilst there are many other aspects ofteam development that can help,establishing a workstream around thesekey elements will significantly improvethe chances that the joint venture teamwill settle into a productive unit. Having asenior group who can focus on softeraspects of people performance not onlygives the joint venture a much betterchance of avoiding the problems thatoccur when a team splits into its tribalcomponents, it also increases the chancesthat the project will be delivered on timeand with a profitable margin.

Tony Llewellyn is collaboration director forResoLex, a consultancy specialising in theoptimisation of project team performance.

Establishing aneffective jointventureworkstream

In another article onbuilding successfuljoint venture teams,

Tony Llewellyn looks at howbest to improve thechances of building acollaborative project team.



Politics

Foresight over astonishment is one ofmy favourite phrases. It can beapplied to many situations and I

think it is particularly apt whenconsidering the Labour Party’s plans forthe construction and infrastructure sector.

Following the general election result, Iattended an industry dinner and askedthose at my table whether they wereaware of what a Jeremy Corbynpremiership would mean for the sectorthey all work in. Cue blank faces allaround. Such a reaction may have beenunderstandable in the aftermath of anelection result that few predicted, buteight months on and with thegovernment creaking and preoccupiedover Brexit, the industry needs to get ahandle on what might happen if Labourwere running the country.

With Labour coming out in favour of acustoms union and May’s local councilelections set to be a disaster for thegovernment, Theresa May’s grip on powerlooks ever more vulnerable. Increasingly,business leaders are beginning to realisethat they need to take the prospect of aLabour government seriously. If the PM’sminority administration implodesbecause of Brexit, then we could end upwith a snap election that hands JeremyCorbyn the keys to Downing Street andputs John McDonnell into the Treasury.

So, should the industry be fearful of aCorbyn-led administration? Despitecontinuous scare stories in the press andmedia about the perils of a ‘hard left’Labour government, I believe that oursector shouldn’t be overly concerned andindeed there are opportunities fromengaging with the opposition at thepresent time.

Over recent months, senior Labourofficials have been engaged in a charmoffensive with the business community,

holding a series of roundtable eventsacross the country. The relationshipbetween the party and the UK businesscommunity has improved of late and therecent reaction to the customs unionannouncement, where several businessorganisations including the CBI welcomedthe party’s stance, is an indication of that.

Historically, Labour governments havebeen good for the infrastructure sector,with billions spent on road and rail and onsocial infrastructure. Labour’s pledge tobuild one million new homes over fiveyears could also be very good news forconstruction and the party’s commitmentto major schemes like HS2 and Heathroware also welcome.

The shadow cabinet understands therole that infrastructure plays in drivingeconomic prosperity and we might seemore social infrastructure projects as partof an enhanced strategy to rebalance theeconomy. Of course, despite a sharedinterest in a softer Brexit deal and higherinfrastructure spending, businessesremain wary of Labour, especially ontaxation and the party’s policies on greaterstate intervention in areas like the railsector and utilities.

However, I believe that the industrycould benefit from greater organisationalclarity and financial investment in theseareas, as irrespective of Labour’s plans forthe ownership of these sectors, they willstill need privately owned consultancyand contracting firms to do the work. Mysources tell me that there is an open doorfor the industry to influence Labour’sthinking, so businesses need to engagewith shadow ministers and their businessadvisors now to get the sector’s messageacross.

I’ve spoken to Labour’s senioreconomic advisors and they tell me thatinfrastructure is critical to the party’seconomic regeneration plans. Theirmanifesto for the 2017 general electionpromised a £250bn spend oninfrastructure over ten years. “We areactively engaging with businesses and wewant to hear their views on how best wecan deliver on our plans,” one advisor toldme. It’s clear that Labour is genuine in itsdesire to hear from businesses in theconstruction sector and that dialogue willproduce business opportunities for theindustry.

Infrastructure firms should takeadvantage of these opportunities - andfast. They should also take heed of thewords of Iain Anderson, executivechairman of public affairs companyCicero. Anderson, whose clients includebig banks, says that when he givesboardroom presentations he now uses aslide which features Jeremy Corbyn inDowning Street. “The first time I did it wasAugust, and back then you’d have a fewsmiles, you’d see people laugh,” he says.“They aren’t laughing now.”

Foresight over astonishment indeed.

Andy Walker is the editor of InfrastructureIntelligence.

“Labour’smanifesto for the2017 generalelection promiseda £250bn spend

on infrastructure over tenyears. Its pledge to build onemillion new homes over fiveyears could also be very goodnews for construction.”

Opportunities for constructionto influence Labour’s plansGiven a hung parliament and theincreasingly uncertain politicalsituation, construction businesseswould be well advised tofamiliarise themselves withLabour’s plans for infrastructure,says Andy Walker.



Smart working

With an ongoing demand forinfrastructure, there is morefocus than ever on creating new

assets, but also extending the life ofexisting infrastructure. In fact, a reportshared in 2017 shows how investment inglobal infrastructure assets hit a record$413bn in 2016, a rise of 14% per cent onthe previous year.

Currently, monitoring systems are usedto assess how assets are behaving,especially as they get to the end of theirdesign life. In Europe, for example, manypost World War II assets are coming to theend of their design life, so monitoringsystems are proving valuable. Despite theirage, these assets are still fundamental tothe current infrastructure networks sothere’s an urgent need to determine theirhealth. Data is key to helping usunderstand what to repair and what toreplace.

In the cases where new infrastructureassets are needed, there’s an opportunityto include the lifetime of assets in the veryearly stages of projects – even as early asthe pitch process. There will also be theability to monitor and collect data from theoffset, which can then be used as acomparative through the asset’s lifetime.

Working smart The movement to include asset lifemanagement in the pitch stages of projectscould really help to revolutionise ourapproach to new infrastructure projects.

Currently, construction companies

install monitoring systems to cover theperiod of their work, but there is littleincentive for them to consider a longer-term embedded monitoring system.Typically, asset managers will generallyinstall the long-term monitoring systemsin addition to those already installed, tocover the initial construction period.

With new infrastructure projects,clients have the opportunity to extend thebid for work and include asset lifemanagement as a requirement. Contractscan be awarded and maintainedthroughout the entire lifetime of an asset,without any blurred lines around who isresponsible for installing a monitoringsystem and who the data then belongs to.

Although the systems required forconstruction and long-term monitoring aredifferent in their objectives and are createdseparately, it’s more efficient to create aunified system that is designed specificallyfor the structure. During construction, anyinformation acquisition tool can be createdwithin the structure. The system isspecifically designed for the structure, soany sensor or information asset techniquecan be used to create the perfect system forthat structure.

Building smart Adopting smarter technology in the earlystages of infrastructure projects will alsochange the industry’s approach to the builtenvironment. The Internet of Things, forexample, is impacting our lives in all areasfrom the office to our homes, and it’s going

to become even more common onconstruction sites.

Creating smart assets involvesembedding monitoring sensors intoinfrastructure during construction to makea ‘nervous system’ for the asset, enablingconstant, real-time monitoring throughoutits lifetime. The asset can be assessed fromconstruction to maintenance, providingdata that decisions can be based on.

New technology can help futureproofsystems to ensure they are robust enoughto safely deal with the future quality andvolume of data capture.

Topcon’s Delta Solutions, for example,combine all of the hardware and softwarerequired to manage infrastructure projectsto give total consistency. The system canalso handle a range of inputs and outputs,making it versatile as well as scalable to anysized project.

It’s essential to focus on handling thedata around existing and newinfrastructure assets in a smarter way.Clients placing more of an emphasis onasset life management at the pitch stage ofa project will mean it is planned for fromthe offset, making the process much moreefficient.

Correctly collecting, owning andunderstanding the data on a project is anessential component to creating theinfrastructure we need now and in years tocome.

Chris Emery is business development manager formonitoring at Topcon Europe.

Making futureinfrastructuremore robust

Monitoringtechnology ishelping industry

professionals to workand build in a smarterway when maintainingfuture infrastructureassets, says Chris Emery.



Interview

The date of 15 January 2018 willforever be remembered as a dark dayin the history of UK construction

when one of the country’s industry giantsannounced it would be liquidating andpotentially making 20,000 of its employeesredundant. While it may have come as ashock to some, others in the industry hadpredicted tough times were looming as the‘race to the bottom’ approach that manyfirms adopt continued.

With 28 years of experience in the publicsector and heading up an organisation thathas over 800 clients and delivers 2,000

projects a year, Mark Robinson, chiefexecutive of the procurement group Scape,was one of those best placed to foresee a‘big player’ going under.

With Carillion being one of Scape’smany framework partners, Robinsonidentified the difficulties at the firm at amuch earlier stage and he believes the waythe industry operates was to blame.

“The race to the bottom approach thatso many companies apply was always goingto hurt the industry and a big player,” hetold me. “We didn’t know at the time whothat would be but unfortunately it’s been

Carillion, one of the biggest. My firstthought was for the 20,000 people that areemployed by Carillion and what are theygoing to do because they’ve got partners,families, mortgages and potentially theywill be out of work,” he said.

Robinson said he hoped that the after-effects of Carillion’s fall are not toolong-lasting. “I’m hoping none of the majorsupply chains go out of business because ofthis,” he says. “SME’s could be really hurt ifthey have a big contract with Carillion andit was their primary source of work. But theripples have only just started. We still don’tknow the full extent of what’s going tohappen because projects have shut down,clients don’t know when they will resumeand the supply chain is wondering whenthey are going to get paid next so theindustry will feel the effects for the nextfew months at least,” Robinson said.

A radical change in the way theindustry operates has been put forward bymany to prevent a reoccurrence of theCarillion collapse. Poor procurementpractices are to blame according toRobinson and he believes companiesshould abide by three golden rules of

Chief executive of public procurement organisation Scape, Mark Robinson,discusses all things Carillion, golden rules of procurement, housing challengesand future challenges when Ryan Tute caught up with him recently.

“Carillion could bethe wake-up call the industry needs”


should be round the table at the earliestpossible stage, according to the Scape boss.Even before the design stage, the peoplewho provide the best advice should beinvolved straight away.

But Carillion’s collapse may be the veryunfortunate wake-up call needed by theindustry moving forward. “I can’tcomment on the rest of the public sector,but we have never had a claim or achallenge against one of our frameworks,”the Scape boss said. “There will be somegood procurement and some badprocurement but there needs to belegislation that they must not procure in away that could potentially put money andespecially tax-payers’ money at risk. Itshould not happen. If it’s a wake-up callthen fair enough, but the warning signshave been there for a while – people havejust chosen to ignore them.”

During his 28 years in the sector,Robinson has seen many different changeswith how companies procure. He believesprivate and public procurement havelearnt lessons from one another in terms ofbeing more successful. On selecting theirown partners within frameworks,Robinson says Scape has adopted a thirdprinciple to the traditional most importantcomponents when delivering a project.

“Price and a bit of quality have alwaysbeen king but we take a more balanced viewand have introduced a third quality on anydecision we make, which is social value. Ibelieve that it’s the differentiator between areally good project and a fantastic one. We


procurement while being made to payclients within 30 days.

“Any Scape project – and we have 1,400on our books at any one time – don’t haveretention payments,” Robinson said. “Werecognise that is a cash flow for our supplychain and they all have to adhere to a 30-day payment rule and the average is about19 days at the minute. This should be setacross the board, we have been doing it forten years, why isn’t everyone else doing it?It comes down to poor procurementpractices, people think procurement in theconstruction industry is easy and it isn’t.It’s hard, it’s taken us a number of years toget to a position where you are procuringproperly.”

The golden rules of procurement thatRobinson says Scape abide by to ensuredevelopments don’t overrun and becomeover budget are:lMake sure the brief is right – Robinsonsays 99% of problems with the project arecaused because people don’t spend enoughtime making sure they know what theywant in terms of end goals. lReviewing procure options –Procurers need to find the best solution fora particular client and provide an objectiveview. They should review all options.lGet the supply chain who arecontracted to do a project in as early aspossible – People with the expertise

are always looking at what will it bring tothe community, what legacy does it leaveand have SMEs or local people benefittedfrom the project,” he said.

Housing developments play a huge partin the company’s frameworks and theissue of housebuilding has arguably neverbeen more at the forefront of governmentdiscussions, with the prime ministerTheresa May last year pledging to build300,000 new homes every year by the mid-2020s. For May to reach these loftyambitions, Robinson believes that thegovernment must take the lead andprovide more funding.

“Housebuilding is no longer a short-term problem, nor is it a political problem,it’s now a national problem we need toaddress,” he added. “It will take ten yearsminimum to solve the housing crisis.Figures the government have bandedabout for 300,000 new houses to be builtevery year are unrealistic unless there isfunding there. You can’t build houseswithout funding as the private sector willonly fund so much, so whatever themarket is they will build to that market.There’s no easy answer and thegovernment can lead the way – one waybeing by simply allowing local councils toborrow more to build more. Without thefunding or the mechanisms to access morethen we will continue to only build100,000 houses a year,” said Robinson.

Despite all the challenges facing theindustry, Robinson is optimistic about theoutlook for 2018. The start of the year sawthe procurement group announce itsregional construction framework whichwill see 11 partners deliver projects with acombined value of £1.1bn over four years.The framework partners will include anumber of SMEs operating within theMidlands and the east of England.

“We are really pleased about theregional construction framework,” saidRobinson. “We have got 11 fantasticpartners on board and 2018 will see usestablishing and embedding that newframework and I’m sure it’s going to be asuccess,” he says.

“The second aspect of 2018 will bearound education and helping to providemore classrooms for pupils. The year willsee a focus on helping our clients andpossibly the Department for Education inmaking sure schools are built and there areenough classrooms. The final thing for thisyear is the new civils and infrastructureframework which is currently out fortender. The first round was won by BalfourBeatty and it’s been a fantastic success witharound 100 projects benefitting. We areout for tender again and we hope to have anew partner, or partners, on board by theend of the year,” said Robinson.

“Price and a bit of qualityhave always been king but wetake a more balanced viewand have introduced a thirdquality on any decision wemake, which is social value.”Mark Robinson, CEO, Scape (pictured left)

Main picture: Working with Balfour Beattyon the M62 at junction 8. Below: On theGobbins Coastal Walk in Northern Ireland.


positive thing,” said Schefer. “We were ableto get to know Stantec, understand the keypeople and what they had to offer andbring them into the UK. Also, workingtogether meant that our leadership couldcommunicate the new approach to ouremployees and we could make sure thatour clients knew that there wasn’t going tobe a sudden change,” she said.

Schefer says that not changing the nameof the company straight away wasimportant as this enabled a dialogue withstaff about the values and culture of thenew owners. “We brought Stantec oververy early on to assure our employees thatthings weren’t going to change drastically,”said Schefer. “Over time we also introduceda number of key Stantec employees ontoprojects and this helped with theintegration too,” she said.

Schefer says that Stantec’s values wereimportant in bringing the twoorganisations together and believes thatthey will help position the new companywell, especially in a growing UK market forinfrastructure. “We have four key values –we put people first, we do what is right,we’re driven to achieve and we are bettertogether,” said Schefer. “These are verycomplimentary to MWH’s values and thestrapline ‘we design with community inmind’ really puts community and

Following its full integrationwith MWH at the turn of theyear, Stantec became an

established key player in the UKinfrastructure market. The twoorganisations originally merged inMarch 2016, ushering in the creation of acombined business with 22,000 employeesglobally, across 400 locations, spanning sixcontinents.

The union of the two companiespresents the UK business with anopportunity to build on its reputation as aleader in the water sector and expand itsexpertise further into other sectors such asinfrastructure, energy and resources,environmental services and buildings.Managing director of Stantec UK, Europeand India, Cath Schefer, says that thecoming together has been well thought outand that MWH wanted to work with and bepart of an organisation that would enable itto reach beyond its existing water sectorfocus.

“We felt that being water only was nolonger an advantage. Being niche in waterhad been brilliant for us in the past but nowwe wanted more out-of-sector thinking,”she said. “When we were initially thinkingabout how to solve our ownership issues wewere looking at strategic partnerships,acquisitions and mergers with companiesthat had multi-sector experience. That wasa key thought process for us and we alsowanted to look for companies that had thesame values as MWH and we went througha process of interviewing a lot ofcompanies,” said Schefer.

Canada-headquartered Stantec firstapproached MWH around eight or nineyears ago to talk about acquisition. “Weweren’t interested at that time but weknew there was real synergies betweenthe two companies,” said Schefer.Rather than go for animmediate merger, the


Interview

Above: Client: Essexand Suffolk Water.Location: Essex, UK.Project: RaisingAbberton Reservoir –the largest reservoirimprovementscheme in the UK.

Right: Client:Southern Water.Location: Sussex,UK. Project:Brighton & HoveWwTW –a £300menvironmentalimprovementscheme bringingcleaner seas toSussex.

two firms worked together as onefor more than a year before thefinal integration.

“We decided to work alongsideeach other and rebranded as ‘MWHnow part of Stantec’ and we left it

open ended in terms of when we wouldchange to be formally Stantec,” saidSchefer. “It was always going to happen butStantec were very open in letting us dictatethe timescales. Now, as we approach thechange from AMP6 to AMP7 in the waterindustry it seemed like the right time torebrand and reposition ourselves in themarket as something different,” she said.

So, how has the 18-month transitionperiod worked and what benefits has itbrought to the company and its staff?“Waiting a while enabled us to understandwhat Stantec brings and enabled us tocommunicate that to our employees sothey can promote it to clients as a very

As leading global infrastructure company Stantecannounced the integration of MWH in the UK into itsbusiness, Andy Walker spoke to Stantec UK’s managingdirector, Cath Schefer, about the company’s plans.

Putting peoplefirst and doingwhat is right



customer at the heart of everything thatStantec does. We are very keen to applythat,” she said.

This focus on community is clearly anattractive one to Schefer and her team andshe sees it as a real plus in winning work inan expanding UK infrastructure market.“Stantec is very involved in the builtenvironment sector – town centres, urbanregeneration – that’s probably half theirbusiness and that’s where the focus oncommunity has come from as they need totake people with them to get things done,”she said. Shefer is keen to push this multi-stakeholder approach. “How you engagevarious stakeholders in solving a problemis key and this experience of working withcommunities will be increasinglyimportant for us in the future,” she said.

Schefer says that the main thing peoplewill notice with the new name is that thefirm will have a much greater breadth ofexpertise, outside of the UK experience andalso multi-sector experience. “The name isone thing and that is important, butrelationships and people are key,” saidSchefer. “The move to Stantec is animportant and exciting step forward forour business that has a 150-year historyand a rich heritage. Throughout theintegration process, it has been clear to allof us that Stantec and MWH values are very

well aligned. Staff are comfortable withwhat we have done and we haven’t lostanyone during this process,” she said.

“My experience so far has been reallypositive. I sit on the executive team ofStantec and that team is committed to theUK part of the business,” she said.“Buildings and social infrastructureimportant in the future – and a very goodplace to be for Stantec with infrastructurehigh on the political agenda,” said Schefer.

Bringing together the company’sexisting expertise in water and applyingthis to other areas of work will beimportant in building the business in thefuture says Schefer. “Stantec are very strongin multiple sectors and have a very strongarchitecture presence in the UK. We wouldlike to take our water infrastructurepresence and combine that with whatStantec has to offer in environmentalservices and we will really move intobuildings, urban infrastructure and solving

“Throughout the integrationprocess, it has been clear thatStantec and MWH values arevery well aligned.”Cath Schefer, Stantek UK Managing Director

flooding problems in a communityfocussed way. That’s what we are going tobe doing going forward – applying thaturban design experience,” she said.

Finally, I asked Schefer, as an industryleader, what she thought were the threekey challenges currently facing theindustry. “A complete focus on customer. Ifyou think about all the utilities and the factthat social media is completely changingthe way that customers interact withutilities – customer expectations andinteraction is massive and that’s a keychallenege,” she said.

“Resilience and the need to ensure thatassets are future proofed is also vital as istechnology and the rate of change. No onecan keep up with the pace of change andwith that technology comes vast amountsof data. The need to be able to take thatdata and put it into something that ismeaningful, interpret it and use it widely,will be key going forward,” she said.

Schefer strongly believes that theindustry’s use of tech will start to changethe profile of people who work in theindustry. “We are already thinkingdifferently about the type of people werecruit. We are looking at graduates withdata analytics and data backgrounds towork with our engineers, who we still needlet’s not forget. I think you will also see alot more partnering arrangements in thefuture too,” she said.

Schefer is very optimistic about thefuture and the prospects of the newlyintegrated company. “Stantec now has aconstruction capability that it didn’t havebefore and that in itself in the UK and alsoin the US will change the dynamic of thecompany. It will open up newopportunities, especially in the US becausewe can provide a complete end to endservice across the piece for the first time,”she said.

Schefer says that bringing the twocompanies’ diverse technical excellence tobear will help Stantec tackle the biggestchallenges facing the utilities,infrastructure and built environmentsectors. Stantec’s progress will beinteresting to watch over the years ahead.

Above: Client:Northumbrian Water.Location: SouthTyneside, UK. Project:Fellgate FloodAlleviation Scheme –a sustainable solutionthat provides a greater level of floodprotection toproperties.



ACE news

It’s crunch-time for theBrexit negotiations

ACE bolsters its connections across the worlds ofpolitics and business with four new appointments.

The noise around Brexitwill reach a crescendo thisyear, writes Julian Francis.

As we look ahead to what 2018 has instore, it is fair to say that anyonewho can tell you what will happen

this year is probably not someone to trustwith investment decisions.

Rumours of leadership challenges,general elections and another Europeanreferendum are all swirling around, but sofar there is a lot of noise and very littlesubstance emerging from Westminster. Allwe know for certain (ish) is that the UK isset to leave the EU on 29 March 2019.

So where does the UK go from here?First of all, the joint EU-UK report on

“sufficient progress” needs to be turnedinto a legal text that will form the basis of aformal withdrawal agreement. That maysound easy but there are a lot of trickyissues still to be resolved that were paperedover last year in the rush to reachagreement. The Irish border being thebiggest and potentially most difficult one.

At the end of January, formalnegotiations also began on a transitionperiod after Brexit.

The EU's position is that the transitionhas to take place under all existing rulesand regulations (including budgetpayments, the jurisdiction of the EuropeanCourt of Justice and the free movement ofpeople) and that it should come to an endon 31 December 2020.

No one in the UK seems entirely happyabout these transition proposals and this hasled to another round of speculation aboutreplacing the prime minister that hasbecome Westminster’s favourite pastime.Many businesses say it won't be long enoughfor them to be ready for a new world afterthe UK leaves. On the other hand, manysupporters of Brexit say the transition willleave us as a “vassal state” – following ruleswithout any say in how they are made.

Either way, the idea of a transitionsuggests that you know where you areheading. But the debate on the “end state”of Brexit has barely begun.

By the time this piece is published,prime minister Theresa May will probablyhave also given another big speech onBrexit which could give us further cluesabout what the UK actually wants.

However, formal negotiations on theoutline of a future relationship are notexpected to start until April.

Time then starts to become a preciouscommodity as the EU wants to have thewithdrawal agreement, includingtransition arrangements, and a broadpolitical declaration about the futurerelationship, finalised by October. By“future relationship”, the EU means ageneral outline of a desired destination,compared to the fully ratified trade deal,

that the UK government has in mind. We will then move onto the ratification

process in the run up to March 2019 thatwill place the UK’s future in the hands of14 member states who will each have toapprove the agreement. Until those votesare cast, no one can say for sure that anywithdrawal agreement will havesuccessfully concluded.

Julian Francis is ACE’s Director of Policy andExternal Affairs.

Meeting twice a year, the ACEadvisory board is made up ofhighly connected individuals and

chaired by Institute of Directors chair, LadyBarbara Judge. ACE has appointed fourindustry leaders to strengthen the board asfollows.

Katrina Haley, managingdirector, head of structuredbonds, infrastructure and realestate at HSBC. Haley isresponsible for capital

markets funding for transportinfrastructure, energy, leveraged finance,oil and gas and physical assets such asaircraft and real estate.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive ofHeathrow. Holland-Kaye joined the airport

in 2009 as commercialdirector, before beingpromoted to developmentdirector and most recentlychief executive officer. He was

responsible for the £1bn investment whichdelivered Terminal 2 in 2014.

Liz Peace, chairman of theOld Oak and Park RoyalDevelopment Corporation.Peace has more than 35 years’experience in government

and the property sector. She was chiefexecutive of the British PropertyFederation and now holds a number ofnon-executive positions in the propertyindustry as well as being honorarypresident of the Property Litigation

Industry leaders welcomedto ACE’s advisory board



ACE has responded to a flurry of recent governmentconsultations, writes Julian Francis.

One of the things that tends to getmissed by commentators and thegeneral public about surprise

political announcements – like primeministerial resignations or snap generalelections – is that the machinery ofgovernment grinds to a slow crawl untilthe political crisis has passed.

With all the surprises that the UK hasfaced in the last year and half, I havenever been more aware of thisphenomenon than I am now. The reason

for this is that Whitehall has beentaking advantage of the lull in politicalturmoil to rush out a blizzard ofconsultations that have been backing upfor months now. The result of all thisactivity is that hardly a week has gone bysince October where there has not beena deadline for a consultation that affectsour industry.

As I look forward into 2018 thisprocess does not seem to be easing-up, asthe calendar is already bursting untilApril.

To give you some idea of the scale ofwhat has been coming our way, we haveseen the National InfrastructureCommission consulting on its interimassessment and Network Rail looking atincreasing efficiency and railinfrastructure investment. There havebeen consultations on improved buildingsafety standards, reform of the HGV RoadUser Levy, RIS2 and the Major RoadsNetwork. Alongside this, the Mayor ofLondon has also released his proposedtransport and housing plans, and theoverall London Plan.

From all this activity, it is fair to saythat government, at every level, is takinginfrastructure investment seriously. Thisshould provide our industry withsignificant levels of comfort.

The publication of the NationalInfrastructure and ConstructionPipeline, which confirms over £600bn ofprivate and public investment ininfrastructure, demonstrates that thefuture of our industry in the UK has, onpaper at least, never seemed brighter.

Julian Francis is ACE’s Director of Policy andExternal Affairs.

Engaging government onbehalf of the industry

Association, chair of the Centre forLondon think-tank and chair of theShadow Government Property Agency.

Geoffrey Spence, globalhead of infrastructure,resources and energy atLloyds Bank. The former CEOof Infrastructure UK at HM

Treasury, Spence oversaw the creation ofthe National Infrastructure Plan and thelaunch of UK Guarantee and PF2schemes. He previously was a specialadviser to the chancellor on financialstability and business policy between2008 and 2010. He is also a commissioneron the government’s Thames Estuarycommission and a member of mayor ofLondon’s Brexit advisory panel.

Lady Judge said: “I’m delighted towelcome four additional industry leadersto ACE’s advisory board. As well as theirobvious skills and experience, they bringunique perspectives from the worlds offinance, major projects, urbanisationand infrastructure investment – all ofwhich will be crucial in guiding theassociation through some very excitingyears ahead.”

Dates for your diary

ACE’s CIO Conferencechangesmonth this year and takes place on20/21 June 2018 at Prince PhilipHouse, London. As with 2017’sinaugural conference, it explores thefinancial and business implicationsof the technological challengesfacing the industry’s IT leaders.

The sector’s flagship event, theEuropean CEO Conference, takesplace on 5/6/7 November 2018 inLondon. This unique C-levelconference is attended by CEOs andsenior business executives fromacross Europe. As well as a hard-hitting business programme, thereare exclusive networkingopportunities, including the ACEParliamentary Reception inWestminster and the European CEOAwardsgala dinner which recognisesoutstanding leaders in the industry.

Details of upcomingACE events in 2018

The Consultancy and EngineeringAwardsare a unique celebration ofsuccess and best-practice from acrossthe industry. This year’s gala eventtakes place on the evening of 6 June 2018 at the Marriott Hotel inGrosvenor Square, London.

Earlier that day, a new one-dayevent, ACE Skills’ Summit will takeplace. Aimed at CEOs, HRprofessionals and emerging engineersand consultants, the summit willexplore the major issues facing theinfrastructure industry today in thisarea, including how do we replace theexpertise of those retiring and howcan we attract, and make best use of,the skills and talents of millennials?



ACE news

Part of the reason Carillion’s collapsecontinues to be of interest to thepublic is that, unlike most other

companies, it touched the lives of millions.Its fall raises questions on key areas ofpublic life – from the trains we commuteon, to the hospitals we get better in, via theschools our children are taught in.

Its liquidation also reveals several vitalissues for our industry. Carillion is thelatest, and to date largest, consequence of afailing model that is unquestionably inneed of reform. In order to avoid repeatingthe mistakes of the past, we will need tohave honest, open and sometimes difficultconversations on issues such asprocurement, supply chains, profitmargins and value for money. We will needto see the emergence of enlightened andinformed clients, looking beyond the short-termism of the immediate balance sheet.

As an industry we will need to be candidabout what we need to not just survive thenext six months, but to compete in thelonger term in a global marketplace. Toquote current ACE chair, Mathew Riley inthe last issue of Infrastructure Intelligence:“It’s time to be bold and challengeconventional thinking.”

Procurement practices have beenpushed into the spotlight. Carillion was, onpaper at least, the perfect partner. Theirallegedly large balance sheets, strongmanagement and lengthy experiencemeant they were ideal to shoulder theburden of risk. What clients didn’t

necessarily understand or explore was thefact that they had squeezed their alreadytight figures to gain new contracts.

Some suggest Carillion worked withmargins as low as 2% on some projects –leaving them at huge risk of project andpayment delays or penalties on one of theirnumerous public sector contracts. Neitherdid clients understand that many ofCarillion’s investments over the years hadfailed to deliver any synergies.

The next stage in this conversation mustbe around profit. We need to create anunderstanding that profit isn’t a dirtyword, nor should it be haggled down tounrealistic levels. It’s there to enableinvestment in people and skills and torealise the huge potential for technology,such as BIM, in reducing construction costsover the longer term. And, yes, it alsocreates a cushion for when things gowrong and helps build a sustainablebusiness. A healthy partner is ultimately ofbenefit for clients too.

Carillion’s collapse also highlighted theneed for reform of payment practices and afair deal for the whole supply chain. While

the government champions a 30-daypayment model across the supply chain,the reality is somewhat different. Figuresfrom ACE’s 2017 Benchmarking Report revealthat the industry average is in fact 83 days.While these delays create issues for all inthe supply chain, this disproportionatelyaffects smaller sub-contractors andsuppliers who have to perform financialwizardry and juggle credit lines on analmost monthly basis.

Taken collectively these changes inapproach would allow for the emergenceof a more informed client. Whether publicor private sector they need moreknowledge and understanding of theworkings of our industry. The cost ofCarillion’s collapse in terms of time andmoney for existing projects is huge. Noclient worth their salt would be riskingproject delivery in this way if they couldavoid it. We know that when the clientspeaks the industry will respond, but wemust help them get to a place ofknowledge, understanding and confidence.ACE members have a key role to play inhelping to make this happen.

Those with long memories willremember that we’ve been here before. SirMichael Latham’s No Money and No Love inConstruction from 1992, Constructing the Teamin 1993, Sir John Eghan’s RethinkingConstruction in 1998 and AndrewWolstenhome’s 2008 follow-up review allhighlighted the need for reform anddemonstrates a lack of progress.

We had a near-miss with Balfour Beattyin 2014, which is still in intensive care, andwe are now facing the fall out of Carillionwhile others teeter on the brink. Now is theright time to finally face the problem andaddress the issues square on. Otherwise werun the risk of seeing history repeat itselfall over again.

Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE is the chief executiveof the Association for Consultancy andEngineering.

“We need to have honest andopen conversations on issuessuch as procurement, supplychains, profit margins andvalue for money.”

We need to engineer anew business model

Out of Carillion’s crisis comes a realopportunity to reform construction businesspractices, writes Nelson Ogunshakin.



Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, Iremember Jonathon Porritt as oneof the first people I ever saw on TV

talking about the environment. He wasinvolved in the founding of the Green Partyand making Friends of the Earth a majorforce and though he is less influential thesedays, his long experience in theenvironmental movement means he isalways worth listening to.

I recently heard him at a conferencetalking about the lessons he had learnt inhis 40 years in the environmentalmovement. I was struck by what he listed asone of the biggest things he felt the greenmovement had misunderstood, which wasthe willingness (or lack of it) of consumersto act in a collective manner to push theeconomy in a more sustainable direction.He explained the he and his fellow pioneerswere convinced that companies andpoliticians would over time be forced tomake huge changes to business models andresource use in response to sustainedconsumer pressure.

He argued though that in reality, whileNGOs had been able to deploy consumerpressure in specific cases to stop individualcompanies doing flagrantly anti-environmental things through boycotts anddirect campaigns, there has been no widerawakening of environmental activism

EIC news

Working together iskey to greener living

Persuading consumers to help push the economyin a more sustainable direction is difficult, sogovernment and business need to work together

to make change happen, says Matthew Farrow

“Porritt argued progress thathad occurred had beendriven either by proactivework by business or by directgovernment regulation.”

among the public. Instead, he arguedenvironmental progress that had occurredhad been driven either by proactive workby business or by direct governmentregulation.

This very much rings true of my ownexperience over nearly 15 years working inthe environmental world. I was part of theCBI environment policy team that switchedthe CBI position in favour of legally-bindinglong-term carbon targets, which in turnhelped cement cross-part support for the

Climate Change Act. We were able to dothis because most of the chief executives ofCBI member companies I spoke togenuinely wanted their companies to be onthe right side of the debate (and only partlyfor reputational reasons).

Is there any sense that the consumergreen voice is ever going to find itsstrength? No current TV feature about thecurrent plastics agenda is complete withoutinterviewing someone who is managing tolive a plastic-free lifestyle, but I doubt thatmany will follow their example. Surveysconsistently show that only about 5-10% ofconsumers at most will prioritise greenfactors when shopping.

For most consumers, if you provide anenvironmentally-friendly option that ismore expensive than the alterative theywon’t buy it (only around 8% of airlinepassengers voluntarily pay carbon offsetsurcharges on their flights) or will buy lessof it. Conversely if something becomescheaper because it is more environmentallyefficient people often just buy more addingup to the same environmental impact.

One of the most sobering statistics I’veever read is that while the average amountof energy used by a standard domesticfridge has fallen by 80% in recent years, thetotal amount of energy used in the UK fordomestic refrigeration has only fallen by 3%– as people get wealthier and fridges costless to run they buy bigger fridges, or asecond fridge.

More recently there has been a lot ofinterest in whether the propensity ofmillennials to spend money on experiencesrather than physical possessions mightpresage a more sustainable approach toresource use. But if those experiencesinvolve cheap flights to exotic locations, orcups of coffee served in non-recyclable cups,then I’m not sure. Having said that, there issome evidence that young people do seecars differently from previous generation –i.e. less as desirable fossil-fuel guzzlingstatus symbols and more as tools to be usedas necessary (e.g. through services likeUber).

Overall, though, I suspect Tony Blair wasright when as prime minister he arguedthat the only way to tackle issues likeclimate change was for business andgovernments to innovate together toensure that people could live the samelifestyles but with a low carbon impact.Many businesses can be rightly proud of theeffort and imagination they have shown indesigning more sustainable technologies,products, systems and buildings, but thereis much more for them to do.

Matthew Farrow is director of the EnvironmentalIndustries Commission, the leading trade body forenvironmental firms.

JonathonPorritt



Intelligent transport

minimal investment or disruption. If wewant to maximise the potential of such anapproach for the future, we need to beintegrating it from the beginning, at theplanning stage. New transportinfrastructure projects should be developedwith an eye not just on the use of technologyto improve efficiencies and customerexperience for any particular mode, but onhow the technology can contribute toseamlessly integrating multiple modes intothe broader transport ecosystem.

It will mean working in a new way,breaking down silos and breaking themental habits that treat each project as aself-contained task to be judged a success orfailure only on its own terms. We have heardthat before, of course. Silos seem to havebeen under fire for years without changingmuch, but with the advances in technologyit is no longer possible to ignore thatsomething has decisively changed. Theemergence of app-driven business modelssuch as Uber and innovations such as citybike schemes, smart motorways anddriverless cars are profoundly changing themental and physical landscape we take forgranted. These now need an emphaticresponse.

It will require a culture shift at theDepartment for Transport and acrossindustry to break down these silos but it canhappen. At CPC our people are adept andhave extensive experience of helping TfLand Highways England (and many others)innovate in bringing public agencies andprivate contractors together to solvechallenges with dramatic results. We knowthat transport can be transformed if the willis there, but we also know that we havebarely scratched the surface of what ispossible.

Of course, infrastructure development ofour existing assets will still be needed. Railwill always need to be maintained andreplaced, stations built and refurbished,motorways upgraded and renewed. But ifwe don’t place those projects into thecontext of smart integrated inter-modaltransport models we will be missing theopportunity to improve and adverselymisdirecting huge amounts of resources aswell as failing to provide optimum benefitsfor the travelling public.

Giles Henday is a partner at CPC projectmanagement consultancy.

If technology and smartdata is used to its fullpotential, the transportsector can be transformedand users’ expectationsmet, says Giles Henday.

Transport is a technical and highlyspecialised sector. It is largely run bymen and women who are expert in

their fields, task oriented and dedicated todelivering the best in their chosen area. Butdigital technologies are transforming whatcan be achieved in transport planning andraising expectations among users in theprocess.

The disjointed, uncoordinated nature ofinter-modal travel is becoming ever moreconspicuous to travellers who are becomingincreasingly used to the highly integratedworld made possible by new tech throughmobile devices. The demand for seamlessjourneys across road, rail, air, or any othermode you care to mention is only going tobecome ever greater. The transport sector isgoing to need a convincing reply.

For decades the rallying cry of theinternet revolution has been ‘informationwants to be free!’ And yet everywherearound us we find data in chains. Everycustomer that passes through a ticketbarrier adds to a data mountain that wouldmake app developers go weak at the knees.But it is a resource that remainsunderutilised, because it is kept locked up.What if it was let loose to be mined by thearmy of small start-ups and digitalentrepreneurs that are busy transformingjust about every other aspect of modern life?

The sorts of technologies that wouldemerge from this sort of free access cannotbe predicted in detail. That is the point. Butit is easy to imagine an app that could planand re-plan a journey from bus, to bike, tubeand train, car (driverless or otherwise) andeven air that responds to real-time, nearinstant updates on personal travel plans,GPS location, live passenger flows,congestion and other disruptions andredirects the user to the transport that getsthem to their destination in the mostconvenient and time-efficient way possible.

That would mean significant efficiencygains from existing infrastructure with

Setting information freecan transform transport

“It is easy toimagine an appthat could plan andre-plan a journey...that responds to

real-timeupdates onpersonaltravel plans.”



The huge need for infrastructurespend around the world over thenext couple of decades has been well

documented in a number of recent reports.These include the McKinsey GlobalInstitute’s Bridging Global Infrastructure Gaps(2016) and Oxford Economics’ GlobalInfrastructure Outlook (2017) which wasproduced as part of an initiative led by theG20 (the world’s 20 leading industrialisedand emerging economies).

Although there is inevitably somejustification for caution about anyestimates over such a lengthy period, thesuggestion in these studies that the likelyinfrastructure requirement could exceed amind-boggling $90 trillion is certainlyhelpful in providing some ballparkparameters to frame the discussion.

More significant than the actualnumber itself is the recognition of theimportance of future infrastructure spendas a means of addressing a key challengefacing policymakers today; the delivery ofstrong, sustainable and more inclusivegrowth.

This is a theme that has been repeatedlyhighlighted by Christine Lagarde in herwork at the IMF but also runs through thethinking of the OECD and it’s How’s Lifereport published last Autumn as well as theWEFs just updated Inclusive DevelopmentIndex. As these publications reflect, well-functioning infrastructure is not onlycentral to both economic development andquality of life but is also critical inaddressing the very basic needs of power,sanitation and clean water.

The huge estimates as to the potentialglobal infrastructure spend over thecoming decades continues to fuel a debateas to how best to meet requirement forfunding the projects. Privatefinance has been playing arole in providing the cash tosupport these programmes inmany parts of the world forthe last 20 or so years but itsrecord is not without blemishwith concerns raised, amongstother things, about pricing,risk transfer andcommunication. At the sametime, it is unrealistic to assume

secure private sector funding forinfrastructure programmes is the veryclear linkage between the divestment ofexisting assets and the reinvestment of theproceeds into other critical projects.

Underpinning this mechanism, thereport set out nine key principles whichhelp to establish a mechanism that focusesnot just on delivery but also on theprotection of the public interest with theestablishment of a trust fund and bettercommunication with all stakeholders.

There is, I stress, no single approach thatwill alone provide the capacity to deliverthe infrastructure spend that is going to berequired across the globe over the comingyears. Governments have a role to play butit is implausible, amongst all the otherdemands being placed on them, that theycan take this on alone.

Against such a backdrop, the assetrecycling approach to delivery provides theopportunity to build on existing strategiesthat encourage private funding into theinfrastructure space but do so in a moretransparent way to create the conditionsthat genuinely help facilitate moreinclusive growth over the medium term.

Simon Rubinsohn is chief economist at the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors.

that heavily overburdened governmentshave either the borrowing capacity or thedesire to take a primary role in deliveringinfrastructure on the scale requiredalthough some are clearly better placedthan others to do so.

It is against this backdrop that thereport Recycling our Infrastructure for FutureGenerations, launched in Davos in January,makes for such interesting reading. Let mebe clear, I don’t believe there is a singleapproach that will provide all the answersto this big issue but in the currentenvironment, working alongside existingmechanisms including governmentfunding, the ideas highlighted in this studyare certainly worthy of attention.

Critically, the report starts byacknowledging the challengeresulting from a mismatch inexpectations betweengovernment and the privatesector and arguably, just asimportantly, the growing levelof distrust from populationssurrounding these‘partnerships’.

However, where the assetrecycling approach has thescope to differentiate itselffrom other vehicles that

Infrastructure politics

Asset recycling can help fundinfrastructure more transparently

There needs to be much more consideration of infrastructure recycling asa means of attracting private investment, while recognising public fearsover public-private partnerships, argues Simon Rubinsohn.


6 June 2018, MarriottGrosvenor Square, London

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