Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has supported a new teacher in Fulham, London, to help encourage pupils to think about a career in engineering as part of its role on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, alongside its joint venture partners Morgan Sindall and BAM Nuttall.
Tideway, the company behind London’s super sewer, has sponsored a teacher in Fulham, London to help encourage pupils to think about a career in engineering.
As part of the Class of Your Own 'Adopt a School' programme, the joint venture of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty constructing the west section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel has committed to support Hurlingham Academy in Fulham for two years by providing funding for a Design Engineer Construct (DEC) teacher.
The DEC is part of a new syllabus, forming part of the national curriculum from Level 1 Pre-GCSE through to A-Levels.
As part of this programme volunteers from Tideway have been into the school to help deliver a number of workshops based on the fundamentals of construction.
Emily Sharp, the new teacher delivering the DEC syllabus joined the school last term under the ‘Class of Your Own’ scheme, “It is quite a unique relationship with Tideway and I feel very privileged to be supported by the scheme. The DEC syllabus is new to this school but it is very popular.
“The idea is that the kids will come out of it with a much better idea of what kind of roles there are in construction. The support from the engineers based on the Tideway scheme is invaluable, their real life experiences really do inspire”.
The workshops will see engineers from the joint venture come in to help Year 8 students undertake a number of activities including the construction of a weight bearing structure, discussions on procurement and presentations on the key materials needed to build.
Tim Corrigan, Project Director for the Tideway West joint venture, said: “The investment made by our joint venture demonstrates our commitment to leaving a lasting legacy for the communities within which we work after we have finished constructing the tunnel.
“As a whole, the construction industry is doing tremendous work to promote subjects that will equip future generations with the best engineering and design skills, which is further supported by the DEC syllabus. Emily is already doing a great job and it’s fantastic to see the enthusiasm spilling out the classroom whenever our engineers go in.”
Scott Young, Head of Skills and Employment at Tideway, said: “We’re really impressed with the level of commitment from our contractors to get themselves integrated in the community and really make a difference to those who will be living around our construction sites.
“We have always said we wanted a strong level of community investment because Tideway is not just about building a sewer, we have a vision to help London reconnect with the River Thames and getting younger generations passionate about the engineering needed to help protect the river for their future is fundamental to that.”
The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a 25km sewer tunnel designed to help tackle the millions of tonnes of raw sewage pouring into the River Thames each year. Construction started at the end of 2016, and will see the tunnel run up to 65 meters below the river to improve London’s environment and allow the city to continue to grow and prosper, creating infrastructure fit for purpose for future generations. Dubbed the ‘super sewer’, it will ensure the city’s predominantly Victorian sewerage network is able to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population for generations to come. The tunnel is being built in three sections, the west section runs from Acton to Fulham, the central section from Fulham to Bermondsey, and the east section from Bermondsey to Stratford.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
- Tideway is the company delivering the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 25km sewer tunnel urgently required to tackle sewage pollution in the tidal River Thames. In total the project is expected to create 4,000 direct sustainable jobs. One in every 50 site jobs will be an apprenticeship. A joint venture of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty are constructing the west section of the new 25 kilometres Thames Tideway Tunnel. For more information visit www.tideway.london
- Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 30,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
- Our main geographies are the UK, US and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
