Martin Preene

Three editions of Groundwater Lowering in Construction #dewatering

@railnigel @railnigel Your point is valid, but looking at the tunnel design, site plant, terrain and nearby road, I don’t think that photo is HS2, or indeed in the UK

That would make an unneccesarily expensive existing job even more costly!

@jburnmurdoch Doesn’t the degree apprenticeship system fix this in any remotely vocational subject? The employer pays and the big employers subsidise the smaller ones via the Apprenticeship Levy

@thomasforth I live in Wakey but work in Hudds. I think a Uni is good for aspiration and energy in a town - I think Hudds has much more positive ‘vibe’. Wakefield’s better performance may be due to better road/rail access compared to Hudds

There is much less support for using the research function of universities to support levelling up I note. Suddenly lots of people get very "jewel in the crown" and "single centre of global excellence" and "London is the natural place to connect to the world" about that. 🤷‍♂️

Are Universities key to levelling up as I've read so much in recent days? Well here's a nice little test. Far too small to draw conclusions from, but useful as a sense check. West Yorkshire has five local authorities. Three have universities. Two don't. What's happened where?

@Visit_Wakefield - Rhubarb to be banned. If they do that what will be point of Wakefield? theguardian.com/environment/20…

@davepetley You should follow Arnold Dix of the ITA (International Tunnelling Association) on LinkedIn. He has informed comment on the rescue

There are many longstanding concerns about the Char Dham highway programme. These are now playing out to the cost of the 40 trapped people.

Rescue operations for the 40 workers trapped for a week in the #UttarakhandTunnel continue. A track is now being constructed to access the site for a vertical bore down to the tunnel. Meanwhile, attempts are being made to drive a 15 cm pipe through the debris.

@JohnRentoul @anthonyjwells @thhamilton It will be one of the larger ground floor rooms at OGGS - the Smeaton or Brunel Rooms. All the rooms are named after engineers - the large lecture theatre in the original pic is the Telford room - widely used by political parties to add some gravitas to their pitches

@anthonyjwells @thhamilton Thanks! Similar room, but not the same; may be another one in ICE

I think this is in the same room in the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1 Gt George St, in which John Smith announced the "Shadow Budget" in 1992, which damaged Labour's fiscal credibility – history repeating itself?

@GeneralBoles Pupils get the opportunity to learn about rapid demolition of structures without the cost and inconvenience of engaging a demolition contractor

"schools should look at their collapsing buildings as an opportunity to introduce pupils to the possibility of a career in structural engineering" someone in the DfE by the end of the day probably

@NoelDolphin I worked on the foundation design for Temple Mills (CTRL) originally there were deep pits under each track, but they were designed out. I wonder whether the pits would have avoided these problems

Eurostar already has moving electrification to allow work on train roofs. Now it needs to move further to make space for trains. We inspecting the work before the new lifting jacks get installed by Mechan. The small rails waiting to be installed are for the jacks to run on (2/3)

I'm at Eurostar's Temple Mills depot today. Eurostar wants to start refurbing the e320 train bogies & this means installing lifting jacks. Tops of the trains will be above the high of the electrification when raised - this needs to move way out of the way (1/3)

@drjennings @JonnElledge @Visit_Wakefield it looks like all your hard work is paying off with this ranking

On-line viewing link for the 61st Rankine Lecture by Professor John Carter of the University of Newcastle, Australia on Constitutive Modelling in Computational Geomechanics - 15 March 2023 britishgeotech.org/news/2023/03/v…

@newscientist @Visit_Wakefield

A new breed of collider, called plasma wakefield accelerators, can study fundamental physics in new ways by doing something the Large Hadron Collider cannot do: colliding electrons #Echobox=1677066702-1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">newscientist.com/article/236029…

Our ‘Temporary Works Groundwater Control for Construction’ 7 part online training course will provide a practical perspective on groundwater control techniques, including advantages and disadvantages of various methods. Register geolsoc.org.uk/Groundwater-al… #GSLTraining #Groundwater

@RobDotHutton @DuncanWeldon The must be potential for a Vietnam War spin off, with all the cultural discussion and comparisons. And you could cover the best war film ever - Apocalypse Now - and answer the big questions - did they really chopper in Playboy bunnies to forward bases?

Glasgow Subway opened #onthisday 1896, the third oldest underground railway system in the world. The narrow gauge track is just 4ft and the tunnels are 11ft diameter as it was originally cable-hauled.

Viewing link for tonight's Fleming Award Event (6 December 2022) - this can be accessed via the ICE website ice.org.uk/events/latest-…

@SimonCalder Gibraltar airport is both walkable to the city and has eastern beach very nearby. Plus the thrill of walking across the runway (never gets old!)

Palma airport is about a mile (but a tricky walk) from the pleasant* beach resort of C'an Pastilla. (* Pleasant if you are happy for your swim/stroll to be interrupted every couple of minutes by a passing jet, which surprisingly many people are)

What do these European airports have in common? Geneva Nice Pisa Tallinn From each of them it is feasible to walk* into the cities they serve. Let me know of those I've missed, especially UK. (* so long as you don't have excessive baggage or annoying kids) independent.co.uk/travel/news-an…

@Visit_Wakefield It already exists. It’s called Westgate.

Business idea: Drive-Thru Pub. Call for investment opportunities.

@ICELibrary @ICENorthWest @ICE_Merseyside @MrTimDunn @RailwayHeritage I remember (as a child) attending the 150th anniversary of the Rainhill Trials in 1979 and seeing replicas of Rocket, Novelty and San Pareil in steam and running on track

The Rainhill Trials began #onthisday 1829. The trials tested locomotives to determine whether they could be used on the Liverpool and Manchester railway. The trials were won by Stephenson's Rocket rainhilltrials.co.uk

The BGA is pleased to confirm that the 60th Rankine Lecture, to be delivered by Professor Stephan Jefferis, will be held as an in-person event on 16 March. Booking is mandatory, and there are special venue requirements britishgeotech.org/news/2022/02/c…

Conceptual thinking critical for reducing risk from groundwater Full story: buff.ly/3rzkYst #modelling #transmissivity #hydrology