Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

So I saw Chris Holtham’s awesome post and decided I should probably put pen to paper (in a digital sense) and bring you up to date with what is happening in the ASS heap that is Hope Street.  For those that are seeing my entry for the first time ASS stands for Acid Sulphate Soil or Sulfate as they spell it locally – apologies for the odd bit of colonial lingo slipping in Neil.

The meeting to end all meetings.  

We were 25 days behind schedule thanks to the worlds biggest props on site and the decision to weld rather than bolt them together.  The safety manager had been fired and the contracts manager had quit from stress. The Project Engineer was no longer speaking to the subbie PM and I was placed in charge of the excavation and ground anchors.

I held a trades risk workshop for the ground anchors and rather than focussing on the risk, my Project Engineer and Site Manager ended up having a spectacular fight with the subbies over the lack of a plan.  To sum it up never in the history of construction has the ‘C bomb’ been dropped so much, by so few.

Never forget it is always about people and relationships.  

Since then I have fought hard to form a working relationship with the subbies.  I have had actively manage the senior management within BM, who take micro-management to Lego Movie proportions (if you have kids or nephews you will understand).  The passage of information around the project is appalling and as a consequence I have instigated a regular daily conference with subbies and then briefed the senior management because they can’t be in the same room together.

As the project has gradually come back on track, relations have gradually thawed.  I spent today detailing a kind of visual programme/ cartoon method statement for how the job will get down to the foundation level.  If all goes well I will have made back the 25 days and will be back on programme.  I will handover to the other site engineer, who is not an engineer, but is in charge of the structural part of the construction while I apparently need to do the services – he is the same genius who worked on the struts and walers.  How’s that for outside the box thinking?

So What?

Here is the rub.  While the last 6 months in Chatham, have given me the confidence and skills to call people out on talking engineering rubbish (and I have).  The majority of what I have done in the last two months could be done by any army officer.  The ability to talk to people like a normal human being, to state your case in a logical yet firm manner are key transferable skills that the civilian world needs.  The civilian world has the perception that soldiers act in a way reminiscent of full metal jacket.  I think they could learn a lot from us.     Communication is key to any undertaking, taking a robust position does not necessarily mean having a blazing row. Firm, respectful and logical beats idiotic rants any day (although this article may seem like one).

Other stuff that has happened.  That I will write about soon.

• The braces of the loading platform buckled (my structural site ‘engineer’ colleagues responsibility) – TMR gold apparently.
• How to build foundations straight onto rock.