December 2008 - Halcrow

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Sustainable solutions It’s in our hands Taking a lead on sustainable development Alternative thinking IN ACTION ustainable development. It’s S the topic on everyone’s lips; an epochal challenge facing the global community. The looming global recession will doubtlessly throw the split between ‘window dressers’ and organisations truly committed to action into sharper relief. Placing itself firmly in the latter camp, Halcrow has embedded sustainable development at its heart, and will continue to invest in, develop and refine its approach to this core value. Despite a sea-change in public awareness, we’re still consuming the world’s resources and belching out carbon emissions at an alarming rate. If each of the world’s six billion residents adopted a typical American lifestyle, we’d need five planets to meet our demands. And while ‘green’ concerns have been on environmentalists’ radars since the 1970s, sustainable development has only recently become a mainstream concern. With calls for individuals and businesses to cut their energy consumption and curb their travel, and governments under pressure to initiate lasting change, the noise around sustainable development and climate change has reached a deafening pitch. But what can we do to make a real impact? As an organisation, Halcrow has a major role to play, both in its own operations and in the advice it provides to clients. With the recent appointment of Andrew Kluth as the director – and Nick Murry as the group manager – responsible for sustainable development, the company is taking a more focused approach. Several months in, Andrew gives us his take on Halcrow’s attitude to the issues. “It’s clear from speaking to people across the business that sustainable development features strongly in Halcrow’s methodology. But due to the diversity of sectors and skills, this means different things to different people. “There are pockets of good, even best, practice – sustainable development silos – dotted around, but not as much awareness of how to link with other parts of the business.” Companies’ sustainable development strategies are increasingly coming under scrutiny from all directions. The recent client survey brought external expectations to the surface, highlighting the services demanded by Halcrow’s partners. Candidates are also picking through potential employers’ attitudes to everything from climate change to ethical investment. Sustainable practices are clearly becoming a differentiator, and Halcrow is subjecting itself to critical self-appraisal. Andrew outlines the thinking to date: “We’re aiming for a more holistic approach, integrating social, economic and environmental elements, both in what we offer clients and how we operate as a company. We can guide clients through the decision-making process to ensure they arrive at a solution that both fits their specifications and is ultimately sustainable.” The seeds of change have been sown and the flurry of recent activity around the business heralds major progress. We will be judged by future generations against our commitment to collective action – a mammoth responsibility certainly, but Halcrow intends to prove itself equal to the task. Above: leading from the front – Andrew Kluth and Nick Murry Bagging good ideas for sustainable development Halcrow’s latest green initiative is winging its way around the world, sparking new ideas and sharing knowledge Andrew and Les Buck entrust the bag to Phil Hughes to take on its maiden voyage to Melbourne Launched at this year’s group seminar, the ‘good ideas’ bag aims to share Halcrow employees’ thoughts and experiences – from solutions developed for clients to commuter cycle schemes. Carried to offices by travelling employees, the bag will maintain a zerocarbon footprint, returning to the UK in time for next year’s seminar. Recognising the wealth of inspired ideas bubbling away within the company, the initiative – managed by Sally Sudworth and Amy Shoesmith – allows employees in the US or UK to share their thoughts with those in China or Pakistan. The team will periodically look inside the bag, posting updates on Halnet’s sustainable development pages. 24 Vox | issue one
Sick and tyred quarry revived Halcrow defuses environmental time bomb After alcrow’s Glasgow-based waste H team averted an environmental crisis in a quarry-full of illegally dumped tyres, creating a rare ecological paradise in the process – with highly acclaimed results. Until a year ago, the Old Hampole Quarry in West Yorkshire was one of the UK’s biggest stockpiles of used tyres. Over 3 million had been dumped in the limestone quarry between the 1970s and 1990s, weighing an estimated 23,000 tonnes. Finding an appropriate way to deal with this risky situation had been causing the UK’s Environment Agency – which took on the issue five years ago when Doncaster Council declared the site to be contaminated land – concern for some time. The main risk was the potential for the tyres to be set on fire by vandals. This could have caused a conflagration that would have burned for days, spreading vast clouds of highly toxic fumes over a wide area, as well as poisoning local water supplies. The team, led by Lindsay Renfrew and managed locally by Iain Edmonds in Leeds, was appointed under the National Engineering and Environmental Consultancy Agreement (NEECA) to review the options for remediation, prepare designs, and manage and supervise the construction works. Instead of spending millions of pounds on shifting the tyres, the resulting plan was to transform the site into one of the rarest habitats in Britain – limestone grassland. Based on Halcrow’s options appraisal it was concluded that the tyres should be covered with a special geogrid/geotextile to manage Unusual habitats The Old Hampole site is home to some unusual creatures, including lizards lounging on the tyres to soak up some rays. A colony of pipistrelle bats and a pair of nesting kestrels roosting in two old limestone kiln chimneys were also discovered. their instability. This had the added advantage of acting Before as a filter separator to allow rain to percolate through the various layers, preventing surface ponding or run-off that would have required a further drainage system. A layer of shale topped with a layer of the same kind of magnesium limestone that was quarried at Hampole completed the new look. The surface of quarry fines allows the area to regenerate naturally to create a flourishing limestone habitat. This type of magnesium limestone grassland is incredibly rare, with perhaps only a few hundred hectares in England. Plants of classic limestone grassland have been introduced from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Sprotbrough, along with seeds from its magnesium limestone meadows. These include some of the more common orchids, as well as unusual species like fairy flax, yellow-wort, black horehound and squinancywort. Completed two weeks early and within budget, the project came runner-up in the ‘most sustainable remediation project’ category at the Brownfield Briefing Remediation Innovation Awards earlier this year. Some suitable rocks were soon found for the lizards – and the team managed to work around the other wildlife, which is now flourishing in its new calcareous grassland habitat. The Halcrow-designed capping Something to say? If you’re providing sustainable solutions to clients and want to share ideas, take part in the discussion group on the sustainable development Halnet site or email murrynja@halcrow.com a 1m-thick layer of recycled waste in the form of colliery shale solution for the tyres included: a 0.5m-thick layer of limestone quarry fines designed to encourage the development of a calcareous grassland habitat Innovative solutions a geogrid/geotextile covering JOIN THE CLUB Halcrow made a guest appearance at CIRIA’s clients’ sustainable development club, where highprofile construction clients meet to bounce around ideas on sustainable development and share their experiences. As well as providing a better understanding of key sustainable development issues through knowledge sharing and informal benchmarking, the working sessions help members to find practical methods and tools to embed sustainable development within their organisations. Club members jumped at the chance to try out an asset management model developed by Halcrow for a client-facing joint venture. Steve Faulkner was on hand to demonstrate its benefits, created and directed by Charles Oldham and David Pocock. Reinforcing the links between financial and environmental benefits, Steve also illustrated the gains to be made through whole life costing within capital investment programmes. Representatives from BAA, Crossrail, the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and British Waterways attended. For details on how to engage with the club, contact Nick Murry.
Page 1 and 2: issue one: december 2008 A safe pas
Page 3 and 4: Featuring... That’ll be the Daewo
Page 5 and 6: he Busan to Geoje fixed link projec
Page 7 and 8: pink In the pink alcrow’s health
Page 9 and 10: Towering success Halcrow had cause
Page 11 and 12: P1 Water works The scale of work at
Page 13 and 14: Hydro powers India’s progress Ind
Page 15 and 16: Putting Swindon on the map Halcrow
Page 17 and 18: Green flags flying high The number
Page 19 and 20: Major bypass operation N9 opens on
Page 21 and 22: STOP PRESS Halcrow wins UK Excellen
Page 23: attention on the areas of potential
Page 27 and 28: Full of (renewable) energy ive empl
Page 29 and 30: New milestones for Scottish transpo
Page 31 and 32: Cementing reputations As president
Page 33 and 34: “survey And our “ says… The r
Page 35 and 36: PEOPLE POWER At Halcrow’s heart a
Page 37 and 38: Two heads are better than one any a
Page 39 and 40: Act now! does it again Gaining EXPO
Page 41 and 42: L to r: Cathy Stubbs, Alison Mort,
Page 43 and 44: in 1979 Halcrow’s work in the Mid
Page 45 and 46: There was some serious monkeying ar
Page 47 and 48: Soapbox scribe In order to give the
Page 49 and 50: eople hobble down the mud tracks P
Page 51 and 52: Katherine makes a Pitt stop Katheri
Page 53 and 54: The longest day Humble marathons pa
Page 55 and 56: 9 10 11 12 13 14 9) Julia Krohn fro
Page 57 and 58: 8) Kelvin Foo from Halcrow’s Kual
Page 59 and 60: Who do you admire the most? If you

December 2008 - Halcrow

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