Project Manager - Civil Engineer

April 2012 - Present: Daly International - Project Engineer

Daly International is a project management company which specialises in telecommunication infrastructure. They oversee the planning, design, acquisition and construction of telecom sites for all the major operators in the industry.

My role of Project Engineer focused on the decommissioning side of the business. This process involved carrying out surveys of the site to aid the costing of the removal works, liaising with the site providers to co-ordinate timescales and procedures of the works, appointing sub-contractors to carry out the work, supervising the works and producing health & safety and completion documentation.

The decommission works themselves could last from 1-5 days and as many 100 sites could be allocated to an engineer at any one time. The engineer was solely responsible for the monitoring of live sites and had to maintain continuous contact with the client to establish the day to day status of each site as this could change unexpectedly and not be ready for decom works.

There was a set procedure from when a client instruction was received with timeframe targets to be hit before works could commence on site. Costs had to be agreed, purchase orders received, permits granted, H&S plans approved, site access granted, all these factors had to be monitored and actioned by the engineer.

My ability to plan, anticipate and organize numerous sites at the same time was tested to a high degree, of which I believe I have developed as this was one of the aspects I wanted to gain experience in.

July ‘10- June ’11: Servetek Construction Co. Ltd. - Quality Engineer (Nigeria)

My role as Quality Engineer with Servetek Construction involved overseeing all aspects of the construction work from design stage through to the finished product. Checks were carried out to ensure the design and specifications were adhered too in regards to materials used and survey/setting out operations. Gathering of as-built information was also undertaken as records of ability in the different project positions to highlight quality performance indicators. My role also incorporated an element of design work, with the need to alter certain levels and follow the principles of the original design to ensure the changes worked on site.

The main project being worked on was Airport Rd, Benin City, a 7.2km triple carriageway, with further single carriageway projects in Akungba and Ososo and a mausoleum in Ondo town.

Throughout my tenure there was a couple of spells in charge of the survey department on Airport Rd. This involved supplying surveyors with all the information they required to carry out their tasks and offering them guidance on certain issues with the possibility of a different approach to the work. This aspect complimented my other duties in regards to design and quality checks, with the surveying and setting out being crucial in the final product result.

HSE was also incorporated into my position within the company with overall responsibility for the region. I had four safety officers under my charge with the main challenge to get all the site workers thinking safety first.

Dec ‘09. – May ’10: Biffa Waste Services - Weighbridge Operator

My position as weighbridge operator with Biffa was based at the Cottonmount landfill site in Mallusk, Belfast. My duties included the operation of the computerized weighbridge and associated record keeping and inspecting site licences/PPC permits. Another task of the job was to relay health and safety legislation to all drivers and to keep everyone up to date with company policies and procedures.

It was my duty to monitor drivers’ actions whilst on site through a series of CCTV cameras and therefore record and pass on the information of any wrong doings to management and drivers themselves so as to avoid the risk of any accidents on site.

June ‘09- Nov ’09: Department of Regional Development - Lab Technician

My role with the Department of Regional Development (DRD) involved working in the materials testing lab in the Ballykeel depot. This lab specialized in the testing of bituminous and aggregate material and carrying out site tests determining skid resistance, smoothness of the wearing coarse, and depth of material laid.

Testing of the bituminous material required the separating of the aggregate from the binder, sieving the aggregate to determine size of stone in the material and burning of the binder mixture to reveal the mass of binder in the material.

Site tests involved determining skid resistance of newly laid surfaces with the use of a sand patch test calculating the ratio of chippings in the wearing coarse. A rolling straight edge was used to record any ruts in the road surface over 4mm in depth giving an overall indication of smoothness. Cores of a diameter up to 150mm could be taken to determine depths of base and wearing coarses and also concrete depths if required.

Oct ‘07. – Dec ’08: Wood & Partners Consultants Ltd. - Project Engineer (New Zealand)

My role in Wood & Partners Consultants as Project Engineer dealt with land development projects in the Auckland region, the most notable being a 250 lot development. The first stage of this project, having already been designed got under way at construction level shortly after I commenced work, included the role of contract administration and implementation on site.

The second and third stages of the project had initial layout designs completed and I was given the task of designing the storm water and sewer drainage for the development. This design work helped me become a proficient user of 12d Model a design package that was widely used by the company. I also found an increase in my AutoCAD skills which was used in different functions on a daily basis.

Feb ‘04.- May ’07: Murphy Pipelines Ltd. - Site Engineer

Time spent with Murphy’s involved working on the construction of a 450mm gas main, from Carrickfergus to Derry, covering 112 km. The work specialised in setting out the boundary fences of the spread, carrying out surveys of ditches, rivers and roads where the gas main would pass. I was also involved in the setting out of the line and ditching the pipe in the ground. After the majority of the pipe was laid, I worked on reinstatement, mainly drainage, which was disturbed due to the construction process. My task involved drainage squads having adequate levels and making sure all the necessary materials were available to carry out this work.

From June - Oct. 2005 I was processing the welding reports for spur lines, which were smaller lines (150mm) taken of the main gas line. This involved being trained in a computer package called Pipemax, specifically designed for the welding of pipelines. I also carried out vantage surveys, when the spur lines were being tested and again when the gas went through.

Nov. 2005 saw work commenced on the Dunore to Hydepark Trunk main, an 18km 1200mm diameter steel pipe, replacing an existing main, supplying the majority of Belfast with clean water. On this job I was given the task of learning how to use a Lieca 1200 series GPS unit, and the setting of the design centreline. With this new found ability, I was involved in any re-routes that were required, avoiding certain obstacles, by changing the route. Also with this technology, a ground survey was carried out and the pipe depths and position of valves were set using AutoCAD, with the aim of keeping the excavated trench as shallow as possible. The GPS was also used to collect the as-laid information of the pipe, which was processed through computer packages such as Lieca Geo Office, and N4CE, and then finally onto as-laid drawings on AutoCAD.

June ‘02 – Sept ’02: Whitemountain Civils Ltd. - Site Engineer

During this period I was supervising a site, in which we were constructing 8 semi-detached timber frame houses, up to finished floor level. I was in charge of a squad of approximately 7 workers, with 3 or 4 machines on site.

It was my responsibility to make sure the job ran efficiently and effectively, and I remained in contact with the site agent, giving daily updates. I was in contact with the client, architects, and clerk of works, when information was required about the progress of the job on site, and during meetings. Due to the intensity of the work on site, I had to help as a form of labour including operating site plant, dumpers, vibrating rollers, and general small plant and equipment.

June ‘00 – July ’01: Whitemountain Civils Ltd. - Setting Out Engineer

This period was the placement in the third year of my university course, in which I was working on a dual carriageway. The project entailed turning 3.6 miles of single carriageway into dual carriageway, which was the final stage of the overall project. During this period I became proficient in the use of a total station and a dumpy level, using these instruments to set out the line and level of drainage pipes and road kerbs.

Due to the fact that the original road was still in use by the public, I learnt a lot about traffic management, setting up diversions and contra-flows, which is a vital part of safety when dealing with live traffic.

Another task that I undertook was to make a record of all the stone arriving on to site, which I did using Microsoft Excel. This was done so as to make the checking of invoices from the quarry, at the end of each month, a lot more straightforward. This greatly increased my computer skills, and my ability to organise paperwork efficiently and in an orderly fashion.