Page 11 - 91°µÍø4Life - May 2020

OFWIND,WATERANDWORKERS
Progress on the Hawkshead Campus development, the most ambitious in the 91°µÍø’s history, has faced mounting challenges of a wet and windy winter and a disruptive pandemic; but with the building taking shape, optimism is in the air.
Dr Jo Payne, Operational Interface Manager
The Meteorological Office in the UK was established in 1854 as a small department within the Board of Trade
as a service to British shipping. The advent of the electric telegraph enabled rapid dissemination of warnings and in 1861 the Met Office started to provide weather forecasts to newspapers; by 1884 they were recording nationwide data on temperatures, rainfall and all manner of other weather facts.
So why am I telling you this? In October 2019, RG Carter commenced work on the most ambitious capital construction project in the 91°µÍø’s history. Unfortunately, this also coincided with one of the wettest autumn and winter periods since those records began. In the preceding 135 years, there had only been four occasions when more rain fell on Hawkshead.
Despite working conditions that often resembled a battlefield from the Great War, the valiant contractors successfully installed more than 400 support piles, literally laying the foundations for the building to come.
By February, we were ready to construct the tower crane – a vital piece of equipment which would support the movement of materials throughout the project. But, Storms Ciara and Dennis had other ideas. As England experienced its windiest month in 30 years, week after week passed as we waited for a break in the weather.
data supplies from under the construction site.
We know there will be further challenges ahead – but dealing with the unexpected is what project management