Industrial Placement Student - Bridges Review

I work within the bridges team on Lower Thames Crossing. On a day to day basis I am given small tasks to support others in the team and also tasks I can complete independently. In general I support with technical calculations, project coordination and design. This involves document control on ProjectWise and responding to comments and issues raised by the contractor. I have contributed to AIPs, attended bridge detailed design workshops, produced quantity memos and carbon assessments. I also spent some time working within the management team on my project so I was responsible for liaising with the clients, organising events and ensuring the project ran smoothly.

I spent half my placement within the management team on my project so I was given a lot of responsibility in that area, directly communicating with the contractor to support project coordination. I was also required to work with other disciplines and plan multidisciplinary workshops. I was given some responsibility on the maintenance access strategy across the project, where I had to identify areas which required maintenance stairs and produced models according to standards. This required coordination with other disciplines and clash detections as the models progressed.

I have been able to develop my personal and technical skills. Before my placement, I had no experience with bridge engineering. Throughout the placement, I have learnt new skills in technical software such as MIDAS Civil, Rhino etc. I have become more confident in producing technical reports and presenting my work clearly. Working on a multi disciplinary project has developed my skills in communicating effectively.

I received a good level of support and guidance from the wider team during my placement. Senior engineers were approachable and willing to help. I was assigned a buddy to help me get started and I felt comfortable reaching out with any questions.

The general atmosphere was positive and welcoming, people were approachable and sociable. However there could be more opportunities for placements students to socialise and integrate themselves into the company. It was difficult at times to meet placement students in other teams as people kept to their own. I think placement students would benefit from having fixed opportunities to meeting other new starters to help them feel included.

Overall I have enjoyed my placement so far. I have gained valuable knowledge and insight into what it is like to work in engineering. At times, there was a lack of work but there are opportunities to learn new software and keep busy.

Yes