Profile
Dimple Parmar
My CV
-
Education:
I went to school in North West London.
-
Qualifications:
My GCSEs;
Maths – A
English Language – A*
English Literature – A
Physics – A
Biology – A
Chemistry – A*
Geography – A
Sociology – A
Design and Technology – A
Religious Studies – A
French – B -
Work History:
I’ve never had a job before this one
-
Current Job:
I am a Technician Engineer with Laing O’Rourke completing a Degree Apprenticeship. I go to University of Exeter for my degree – I go there every 2 months. I stay there for 2 weeks and go to lectures and tutorials. The rest of the year, I am at work full time.
-
Read more
I work on the Thames Tideway Tunnel Project, in the Central London section. The Thames Tideway Tunnel project is a 4.9-billion-pound project based on 24 sites across London, and it is the most significant infrastructure project ever to be undertaken by the UK water industry.
I work for the Main Contractor (FLO, Ferrovial Laing O’Rourke). The contractor is the one who does the building.
I’m a Site Engineer. This means that I am the middle person between the office and site.
I tell the site team where things are going to be built according to drawings from designers. To do this, I use a machine called a Total Station. This is a really accurate machine – it can tell you the position of something up to 2 kilometers away very accurately (as close as 1 millimetre). I set this machine up using prisms called “control points”. It basically works like an electric ruler and protractor with a laser, but it’s really accurate and can tell you the co-ordinates of any point on Earth.
Once this machine is set up, I use it to tell me the position of where things go (i.e. a wall). I use spray paint and nails to mark this for the site team.
Then, the site team can start their work. This is done according to the method that I brief to them in a meeting. I supervise this work and make sure it’s all being built safely, according to the method and to the best quality. I have to fill in and sign forms to say that I agree the work is done correctly.
On my site we are currently creating an “Interception Chamber”. This is basically a large box underground, where we dig all the way down and around a live sewer (which smells). Next week, we are going to cut the sewer open and work inside it. This is a difficult job because sewage runs through this when it rains, so we have alarms to tell us when it’s about to flood which means it’s time to get out.
The aim of this Interception Chamber is to cut the sewer open and let it flood into a large box which we will build with concrete walls. This is then going to flow into the larger “Super Sewer” under the River Thames via two more tunnels. This ultimately means that when it rains, sewage will not flow into the River Thames, rather it will be stored in a massive tunnel, keeping the River clean. Once the Thames Tideway Tunnel project is complete, it is said that the River will clean up and look clearer than ever in 4 months!
-
My Typical Day:
Each day in construction is completely different to the next.
-
Read more
In the morning I travel across London to get onto site at around 07:45am. I get changed into my Personal Protective Equipment (PPE – orange hi-vis trousers and jacket, safety boots, gloves, glasses and a white hard hat). I then go to the morning briefing, where the supervisor tells the team what we will be doing today and each person is given a task. The supervisor also tells us about any health and safety key points. For example, you must wear hearing protection on site because the excavator is going to be breaking an old concrete wall. Once this briefing is complete, everyone must sign to say that they understand the briefing before they are allowed to go onto site.
I then go upstairs to my desk to collect any drawings and information I need to mark out locations on site. I read through my to-do list and make sure I have a clear understanding of what I need to do. I then go onto site and give the team the information they need. For example, I mark locations or set up a laser level for excavating. I stay on site and watch the works, answering any questions that the team has. I normally do this whilst I’m having a chat with the team, and discussing future work with the supervisors.
I would then go up to the office and continue with any paper work I have left. This could be something like a “visual task sheet” which outlines the method of work for certain activities. Once this is approved I brief it to the team when we are about to start the work.
If we have a concrete pour, my day looks very different. In the days leading up to a concrete pour, I have to complete a check sheet which determines if we are ready to pour concrete. I look through this check sheet on site and decide whether we are ready. Usually, this means nagging the supervisors and site team to get things done and ready for the pour. More often than not, we are always for the pour on time but everyone seems to love to do everything last minute.
I call up the concrete plant to order concrete. Usually they are late in traffic, so I call them up like 10 times to get concrete on site ASAP. When the concrete arrives, I have to test it to make sure that it’s okay. If it is too wet or too dry, we have to send it away and get them to make a new batch of concrete. Using concrete that is not okay to use can cause massive problems, so it’s always best to test it and check. If the concrete is okay, the team pour the concrete and I make concrete cubes which we send off to a lab to get crushed later on. This tells us if the concrete is strong enough or not.
Like I said before, everyday in construction is very different. This makes it difficult to describe a typical day, especially because there are new things to learn each day and new projects to deliver. One week we might be pouring concrete on the floor, the next week we might be cutting the roof off an old sewer.
-
My Interview
-
What did you want to be after you left school?
I had no idea until I applied for Uni
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I was always the Class Clown.
-