We were delighted to welcome Civil Engineering students from The University of Strathclyde to our Head Office in Motherwell, a part of our commitment to inspiring the next generation of Civil Engineers.

This semester, under the expert guidance of our Technical Manager, Graham Lloyd, four students, Rachael Carlin, Calum Devlin, Ethan Horn and Jamie Ashe completed their mentorship journey. Through hands on experience, they gained practical insights into the complexities of Civil Engineering and explored the vast career opportunities within the industry.

As part of their learning experience, the students joined our Project Design Manager, Martyn Wright, for a visit to Hagshaw Windfarm in Lanarkshire. This on site visit offered them a firsthand look into the daily responsibilities of a Civil Engineer, deepening their understanding of life in the field. Beyond  the site activities, the students also learned about the essential roles of our Commercial and Health & Safety teams, understanding the critical support they provide in construction projects.

The mentorship extended further, with Patrick O’Neill from our Environmental and Sustainability Department introducing them to the impact these roles have on the future of Civil Engineering. They were also given the opportunity to learn about the significance of Social Value and Community Benefits from Angela Newlands, who showcased the meaningful contributions of this department to our projects.

To prepare them for their future careers, Johanne Moohan equipped the students with crucial employability skills, including CV writing and tailored application techniques for roles within Wills Bros.

By the end of their experience, the students had acquired a comprehensive understanding of the full lifecycle of Engineering projects, from Tender and Design to Construction and Completion, all while aligning with the professional attributes set by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

This meaningful partnership with The University of Strathclyde has been ongoing since 2017, with our team participating in initiatives such as the CE4R program and mentoring. It’s a collaboration we’re proud of, as it continues to encourage fresh talent and inspire the Civil Engineers of tomorrow.

The Civil Engineering industry remains heavily reliant on diesel to power vehicles and heavy machinery. Earthworks, cut, and fill operations are energy-intensive, particularly when ground conditions are wet and mucky. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are still in an early stage of development, and electric vehicles struggle for enough reserve battery to complete a full shift and are slow to recharge. Getting mains power connection can be slow and costly for shorter duration contracts, so diesel generators remain the fallback for the industry.

There is a lot of interest and enthusiasm within civil engineering to become greener and carbon neutral, but progress will be slow until such time as the technology catches up with the energy demands of the industry. Fleet vehicles like cars and small vans are easier to convert to electric for office staff because they recharge while parked. The limited public charging infrastructure in rural areas remains a barrier to switching staff to electric vehicles if they are working on some of our more remote sites.

Engaging with the Supply Chain School has been extremely valuable for Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd in bringing companies across the built environment towards the common goal of becoming more sustainable and achieving net-zero. It has been refreshing and comforting to know that every company is facing the same challenges that Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd is, and it has been by sharing these challenges that innovative solutions are emerging.

Personally, attending or promoting attendance at any of the Supply Chain School’s events has the benefit of standardizing a minimum level of knowledge of a topic across the management team. This is particularly useful for filling knowledge gaps when training new members of staff.

Being part of the school ensures that Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd remains at the cutting edge of what is happening in sustainability as well as gaining an increased understanding of the sustainability drivers of other organisations including those of Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd clients.

The company has also found it very valuable and beneficial that key clients in the built environment sector, such as National Highways, have utilized the school as a tool for training up their supply chain. In the future, Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd can see more major clients choosing the Supply Chain School to develop their supply chain towards their environmental and quality objectives. The website could also be used to deliver client-level inductions to their supply chain rather than incurring the cost of developing a new system from scratch.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd had started giving back to the school by delivering face-to-face training to companies in Scotland based on its own industry experiences. The company is looking forward to doing more of that now that the economy has fully reopened.

Read more about SCS School and its learning courses here.

Wills Bros upgraded 3.5km of existing road network to dual carriageway, improving journey times for traffic traveling to and from the south side of East Kilbride and improving access to underdeveloped land set aside for commercial use which will boost the local economy.

Whilst upgrading the road network, pedestrian and cycle routes were also upgraded to ensure safe passage of its users in this urban environment.  This included the construction of a new pedestrian access ramp to improve access to the local country park and sports facilities from residential areas west of the facilities which up until opening of the new ramp, was done by navigating two flights of precarious stairs with push buggies and bicycles.

This required the construction of 2 lanes of new carriageway and the reprofiling and surfacing of the existing carriageway. Two new retaining structures were constructed, one being an in situ reinforced concrete wall and the other comprising CFA piles and pre-cast and in situ-concrete to form a new pedestrian access ramp.

Works involved the Design & Build of 7.5km dual carriageway between Kincraig and Dalraddy as part of the wider A9 Dualling Programme to improve the A9 between Perth and Inverness.