After a hectic initial but very enjoyable few weeks in June the last two months have been much quieter in terms of formal events the “lull before the storm”. That is not to say I haven’t been busy and there are a few interesting developments to share with you.
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During my Presidency I will be totally reliant on the support from the excellent team of dedicated people who work incredibly hard to service our Institution based at Britannia Walk. So I was only too pleased to be able to meet up with them all to introduce myself and share my ambitions for the Institution as well as hear their views.
Many of you will be aware of Project Alpha and the pressure that everyone has been under during the development of new systems and process this project will deliver. This initiative will transform the way the Institution will operate with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management System) and a new web site. This will modernise the way the Institution operates and improve service to members. During the summer work has been going on behind to scenes to introduce these new systems through a seamless transition.
I just wanted to pass on my thanks for Mike Walter and the editorial team for the excellent article he produced for this month’s Transportation Professional journal. It was great to go to Cambridge for the photo shoot and see some of the transport infrastructure legacy I had a hand in delivering all of which is making difference to people’s everyday lives like the Jubilee Cycleway, Trumpington Road Park & Ride site, Riverside Bridge and of course Guided bus .
This was a great opportunity not only to raise the profile of CIHT but to announce the “Lugg Review” on BBC national radio. I have to admit not being an avid listener to Radio 4 but for the whole of this particular week they were running a story on one my specialist subjects “pot holes”. They were raising a number issues including the sad death of cyclist which had illegibly been caused by pot hole, the RAC had a press release out about the amount damage to cars caused by pot holes and the Local Government Association were lobbying for a 2% levy on fuel duty to provide more funding for road maintenance.
Amazingly the interview lasted over 6 minutes where as in my previous experience I was lucky to just get across a single sound bite. I skilfully managed to switch the discussion around from pot holes to the need for of better Asset Management and need for an increase funding. I also was given the opportunity to talk about my ideas to try and solve the problem by developing a new approach to funding maintenance on local roads and the need for new management arrangements all very revolutionary! I announced that there would be a new review called the Lugg Review which will explore these issues and set out solutions. So watch this space for more to follow.
Like many of you I did enjoy a summer holiday with my son Rupert, daughter in-law Lianne and three of my grandchildren Aoife, Molly and Louis. This is was a great deja-vu as we always used to take our children on holiday Eurocamping in France. We stayed in a great campsite in the wonderful Landes region in South West France with a lake, the sea and a pool nearby to keep us cool in the continual sun shine. The children are a lovely age and just to keep a transport connection here they all are on cycling trip (I’m taking the picture).
There was one formal CIHT meeting during the summer when the working group reviewing the CIHT governance met .All organisations need to periodically review their governance arrangements and CIHT is no different. The proposed changes will be shared with the Board of Trustees and Council during the autumn.
The catastrophic Polcevera viaduct collapse in Genoa was shocking and raised worldwide concern about the condition of road bridges. It also presented another media opportunity to raise the profile of CIHT not at national level this time but on BBC local Radio Surrey. I was interviewed just after 7am and asked to respond to public concerns about the condition of bridges. This was a much briefer interview that my Radio 4 one so my message was to reassure the public that we do have a good regime of bridge inspections in this country. I went on to explain the process of bridge inspections with the regular safety inspections and the more detailed but less frequent principal bridge inspections. I did however give a note caution about the importance to national resilience and not being compliant as many bridges are now coming to the end of their design lives.
A while ago I submitted abstracts for 3 papers to be presented at this event and had the pleasure in having one shortlisted. Having presented at the last 3 IFME World Congresses in Melbourne, Helsinki and Rotorora I was pleased to speak again this time in Kansas USA. Although this was a WSP business trip I did use the opportunity to meet with Samantha Gain the New Zealand President of Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) about the possibilities of collaborating with CIHT. This was a very positive meeting and supports our international strategy so hopefully we can develop this relationship.
Having just returned from the USA in the morning I had the pleasure of meeting a delegation from Guizhou Province from South West China. They were keen learn about our road safety and asset management experience so it was great to have Alex Luck the Chair of our Asset management Panel to present. The Chinese delegation were all Director level people along with the Secretary of the Party Committee. They were very grateful to hear our experience and offer a to help us make contact with their equivalent transport institution and to invite us to a reciprocal visit.
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