Episodes

For millions of years spiders have been spinning naturally occurring proteins into an incredibly strong and durable silk. By studying the anatomy of these arachnids, scientists in the UK have cracked the code to reassembling natural proteins creating a new alternative to plastic. Pioneering research company Xampla says that its supramolecular engineered protein is fully biodegradable and can be shaped in any format, making it an ideal replacement for single use plastic and microplastics. The ti...

Since the end of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, humanity has focused its activities in the southern continent on science and research. To do this effectively, logistics are critical. To prepare for the arrival of its new ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, the wharf at Rothera Research Station needed to be replaced. The new wharf needed to be built in the extreme conditions of Antarctica, and able to withstand impacts from 15,000 tonne icebergs. In this episode we speak to the peop...

Preparation is currently underway for installation of one of the world’s longest fibre optic communications cables. Survey vessels are circumnavigating the entire coast of Africa determining the best locations for laying the cable on the seabed and bringing it onshore. At around 36,000km long it will provide connectivity to countries throughout the continent and form a critical part of meeting the African Union’s ambition to ensure internet for all by 2030. Placing it won’t be easy and just lik...

Why do we build? Why develop society? And who reaps the benefit? In this episode we look at the new interest the construction industry is taking in quantifying and appreciating social value. That difficult-to-define idea that has also enjoyed the recent attention of central government, with legislation mandating that projects and tenders take it into account. Social Value is relatively new to industry. It has evolved out of earlier ideas such as Corporate Social Responsibility and there is sti...

In a field a few miles southwest of the city of Lexington in Kentucky, a sheep is quietly grazing in the shade. This is a very special sheep. It has been carefully selected from a rare breed to control the vegetation at Kentucky’s largest solar farm. The practice is known as Solar Grazing, an environmentally friendly and incredibly cost effective solution to what would otherwise involve slow and back-breaking manual labour. How this sheep got to be in this place at this time is a story that be...

In 2019/20 an estimated 693,000 workers in Great Britain sustained a non-fatal injury at work in Great Britain. The figure, which comes from the Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey, represents 2,160 injuries per 100,000 workers. The rate had been steadily decreasing for decades. This self-reported rate passed just below 4,000 per 100,000 in 2000/01 but then it stopped reducing. We reached the present level about 10 years ago. Since then, the rate of injury has remained, stubbornly...

What is Net Zero? And how can we get there? Can we mitigate the damage of three centuries of fossil fuel-powered industrialisation, with three decades of new energy infrastructure? While Canada is rich in renewables and already produces 80% of its electricity using non greenhouse gas sources, it, like countries around the world, has a daunting task in front of it. In order to reach Net Zero, Canada will need to electrify. And based on their study and their sources, an SNC report explains that ...

Every two years the Peak District hosts ‘Hillhead’ in a disused quarry. It is the largest event for the Quarrying, Construction and Recycling industries. It is known both for its lively equipment demonstrations and unpredictable weather. This year the coronavirus forced the event online, and the new format forced the organisers to reconsider the focus. Already an industry that strives for environmentally sound solutions, this was thrown into sharper focus with the online presentations and lack ...

Along the west coast of Scotland lies a chain of island communities where fishing and farming have been a way of life for thousands of years. In securing the future of these islands through providing reliable electricity, engineers and archaeologists are looking to the past to ensure that the rich history is not lost. Replacing substations and cable connections also means preserving ancient artefacts, recording local historical experiences and protecting the environment for generations to come...

This is the third and final episode of our three-part special looking at the delivery of megaprojects. In this episode we examine the lessons learned from two of the most iconic tunnelling projects of recent times: London’s Crossrail and New York’s East Side Access. Crossrail was the largest infrastructure project in Europe. Weaving in and out of the spaghetti of existing assets under central London occupied the best efforts of the British tunnelling industry for much of the early 2010’s. The p...

For the 100th episode of Engineering Matters we bring you this three-part special looking at the delivery of a megaproject. In this second episode, we look at how a client can assess the scale of the task of delivering an impossibly complex scheme, such as a megaproject and supplement gaps in its skillset with industry support. How projects are brought from vision to reality. If you would like to listen to the previous episode, or the next episode, the links are: For the first episode, click ...

Megaprojects are among the most complex and challenging of society’s undertakings. Each is grand is scope and due to the scale, none are ever built twice. Although they leverage the resources and political will of a nation, most encounter cost and schedule overruns, damaging reputations and souring public support. For the 100th episode of Engineering Matters we bring you this three-part special looking at the delivery of a megaproject. In this first episode, we look at everything that goes in...

Today the world holds 33 megacities, cities that are home to over 10 million people. As these sprawling urban centres become more crowded than ever before infrastructure is under pressure to do more, last longer and respond faster. In this episode we find out why it is so important to understand exactly what is in the ground beneath our feet and how geophysical data can help us find out. We also visit Istanbul, a megacity that has invested billions in its transport network to support demand from...

As projects grow ever more complex, with tighter delivery demands placed on the entire supply chain, a baseline of digitalisation has been essential for the past few years… the companies that have adapted and thrived in this environment are now looking into areas they might not have worked with before. Predictive analysis, material tracking, sensors, drones, connected tools and programme visualisation software… solutions are being developed all the time. In this episode we will speak to techno...

To alleviate the burden on its largest city Jakarta, Indonesia is going to move its capital more than 1,000km from the densely populated island of Java, to less developed Borneo. The new city will be constructed near the port city of Balikpapan, an economic boon for the region but an increased strain on its already-tested infrastructure. Balikpapan Airport has already been deteriorating, with more frequent and heavier planes taking its toll on a runway that bakes and softens in the equatorial a...

Dalam episode ini kami bermitra dengan Shell untuk membahas pengaspalan ulang landasan pacu (atau runway) Bandara Balikpapan – Bandara Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan. Kita akan mempelajari bagaimana peningkatan jumlah penumpang dan armada pesawat yang lebih baru dan berat telah mendorong landasan pacu yang ada melampaui batasnya. Frekuensi serta beban yang meningkat, yang dikombinasiikan dengan suhu panas wilayah Borneo dengan hutan hujannya… dan kondisi landasan pacu yang menurun dalam...

In this episode we are looking at a project being run by the UK Atomic Energy Authority which aims to build a prototype fusion power plant by the 2040s. To do that they are currently working on a concept design, choosing from a menu of international technologies. Their work needs to be complete by spring 2024 to then work on and complete a detailed design by about 2030. Called ‘STEP’, its success will be measured in one way, whether it can sustainably put electricity into the grid. This is a c...

The world’s oceans are in crisis. Plastic pollution, rising sea levels, warmer waters and chemical changes are degrading ocean systems and the world is at a dangerous tipping point. A point so dangerous that the United Nations has made 2021 the start of a new decade for ocean science for sustainable development. In this episode we partner with Fugro to explore how data acquisition and new technology can turn the tide from mapping the seabed to understanding ecosystems and locating missing aircra...

Construction has not always recognised the value of using data from past projects to deliver better results in the present. It often finds itself starting from scratch on new projects, when learning from earlier experiences could help solve its productivity problem. But the so-called data rich design is still sporadic, and the industry suffers for it, sometimes leading to project delays, cost-overruns and fractured relationships. In this episode we explore some of the barriers to data rich des...

Something remarkable is happening in East Anglia. Waste heat from sewage treatment is being pumped into two enormous greenhouses creating low carbon heat for growing tomatoes. A lot of tomatoes, more than 10% of UK production. This use of waste heat is just one of the ways that water companies are using waste as a resource, as they follow a roadmap to ensure that operational greenhouse gas emissions fall to net zero in the water sector by 2030. This target is two decades ahead of the UK’s mandat...

In this episode we partnered with WSP to tell the story of Looe, a fishing port in Cornwall. The small town has the dubious accolade of ‘most flooded place in England’, and without intervention, the situation will get much worse. With sea levels rising by as much as a metre over the next century, and the land sinking due to the retreat of the glaciers following the last glacial maximum, flood events will become simply ‘high tide’ in the future. A 1-in-1,000 year flooding event is also expected ...

With the weight of the built environment exceeding that of the total biomass for the first time, the human impact on the planet has passed a symbolic but significant milestone. What we do matters, and such a society needs to be run as effectively as possible. Every year the World Economic Forum publishes its Global Risks Report. This document details the perceived greatest risks to human civilisation. The 2021 edition is published as we begin to see a way out of the Covid-19 pandemic and refocu...

The data quality in the planning and development sector is appalling. Whether supplied in this form accidentally, negligently, or recklessly does not matter – much of it is wrong. Yet over the years, this data has been used to form some of our most important decisions for the built environment. Now a new system will make sense of this data, rationalise it so that different sectors and different boroughs will be able to be compared, and display information such that planners will be able to see ...

A revolution is happening in the UK, and it is happening quietly. Inspired by the Copenhagen Bicycle Account, Bike Life is the biggest assessment of cycling in cities and urban areas across the UK and Ireland. Started in Birmingham, but now in 12 cities across the country, Bike Life has informed policy decisions, justified investment and enabled cities to develop more ambitious action plans for cycling. In this episode we look at the city that started it all, and which has invested in the gold...