Reason 1: Work

While we were back in the UK, one of my work projects went south. Items were missed from the Drayton Valley contract which meant that it was going to cost the client more money, and which he was understandably unhappy. This was partly my fault and partly due to a lack of input from others. I therefore spent a long few weeks sorting it all out, appeasing the client and making sure there were no more surprises. Work-wise, the Canadian honeymoon is definitely over! However, it's just about all sorted now and I'm moving on to other projects so I'm starting to enjoy work again.

One of the new projects I'm working on is the North West Anthony Henday Drive which is a section of the northern ring road around Edmonton which goes from the Yellowhead Trail at 9 o'clock to Manning Drive at about 1 o'clock. Unlike the Norwich Northern Distributor Road which is still in the paper stage, this is being built over the next three years. It's a DBFO (Design, build, finance, operate) project which means that the Contractor is designing it as well as building it. ISL is representing the client (Alberta Transportation) and doing all the checking of the designs to make sure they are compatible with its technical standards. This means that we are receiving vast amounts of documentation each week and have to turn it around in three days. M y role is the document controller - I have to log everything in and out and for this I am in the process of building a database.

Not sound very technical and worthy of a PEng? Well I'm also doing some of the reviewing, the cost control and for the last couple of weeks I've been replacing the site inspector who is away on vacation. This means I got to off road! I was given a truck (this is redneck Alberta after all - no landrovers here) and I drove around the site, observing what was going on. As it's all still at the earthworks stage it makes fun driving, although it's quite hairaising as there's a lot of big plant around so you have to keep your eyes open. Unfortunately, Dennis back now from Mexico so I've had to give the truck back. It's back to the office for me.