Name: Jim Ward MCIOB
Employer: BAM Construction
Project: Hermitage Academy , Helensburgh
Astute, intelligent and articulate, Jim Ward has an even more vital quality for a construction manager on a PFI contract: an ultra-sensitive built-in risk radar.
Jim’s handling of the foundation works is just one example of his excellent risk management. The foundation design was to support the two-storey section of the building by driving in precast piles to the underlying rock, and lay down a ground-bearing slab on beams for the assembly and sports block areas. But the ease with which the piles were being driven sounded a risk klaxon for Jim.
Revisiting the site investigation report, he concluded that the actual ground conditions were very different. He then moved swiftly to revise the enabling works to incorporate a suspended slab and installed an additional 272 piles without the piler ever leaving site.
Even in the preconstruction phase, Jim’s technical leadership had proved crucial. The original planning application was based on an open channel flood alleviation scheme; problem was, the channel would have to be so wide it would have extended far beyond the site boundary, removing a great deal of woodland and encroaching on two sports pitches.
Jim’s solution was to construct a culvert under one pitch, linking it to a channel that terminated in the existing stream. It was cost-effective and safeguarded the overall project, which was facing collapse at this point.
Likewise, with the layout of the classrooms being fundamental to the project, Jim constructed a typical classroom and science lab at the earliest opportunity; the client agreed the final layout even before the groundworks were complete.
He consistently delivered a first-class service to the greater client team and built an enviable relationship with the school. He gave a series of excellent presentations to staff and pupils at the existing school, initiated work experience activities for pupils of all age groups, and fostered the career development of senior students interested in construction-related professions.
Jim’s vision, ability and leadership were central to the construction, within budget and to a testing programme, of a school that breathes quality and is clearly beyond the expectations of client and users.