" The Ladies Bridge " A roadshow with a difference - 9 December 2010
Yesterday, today and tomorrow:
The South East branch of Women in Property hosted an event for
65 year 7 students from Lilian Baylis Technology School in London
themed on Waterloo Bridge, also known as the Ladies Bridge.
Students, staff and volunteers braved the cold on the bridge whilst
Head of Bridges at Westminster Council, Andy Foster, together with
Hyder's Stuart Hercus, Tim Belcher and Ilona Hurrell gave a talk to
small groups on how the bridge was designed and constructed.
Each student was given a sheet (download
here) illustrating the main elements of a bridge and were
encouraged to look for expansion joints, piers and parapets.
Later at the Imperial War Museum Sandi Rhys Jones of RhysJones
Consultants talked about her love of bridges and explained that
Waterloo bridge had been rebuilt largely by women during the second
world war. The students then saw a short film featuring interviews
with women who had actually worked on the Bridge. They were
surprised to hear that the involvement of women in this key
infrastructure project had until relatively recently been kept
secret.
Emma Sharpe of Peter Brett Associates gave a talk on how bridges
were designed in the past. This was followed by Jane Wernick
who talked about her work designing and building the London Eye
which the students found fascinating. Jane was then followed by
Ilona Hurrell who talked about how she became a bridge engineer and
career opportunities in engineering.
Throughout the morning the students were encouraged to ask
questions and the level of their questioning showed how engaged
they were with the project. Women in Property members got the
opportunity to work with small groups of students and share with
then some of their career experiences.
A summary of the presentations plus questions (from recordings
made at the Imperial War Museum) are available.
The morning on the bridge and at Imperial War Museum was made
possible thanks to the generosity of Schools around the World and
Indigo Planning.
Following this successful day, the project was part of
Engineering UK's Away Day and this presentation can be
downloaded here. The feedback was that the Board
were all very impressed with the concept and the result. It
is now our intention to replicate this project on a regional basis
as well as nationally.
Lisa Risk, Vice Chairman and Property Director of
Bizspace
January 2011