Construction & Civil Engineering Magazine CCE Issue 208 | Page 59

Land & Water will market back into the London construction sector . We are also utilising cohesive soils in the wetlands build for migratory birds , as we are actually operating within a Site of Special Scientific Interest . The entire operation has been a real collaborative effort alongside Natural England , RSPB , The Port of London Authority , and a series of local stakeholders .
“ It ’ s really exciting , even though we ’ re still working on the site , we ’ ve already got wading birds arriving in the newly constructed areas surrounding us ,” James continues . “ The range of endangered and interesting species that have been spotted has been of huge interest for the RSPB , and it ’ s a strange kind of paradox to witness . Nature is colonising something that we are developing for “ her ”, rather than fleeing from a habitat that human intervention is destroying . In addition to the two muck-away contracts we have already delivered , we have been chosen to decommission two of Tideway ’ s large cofferdams . The recoverable steel and aggregates from these £ 13m projects will be delivered to Rainham entirely by water , without adding trucks to the congested roads of the inner City . by analysis comparing the average 0.93 per cent profit margin of the UK ’ s top 20 contractors in 2020 , against research papers looking at the average wastage of the UK ’ s construction industry , at 35 per cent , James and his team found a striking correlation .
“ The lightbulb moment for everyone , was that our time and performance contribute to a development ’ s wastage factor ,” James explains . “ If you use your time sensibly , you can reduce site wastage and therefore carbon , whilst driving profits up . The circular principle of employees being carbon inflictors is an interesting concept that has gained a lot of traction around the group , driving out wastage and increasing yield is a simple concept , but not one the industry seems to want to
Eliminating waste
L & W has also been using the post- COVID era to focus on accountability and the personal “ responsibilities of our staff ”, something that James cites as being a real societal concern . The company has established a campaign across its sites to underline the severity of employees ’ time wastage during working hours , and the resultant affect it has on the organization ’ s efficiency and carbon footprint . The campaign was inspired ccemagazine . com 59