It is testament to WJ Groundwater’s standing within the industry that for the second successive year they have been shortlisted for a Ground Engineering Award within the Contractor of the Year category. Whilst they just missed out last time, having been highly commended, they could well go one better this year on the strength of the successful launch of their environmental instrumentation & monitoring service.
“We’ve been very strong in every area this year, but one real highlight has been how well our environmental team have been performing on their biggest ever contract,” explains Tom Rendall, Design Manager. “It’s a high value, multi-year contract, so it’s really positive that we’ve been able to make such successful progress in this area. It’s a shining case study of what we can offer and is a clear demonstration of how we’ve been able to diversify our offering and exceed technically. This ability to adapt, diversify and deliver in new markets, as well as continuing to perform highly in established sectors, has really counted in our favour with the award nomination.”
WJ Groundwater’s success in its environmental monitoring contract, comprising of a high volume of groundwater and surface water sampling, spot flow gauging, telemetric instrumentation, aquatic ecology surveys and hydrogeomorphology assessments is even more impressive given the scale of the project. As Nick Gigg, Project Manager, outlines: “With over 500 monitoring locations, 4,000 survey visits so far this year, and over 12,000 surveys since the project began it has taken careful management to ensure the project is being delivered successfully. It is also a large project geographically stretching 80km, so it has been a logistical challenge at times, and it is testament to the team that is has been delivered so successfully to date. As the work has developed and progressed, we’ve had to be quite dynamic and adaptable in terms of how we programme the works.”
The client’s Project Manager overseeing these works has said: “[WJ Groundwater’s] ability to adapt and accommodate changing site conditions and stakeholder demands has truly set them apart. They’ve been consistently navigating the vast scope of the HS2 project with dependability that has truly made them a partner we can count on. Their strong inter-team collaboration underpins the critical environmental monitoring process, setting some of the highest standards in the industry. As we advance further into the HS2 project, I look forward to their continued involvement and hopefully future collaborations.”
Another individual who has played a key role in the success of the environmental monitoring service is Ula Markowicz, Technical Manager, who stressed the desire to continue developing and growing WJ Groundwater’s offerings in this sector. “Throughout our history repeat business has been key and we strive to ensure that each project we complete leads on to another. It was therefore vital that we got it right first time on this particular contract, even in the face of the scale of the project. The use of web-based field forms, live databases and visualisation platforms has enabled us to streamline our data management whilst ensuring our quality assurance and control levels remain high.
“We’re really pleased that the works we’ve been delivering so far have been to a really high standard and we’re hopeful that it will lead to further projects in the future.”
While the success in environmental monitoring is a major plus for WJ Groundwater and its future prospects, it is not the only reason the company can look forward with confidence, as Tom points out: “We’ve seen strong performances across the entire business, with major infrastructure projects across the UK having played a significant role in that. In addition, we have seen a major uptick in the requirement for ground source energy schemes providing not only a boost to WJ, but also raising the profile and viability of these systems as the drive for cleaner energy continues. By diversifying our services, we are not only delivering a more complete service to our customers but also becoming more resilient to individual market fluctuations. At the same time, we are continuing to innovate and have recently introduced an improved version of our web-based dashboard and visualisation platform that provides our clients with near real-time data, system status and trigger alert/alarming functionality on their projects to keep them informed of current trends and performance to enable them to make the best and well informed engineering decisions.”
It is this desire to keep improving that has served WJ Groundwater so well over the years and which has once again seen it in the running for the Contractor of the Year accolade at the Ground Engineering Awards. While it remains to be seen whether it is successful this time around, what looks certain is that the company can look forward to further growth across the business thanks to its forward-thinking approach.