Our head of planning, Abbey Rawat is celebrating 40 years with Morgan Sindall Infrastructure. That’s a significant milestone! We caught up with him to discover more about his career journey so far, his major achievements, the changes he’s seen and hopes for a brighter future for construction.
Tell us about how you started out and your career journey to date.
I started my career journey with Fairclough Civil Engineering as a graduate site engineer in 1984. I’d already spent a year with them as part of the BSc (Hons) degree, working on the new £30m M65 Burnley to Blackburn motorway. My first project as a paid-up employee was on a new £1m substation for CEGB just outside Kendal, in Cumbria. During the winter months, with some pretty severe wind and rain on a very exposed site, I slightly doubted my career choice!
In early 1985 I moved onto the prestigious £200m Thorp Reprocessing Plant at Sellafield – marking the first of my subsequent four major projects at the plant during the last 40 years. As Fairclough transitioned into AMEC, my career path progressed. I secured senior engineering roles and was given great opportunities to work on projects such as M6 Thelwall Viaduct, Encapsulated Products Store No 2 (EPS2) at Sellafield, Lancaster Farms new Prison and Manchester Airport Runway 2.
Abbey Rawat
On achieving Chartered status with the Institute of Civil Engineers, new opportunities opened up to lead on projects and I became more involved with development and training of new engineering recruits. In the 1980s and 1990s the engineering role on projects included planning, development of temporary works schemes and procurement, in addition to engineering support. This gave me a wider range of skills, knowledge and experience within the construction environment.
In early 2000, I was persuaded to lead planning on the £500m M6 Toll (new 43km motorway) and in 2004 replaced the retired lead planner in work winning at the AMEC head office in Adlington, Chorley. AMEC was acquired by Morgan Sindall in 2007 and my role continued as a Planning Manager on work winning and supporting our large projects. I led the planning of strategic bids, such as C350 Pudding Mill (Crossrail), HS2/South Stations, Smart Motorway Alliance, Thames Tideway before moving to the Highways Business Unit.
In 2022 I transferred to the Nuclear Business Unit as Head of Planning and supported the construction planning on the RAP project, having previously reviewed the planning on SRP in 2020; both projects under Programme and Project Partners (PPP). My previous experience within a regulated environment included the Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA), £280m D58 & D59 buildings for BAE Systems, in Barrow, Faslane SSN Berthing Project (£150 million Floating Jetty), to name a few.
I love the variety of the role and the projects I work on. It’s important to understand the project specifics and ensure their proper management through project health checks, audits, reviews and providing feedback to the team. By establishing the right behaviours at the outset, leading by example and demonstrating my personal commitment to achieving mutual goals, I support project leadership teams in helping to embed the right values and culture to sustain successful project delivery.
Abbey relaxing with Martin Hughes, Estimator (retired in 2021 after 40 years with Morgan Sindall) and Reg Arathoon (over 50 years with Morgan Sindall).
Abbey led the planning of strategic bids, including C350 Pudding Mill (Crossrail).
What are the big changes you’ve seen in the industry and the company during the last 40 years?
Safety and general inclusion (ED&I) have significantly improved visibly over the years. I remember climbing a 30m high concrete bridge pier on a pole ladder with my setting-out instrument/ tripod on a surface less than 1m wide – and without any side protection or harness. Unfortunately, in the early years, I witnessed three fatalities and several serious incidents. Thankfully, the safety culture and behaviour, underpinned by legislation and direct leadership support, has made our working environment significantly safer with greater focus on sustainability and mitigation of environmental impact together with the reduction of carbon in construction.
It was very much a male dominated “rough-tough” construction worker image, with very few women pursuing careers in construction. This has now rapidly changed into a more inclusive community of workers on our projects.
Demolition work at the M6 Thelwall Viaduct - one of Abbey's many successfully delivered projects.
The other changes are Quality Assurance and Quality Control and the need to ensure full traceability of the construction element. This has generated additional documentation and requirement for more resources. I remember in the early years Risk Assessment Method Statements (RAMS) and Quality Assurance / QA was minimal and the focus was very much on cost and production, completing the works as quick as possible to reduce costs and move resources onto other projects.
Maximising direct labour was the norm, with limited specialist supply chain dependency. This has almost reversed with a strong partnership with the supply chain family and minimal use of direct delivery. This change impacts on the management structure, and we are still adjusting to this new “norm”.
A progress snap of the M6 Thelwall Viaduct project in 1996.
What’s your proudest achievement?
When you are involved in work wining, every win is your proudest achievement, such as the Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA), Smart Motorway Alliance, Thames Tideway, M5 Oldbury Viaduct – the list goes on!
I’d say my proudest win was the C350 Pudding Mill Dockland Light Railway (DLR) Station. It started as a £40m project and was completed in excess of £140m. It’s located to the south of the Olympic Park across the main rail corridor. It was constructed during the 2012 London Olympics and is now surrounded by many great legacy landmarks.
I’m also proud of my time working on the M6 Toll motorway in 2000. This involved constructing the 43km new dual 3-lane motorway, with over 10 million m3 of earthworks and over 70 significant structures. It was designed and built in three years, which is a fantastic achievement and unlikely to be matched again.
It’s been in use for 20 years now and apart from paying the never increasing toll charges, I really enjoy driving along it. It brings back so many great memories. My grandchildren have followed my children in referring to it as “dad’s motorway”!
Working hard on the C350 Pudding Mill Dockland Light Railway (DLR) Station project.
Completion of the M6 Toll.
What are your hopes and ambitions for the future?
We have a great future in the Nuclear Business Unit. This is now recognised and respected, delivering margins in a lead position within Morgan Sindall Infrastructure after only 5-years of its inception. The growth plan of the unit is ambitious and exciting. The challenge will be to ensure we develop our future workforce to be suitably skilled and experienced for the new opportunities for the journey ahead.
I was very fortunate to have been involved on great projects with fantastic opportunities and a career pathway clearly mapped. Our contract models now involve more Alliances/ Frameworks, and we need to ensure the younger recruits have opportunity to develop with a more diverse construction portfolio. With more apprentice and technical routes into the construction industry, greater awareness of the development through to the choice of preferred role, needs to be more structured with proper guidance and mentoring.
Abbey gave insights into his 40 years with the company at the Nuclear Business Unit’s Extended All-hands 2024 event.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out in their career?
I enjoy the technical and engineering challenges within construction and being part of a project as it develops from concept, design through to construction and final handover. It’s greatly rewarding, and you leave a legacy within the UK infrastructure.
A graduate or apprentice entering this career will be aware of multiple roles on a construction project. They need to assess and align to the best suited role and ensure structured professional development available through on-site training, guidance/ mentoring support, variety of courses and schemes and proactively focus on their personal development. I’ve been a Supervising Civil Engineer (SCE) mentor for over 20-years. It’s really rewarding to be part of the career development of a young enthusiastic and talented future leader in various disciplines within our business unit.
Abbey with colleagues at the Nuclear Business Unit’s Extended All-hands 2024 event.
Construction of the M6 Toll.
And finally, what do you like to do in your spare time?
My six grandchildren keep me entertained! With a recent seventh newcomer it will be interesting to see how the rest of them interact. I enjoy my walks and holidays with them, and they rapidly fill many gaps in my spare time. I’ve continued as a Primary School Governor of an inner-city school for over 32-years and assisted with attaining “Outstanding” accreditation for the school. I also support various charitable organisations focussed on poverty alleviation and education through self-sustainable projects overseas.