Pippa and Jo recently took a day away from busy bidding to learn about drainage and civils services and products at The National Civils Show and National Drainage Show at ExCel London. This was the first dedicated trade show in the UK, focused purely on civil engineering and infrastructure in 20 years.

These events provide opportunities for us to learn, network, and share our learning and insight with our clients, as well as a chance to network with new and existing clients.

Our highlights included:

  • Practical hands-on experience of a Lanes Group cctv drainage simulator, broadening our understanding of these systems for future bids. They are working with Southern Water to prevent domestic pipe blockage through their Water for Life campaign, more details here: https://www.southernwater.co.uk/about-us/our-plans/water-for-life-hampshire/
  • An interesting presentation from 7Steel’s UK Innovation Manager Eoin Bailey about the procurement of steel from the UK and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) – this was very useful to understand how this impacts several of our clients who procure steel for highway projects https://7-steeluk.com/products/
  • Talking to Davis Trackhire, who build temporary aluminium roads for construction sites using a remote-controlled truck to increase safety and increase installation accuracy https://davistrackhire.com/trackway-products/
  • An enthusiastic chat with Senior Technical Consultant Lee Sapphire from Structural Repairs Limited. They work to extend the life of buildings and structures using the latest scanning and carbon fibre technology to save needless demolition, re-construction costs and carbon emissions https://structuralrepairs.com/
  • Seeing PiONAiR’s stand and their respiratory masks that are compatible with facial hair https://pionair.co.uk/collections/headtops
  • Learning about concrete Bagwork products from Business Development Manager Andrew Norris from Soluform that assist with flood protection – they are made with biodegradable hessian / jute bags with liners to prevent concrete leakage, allowing safe placement in and around watercourses https://soluform.co.uk/concrete-filled-bagwork/
  • Meeting Initivo Consultancy Limited who can build and test ANYTHING https://www.initivo.co.uk/
  • Reconnecting with Reflow who always have the best stand engagement, learning about updates to their field management software and how beneficial it continues to be to civil engineering companies (lots of our clients use this system so we like to know what’s new and improved!) https://re-flow.co.uk/industry/highways
  • Stephen Elderkin, Director of Environmental Sustainability at National Highways gave an insightful talk on ‘Managing Highways Runoff in a Changing Climate’ addressing issues with highways drainage, including looking at microplastics, tyre wear particles, and emerging contaminants in water run-off. Did you know that 10% of the Strategic Road Network is prone to flooding? More info here: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/environment/communities/water-quality/
  • Demonstration of new site fencing products as an alternative to Heras fencing for site security and safety protection from Melba Swintex – they are made from 90% recycled HDPE plastic and can be recycled into new products for increased circularity https://www.melbaswintex.com/gb/
  • Demonstration of a brilliant new site measuring tool and app from Moasure that is quick, efficient and turns site data in quantities effortlessly https://www.moasure.com/
  • Meeting a very cheerful chap from CID Group who supply products to civils companies, and had a great strapline of ‘Consider it done’! https://cidgroup.co.uk/
  • Meeting a former colleague of Pippa’s, Richard Stroud from CENIN who showed off award winning sustainable cement products, including CENdri which offers an almost zero carbon alterative to carbon intensive lime as a soil stabilisation solution, check it out here: https://cenin.co.uk/cementitious-products/cendri/
  • And last but not least, we were impressed by OnSite Support Ltd who showed us their modulator emergency response rucksack with defibrillator – this is a light weight and easy to use emergency first aid back-pack that can easily and quickly get to where it’s needed on site to provide rapid first aid  https://www.onsite-support.co.uk/safety-and-clothing/first-aid-kits-defibrillators-and-accessories/FA6ERS/

Overall, it was a really interesting and educational day, and we hope to visit it again next year!

Please visit the trade show website for more information on the exhibitors and presentations, and also to show interest in either visiting or exhibiting next year. https://civilsshow.com/