Ahead of this year’s Strictly Highways event, the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) is highlighting some of our speakers. David Porter is the Director of Engineering with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) – the roads authority for Northern Ireland.
Q. Why is collaboration so important?
A. “Collaboration is vitally important because by working together we can achieve better outcomes.”
Q. What are the biggest challenges facing the highways sector?
A. “The age old issues in the highway sector of funding, resources and perpetually deteriorating assets have been compounded by the challenges of climate change.”
Q. How does the approach being taken to maintain local roads in Northern Ireland differ to the other home nations?
A. “The engineering approach we take is broadly similar to those of our colleagues in GB, although in Northern Ireland the Department is the sole Roads Authority and therefore has responsibility for the whole network.”
Q. What actions need to be taken to ensure the industry attracts a younger and more diverse workforce?
A. “Civil Engineering, and road management in particular, is a very fulfilling work area and we need to get this message to a diverse, and younger audience by whatever means possible to encourage them to consider this as a career. The young now live their lives using social media and we should be showcasing the young people who we already employ to help encourage others to join the industry. The use of hashtags such as ‘#Notjustforboys’ help to break down the impression that construction and engineering is a profession for just 50% of our population.”
Q. Why is it important to make the case for local roads?
A. “While local roads are often lighter trafficked, they perform a critically important role in the network and therefore need to be maintained and improved so that they are safe and sustainable.”
Q. What should people expect from your presentation at Strictly Highways?
A. “I plan to give an insight into road maintenance in Northern Ireland including a number of examples of how we collaborate with others.”