7.00 AM

The alarm goes off and after a 10-min snooze I’m up and getting ready for the day to begin. Breakfast features a home-made double shot latte, weetbix with yogurt alongside a good book. I like to let my mind rest in the peacefulness of the morning.

8.00 AM

I throw on my Riley hi-vis vest and jump on my bike. It’s a quick 10-minute bike ride to work and it’s so much fun to zoom past the cars waiting at the lights! The beautiful colours of the trees along Hagley Park are a lovely welcome to work each day.

8.30 AM

After stashing my lunch in the fridge and making a cuppa tea, my work day begins! I start by identifying what I need to do that day and checking in with my colleagues for any extra tasks. I soon spot that a handful of building platform quality assurance documentation (as-builts) had been received overnight from a contractor constructing a retirement village and it all needs to be reviewed…

8.45 AM

Diving into the as-built review, I set about consulting the Riley drawings for the building platform levels and checking if the levels capture the platform extent and are within an acceptable tolerance using a spreadsheet that I’ve made for this purpose. With the list of passes, fails and other feedback from the as-built review, I then draft an email in response to the contractor and an official Consultants Advice Notice (CAN) for the platforms which can be handed over to the client for construction of the villas. I forward these drafts onto a coworker who is the Engineer to the contract, for them to review and issue.

10.15 AM

Friday means biscuits and Bananagrams is on the cards! Competition is fierce and I almost walk away with a win to my name but instead, I was disqualified for using American spelling! At least I got a few tim tams…

10.30 AM

I give a project manager a call regarding a wind farm stormwater culvert design that I’ve been chipping away at. I walked him through the progress I had made and identified where I had encountered problems. We selected the design event to be the 1 in 10-year storm and set a deadline for a culvert design to be sent on to our CAD team.

11.00 AM

A coworker then approached me with a culvert design project that I had collaborated on. He had reviewed the design and noted that the culvert size was too big to allow a flume sock to be used as erosion protection for the receiving environment, which was quite steep. I took another look at the model in a program called HY-8 and re-sized a double barrel solution that would work with the flume sock.

12.00 PM

I began to prepare for a site visit in the afternoon by looking through the health and safety documentation and drawings.

12.30 PM

By this time, my stomach is a-grumbling and I wander down to the break room to heat up my lunch – leftover flat dinner from the night before. It’s simple but hits the spot. Over lunch a group of us solve the code cracker and chat over our weekend plans.

1.00 PM

After lunch, I turn to some stormwater modelling using a software called HEC-HMS. The task I have is to determine the flows contributed to a natural stream by a corner of a site, pre and post development. I go about determining the variables the model needs like catchment areas, curve numbers and time of concentration based on the civil concept design. I track all my assumptions in a calculations sheet for review later. Because the developed catchment has a greater area of impermeable surfaces, it is clear that without a storage tank to detain the post-development flow, the design won’t be able to meet consent criteria. I then summarise my findings and send it on to the project director for review, highlighting the events for which the criteria isn’t met.

3.00 PM

I grab the company car and hit the road. I am met there by the site foreman who inducts me and points out the recent progress. Currently, they are installing subsoil drains beneath future kerbing and backfilling stormwater and wastewater laterals along the future Road 2. After walking along road 2, I inspect a large stormwater chamber under construction that discharges to a series of constructed wetlands. Today they have poured the concrete tie-in beam, connecting the two precast lids that make up the chamber roof. After signing out, I head back to the office.

5.00 PM

I updated a coworker on our findings from the site visit and begin to make a start on the site report… but the weekend is calling, and the office slowly empties into the breakroom for Friday night drinks.

6.00 PM

Lost in the chats, I realise the time and bike back to the flat for dinner and a movie with my flatmates.

10.00 PM

I’m ready for sleep. Ready for the weekend and to be refreshed – because I can’t wait to do it all again.

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