Philip Charles, Project Manager, CIRIA shares his thoughts at the launch of Crossrail’s Learning Legacy
The
Crossrail Learning Legacy is an initiative to share with the wider UK infrastructure industry the insights from Europe’s largest construction project.
The Learning Legacy seeks to collate knowledge and share good practice on all facets of the project ranging from health &safety and project management to engineering and the environment.
The first suite of information published shares some of the early lessons learned from Crossrail that both HS2 and Tideway are already building on; with further resources being published on a six-monthly basis during the rest of the project.
I was delighted to be one of over a hundred delegates attending the launch of
Crossrail’s Learning Legacy at Church House in Westminster on 26th February, as CIRIA were announced as one of the Learning Legacy Partners.
The launch completed a momentous week for Crossrail following the announcement that when passenger services begin running through central London in December 2018 will do so on the
Elizabeth Line.
CIRIA is looking forward to be a
Learning Legacy Partner alongside a range of institutions including the ICE, IEMA, APM and the IET that will work with the Learning Legacy team at Crossrail to disseminate the information published through a programme of events and webinars.
The launch of the Learning Legacy was attended by Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive; Tony Meggs, Chief Executive, Infrastructure and Projects Authority; and Alison Munro, Managing Director – Development at HS2; who shared some key insights into why this initiative was developed and its importance for UK infrastructure sector.
From my perspective, I can see the Crossrail Learning Legacy as an invaluable source of information and knowledge for CIRIA members and the wider industry that they can translate into good practice across future construction projects of any size or type.
Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive, said: “Passing on the lessons and good practice that we have learned at Crossrail is an absolutely essential part of raising the bar in the delivery of major projects. With an unprecedented number of infrastructure schemes around the corner, now is the time to start sharing what we have learned so the UK can build on its reputation for delivering safely, on time and on budget.”
Tony Meggs, Chief Executive, Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), said: “The IPA is wholly committed to ensuring the UK's delivery of major infrastructure projects is achieved efficiently and effectively. The creation of a learning environment is vital to improving project performance, and we see Crossrail's Learning Legacy as an impressive example of best practice. We encourage all project professionals to draw on this excellent resource; the more we can learn from the experience of others the closer we will come to flawless project execution."
Alison Munro, HS2 Ltd Managing Director – Development, said: “Projects on the scale of HS2 only come around once in a generation. That’s why it’s vital that we learn from Crossrail and apply the lessons to drive efficiency in our own build to help deliver the highest quality for all our passengers, stakeholders and communities along the line. And, in turn, we will pass on the lessons we learn, to the projects of the future.”
Simon Bennett, Head of Learning Legacy at Crossrail said: “The launch is just the start of Crossrail’s Learning Legacy initiative. Our focus now is on publishing updates on a regular basis and working with our partners to make sure that others can learn from our experience of working on the Crossrail project.”