Aleks Small

6.15 AM

Wake up with a shower and quick breakfast. I might have been running slightly late this morning as I tried to stop and take a ‘candid’ photo to start off my ‘day in the life’.

7. 05 AM

Meet on-site with the construction crews for a pre-start meeting. We do these every day to go over the planned works and if there are any changing Health and Safety requirements or hazards to expect. Most of the discussion usually comes from the crews and I am here to provide any additional resources or instructions to make sure they can proceed smoothly with the day.

8.30 AM

Back to the office to catch up on my emails. They typically include any upcoming inspections/correspondence from the client, quality test results or memos from the wider project/business. I grab a coffee from the site kitchen and have a discussion with the Project Manager and Project Engineer to go over any jobs I need to do and then plan the rest of my day accordingly.

10.00 AM

Got involved in the Traffic Management planning meeting to determine the TM requirements for the later stages of the project. The hot topic was around the commissioning of the new traffic lights in a month’s time and how we will facilitate traffic through the intersections whilst this takes place.

11.00 AM

Stopped by the site to drop off some depth markers for the guys as we are excavating around multiple services that first had to be identified through hydro-excavation. Yesterday I was involved with creating the draw charts from the service plans and signing off the dig permit for this section so I knew they had a lot of services to find and mark out before carrying on with the excavation.

12.00 PM

Lunch – nothing eventful, just shot down the road for sushi from St Pierres.

12.30 PM

Sent some questions through to the client prior to lunch and they were after some measurements of sections of the site so went to get them prior to the meeting. I then complete a pre-pour check on the site. We have a kerb pour first thing tomorrow so it is critical to make sure everything is to specifications to allow this to go smoothly and to design in the morning.

2.00 PM

Attended our weekly meeting with the client. Those present include our project manager, project engineer, the client, two engineer representatives for the client and myself. During these meetings, I contribute by giving an update on my section of the works and providing discussions on upcoming hold-ups or programme progress. The meeting then aims towards discussions around contractual and financial elements between the project manager and client, although I don’t participate in this section it is insightful to listen and learn about the overall project and how it is impacted by these elements.

Also, have a kerb pour tomorrow so had to complete the pre-pour check

4.00 PM

Have a discussion with the PM and PE about the progress from today and go over the plan for tomorrow. I then have to fill out the site diary to keep a record of the activities/crews and weather on site from the day. This is a good habit to get into because I challenge any of you to try and remember what you did on an exact day two months ago, I definitely can’t and I don’t think I can blame old age for that one just yet.

5.00 PM

Sent away a couple of final emails and now have finished for the day. Time to drive home to grab my mountain bike to hit the park while the suns still up.

6.00 PM

A great evening for a pedal up the hills to earn a few downhill laps through the bike park. Caught up with my mate at the top and shot down an old classic line before it got too dark.

7.00 PM

By the time we got to the bottom our other mates were already parked up at the bottom. It’s Wednesday $1 Wings Night at the Christchurch Adventure Park so a good chance to sit back and debrief on the riding with my mates over a feed and a few beers.

9.30 PM

Back home after a busy and productive day at work and on the trails. Time to catch up with the flatmates and make my lunch for tomorrow before shooting off to sleep.

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