Partner Article

Open day gives college students taste of civil engineering industry

Students at Coleg Cambria were given an insight into the world of civil engineering at an open day hosted by contractor Jones Bros.

The civil engineering firm welcomed the students to its dedicated training centre in Ruthin so that they could try their hand at four construction-related activities.

After hearing from Jones Bros’ contracts director John Dielhof and Jane Edgington from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the students, who are studying qualifications including engineering and agricultural plant maintenance studies, spent time with the company’s staff learning about what it takes to have a successful career in civil engineering.

Jones Bros’ health, safety, environment, quality and training manager Dave Gibson said: “The open day gave the students an insight into some of the different career options available within the civil engineering and construction industry.

“Getting hands on experience within this industry can be difficult, and we hope that the open day gave the students a taste of the sort of work we undertake on projects across the UK.

“We were really pleased to be able to welcome the students to the training centre, and hopefully the time spent with our engineers and apprentices may have inspired them to look at civil engineering as a career choice.”

Activities included taking control of a 20 tonne excavator using a heavy plant simulator and a demonstration from Jones Bros’ current crop of apprentices on how to operate four pieces of plant.

The students also received a demonstration in plant repair from Jones Bros’ workshop manager Chris Mills, before joining engineer Emlyn Roberts to locate the four corners of a new site cabin in the training ground, using a handheld logger working on GPS. This type of work allows project engineers and project designers to help the site teams plan and successfully undertake the work needed to complete each project.

Founded in the 1950s and employing almost 300 people, Jones Bros has grown rapidly in the last decade. It is currently working on contracts including the construction of waste management facilities, highways, flood and marine defence and renewable energy projects around the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .