Structural Engineer -
Geraldine Howson
If you like the majesty of tall building you might choose to specialise in structural engineering.
Geraldine Howson trained as a civil engineer but now works as a structural engineer on high rise buildings in Canary Wharf, London.
We are currently in Docklands, Canary Wharf which is an area of development of buildings for office space, retail space trying to create a financial district in London.
This particular high rise building is going to be 37 storeys when it’s completed.
Originally this was dock so originally where we are standing now would have been under water. And what they’ve done is they have created what they call a copper dam which is these steel piles that you can see around the side. And that creates a dry space in which to construct the building from the bottom up.
So at the moment we’ve got foundations in, pile foundations and the raft slab along the bottom and then we are going to be starting with the central core which provides the stability to the building. It is the central part of the building where normally you find the lifts and the stairwells. If it wasn’t there the building wouldn’t stand up.
I have always been interested in high rise buildings because it’s stretching the boundaries of structural engineering it’s taking everything to its absolute limits.
I am very fortunate in the fact that our company has a specialist team that work on high rise structures all over the world New York, Mexico, Hong Kong and now in London. And the building that I am developing at the moment is one that is going for planning permission in Canary Wharf which is going to be approximately 50 stories high which is very exciting. It’s the first time that I have ever worked on such a high rise structure. So it is very exciting for me.
I didn’t know what I was wanting to do as a career when I was at school so I decided to chose A levels that I was interested in and hope that that would lead me to a career path that I would enjoy. I studied maths, physics and geography A levels.
I then went on to do a degree in civil engineering with German language which meant that I had an opportunity to study in Germany for a year as part of a 4 year course. When I first told my parents that I wanted to go to university to study civil engineering I think mainly they were very proud. I was one of the first people in my family to go to university and the first engineer.
The first major project that I worked on was Dartford and Gravesham hospital project. Where I worked on the design and also then went on to work on site as a site engineer. And that was a great boost to the career because it means you can see the design element from the office base but you also then go to see your design implemented on site. What type of problems the engineers on site were facing trying to implement your design and how you may have designed things better.
One of the main points that I enjoy about structural engineering is the way you can be creative but you can also have the maths to back it up. It is also being creative but with the technical background to support that creativity.
I think that each project is different you are always learning on every project that you work on. Every project and every building is a proto type because none are ever the same.