Ed Dennett Gets Some Concrete Experience
A rebar cage for a pile that was used in the foundations of Al-Hamra Tower in Kuwait City.
If you look closely you can see the strips of anode running down the inside of the cage.
Image copyright of Ed Dennett
Ed Dennett
MEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 2011
Siemens Medal Winner 2011
When I first noticed the advert, the closing date was the next day so it was a last minute decision to apply. I’d also never been to the Middle East and knew practically nothing about construction or civil engineering so when I got the job and set off for Saudi Arabia, I didn’t quite know what to expect. What exactly did a Cathodic Protection Engineer do?
There were so many differences to adapt to - not least the heat! - but the international working community was welcoming, open and supportive so I soon settled in with the team. Everyone is there to get a job done so everyone pulls together: you only get judged on your work. It’s an incredible part of the world – so dynamic and busy.
Corrpro Arabia Cathodic Protection is a leading provider of corrosion protection which is especially important in the Middle East where the conditions are punishing to concrete: high humidity, intense summer temperatures and higher than average chloride levels in the sea.
Here, without cathodic protection (CP), any construction built in concrete will not last more than a matter of months before crumbling. I was going to do battle with the elements, no less!
I joined the work on a major project in Qatar – a new ship repair yard at Ras Laffan which was being constructed to modify and maintain a fleet of natural gas tankers. Each caisson – the watertight structures with which the piers and quays of the docks are constructed – had to be protected with a constant and precise electrical current to maintain the chemical stability of the material throughout its working life. This technique can be used anywhere to prevent concrete corrosion and later I also worked on cooling towers for oil refineries and polymer factories and pile foundations for sky scrapers .
Throughout the year, my work involved submitting new design drawings to the contractor for approval, reporting on construction progress, updating design reports and drawings to meet the client’s requirements, designing the layout of the power and monitoring junction boxes which were to be installed on site and designing a test circuit to aid the testing of the monitoring junction boxes. I also went back later to investigate whether the tide level was having an effect on our CP system. (It was, but nothing sizable enough to cause any problems)
I learned a huge amount! Being given autonomy, a lot of freedom in the way I worked and fantastic support from colleagues, made me more organised and responsible. The biggest challenge was getting used to the civil engineering aspects of the projects – understanding the drawings, the technical jargon, the calculations and the huge (huge!) spreadsheets they work with. It was all really interesting and I gained great experience of bid writing and the pricing of projects which will be invaluable no matter what career I go into. I also got to see electrical engineering and control systems at work in a completely new environment and application – one I’d never expected.
Right: Ed receives his medal at the Siemens award ceremony