I am working for Fulton Hogan Civil, constructing a new Booster Pump Station in the Hibiscus Coast area. My areas of responsibility on this job are to deal with Civil Construction works, with a focus on quality, production and safety.
A day on the Hibiscus Coast Booster Pump Station (HCBPS) can see me doing a variety of different tasks. Most of my time is spent in the site office where I help put together documents, track the progression of the project and organise what is needed for the job in the weeks to come. I also spend a lot of my time down on site, which is a 50m walk from the site office. Here I am mainly involved in making sure quality, as well as health and safety procedures, are followed and always improving.
The documents I assist in putting together range from health and safety risks and hazards, construction methodology and other general information relating to the project. I also help with tracking progression and keeping digital diaries of the work that has been undertaken. This is so if any problem was to arise we have accountability for what and how something was constructed.
On-site I need to keep a keen eye on any improvements we can make to the site. These improvements are intended to benefit both the quality of work and the safety of our staff. Measuring up quantities of materials is also a crucial part of my roll on site. After finalising what is needed for the job at hand, I act as a point of contact with suppliers to organise dates, times and payments. Another on-site job I do is to set out levels using a dumpy level. This is to ensure that what we are constructing is accurate and is in line with the provided construction drawings.
The ability to be on-site has given me first-hand experience of construction and how things operate in this industry. I believe this exposure is a crucial part of a young engineer’s development.
I have lived in Te Atatu, Auckland my whole life. There I attended Rutherford College before moving on to study engineering at AUT's city campus. Due to myself being raised in a Croatian household, a big part of my life growing up has been playing football. I now play in the Northern League which is NZ's top footballing competition. By playing at a competitive level I have been able to acquire many skills that apply to my working life, one of these being how to manage my time well. Since starting with FH my involvement in football hasn’t been affected. Being involved in personal activities outside of work is highly recommended and supported by the company.
The story of how I ended up working for FH started in my final year of university. A requirement for my degree was to complete work experience hours in an engineering environment. While looking for a company to employ me, a family friend was able to get me an interview with FH. I attended the interview and was offered a job as an Intern Engineer. I started in November of 2021 on the HCBPS where I worked as an intern for 3 months. The internship gave me first-hand experience of what it’s like to work as an engineer in the construction industry. After this 3 month period, I was offered full-time employment as a Graduate Engineer. My time working as a Graduate Engineer has seen me focus on upskilling my engineering abilities. I have been fortunate to be on a job surrounded by an experienced project team. They have been able to guide and mentor me through the start of my career.
Yes, I believe anyone can do anything if they are dedicated enough to learn. I believe in order to do the job I am doing you need to be able to solve problems and have good management skills. Coming from a background of studying Architectural Engineering I was sceptical of starting off my working life in the area of Civil Engineering. I soon realised that this area of engineering was no different to the area that I specifically studied. The fundamentals of all fields of engineering are good management and problem-solving skills.
My favourite part of the job is the last planner meetings that are held every Wednesday. I enjoy the discussions that are had and the problem-solving aspect of them. I get to be exposed to how experienced professionals come together to plan and overcome project issues from an engineering perspective.
At the moment not as much reasonability falls on me compared to the more experienced engineers on site. Weekend work hasn’t been that common and is only done if we fall behind the programme. I have not worked any weekends to date. Though the job is not physical the hours can be long, working 10hr days is quite common in construction. If you are someone like me who is training 3-4 times a week, you may struggle to get a lot of free time. A limitation I have faced is not being able to contribute to everything straight away. This can make the days drag out and feel quiet. My contribution to the project has increased simultaneously with my experience. The more you understand the more you can do.