Saad Slimani

Said the following about Rob Williams:

“Rob is now entering his third year on the Costain Graduate Scheme working at Crossrail C360 Shafts and Headhouses. He recently took on additional responsibilities as Section Engineer, taking charge of his peers and a new section of work at the Eleanor Street Shaft Site. This early step up in responsibilities reflects the promise he has shown during his first couple of years with Costain, and his consistency in exceeding the early promise he showed his colleagues.

During the last two years Rob has spent approximately a year at each of two sites. The first was a challenging enabling works project involving the sensitive (and successful) relocation of Gypsy & Traveller families that would allow the future shaft site to become available for construction. Whilst not the usual civil scale construction that Costain traditionally tackle, the logistics, variance of works and community interface meant a challenging working environment. Rob was site engineer for drainage, groundworks, roadworks and the building and fitting out of timber frame units.

During this time his friendly and enthusiastic manner were notable for keeping relationships smooth with the local community and for keeping subcontractors working under tight programme conditions and a changeable environment. His contribution was key in getting several phases of works completed and handed over to the local authority as promised.

During the last year Rob has been based at Mile End, principally working on the fit out of the 9 floor emergency intervention shaft and the headhouse above. He was delegated the planning and awarding of the blockwork package, which he then ran having identified a possible cost saving and potential advantages in managing the interface with adjacent trades. Rob oversaw the sizeable package of works needing very little external management. In addition to his site engineering role this involved tracking the budget, organising materials and resources and identifying potential design clashes. When clashes were identified between the M&E drawings and the blockwork design drawings Rob communicated with architects and structural engineers to find solutions that minimised delays and cost.

Rob has also been a mentor to other engineers, having directly mentored one of the apprentices at Mile End, so that when Rob moved sections, the apprentice was capable of stepping up to complete the existing works.

An approachable character, capable engineer and charismatic leader, he is popular with peers and senior management alike. This is evident with the additional accountability he has been given so early in his career of a clearly promising engineer.“