When she was a child, Leah Jacobs loved playing with Lego together with her brothers. This led her to believe her future career could be in architecture. In the end, she did not enjoy art at school, but really enjoyed maths, so a family friend suggested that engineering might be a good career. For this reason, when she was 17, she spent a day with an engineer from Arup and was convinced that the profession would make an interesting career.
“This engineer showed me a couple of worksites in Central London while I was shadowing her. I realised that I loved what I was doing and decided to pursue this career. Even though my parents didn’t study engineering, they were very supportive and encouraged me to follow my dreams. They are very interested and excited in what I do. They are very proud of me. Jacobs read civil engineering at Nottingham Trent University, of her time she says, “I wouldn’t say that my strengths at school were anything really, as I have struggled academically. I failed my A-Level in physics , and got an “E” in maths but I always really enjoyed maths and solving problems and both skills are very helpful for an engineer. Later on, I found out that my academic disappointment was due to undiagnosed dyslexia”.
Talking about her entry to the industry, Jacobs mentions her first work experience for Balfour Beatty management at King’s Cross Underground Station Upgrade Project in 2007. “When I was a student, my third year was an industry placement. I was picked by the tunnelling manager by random to work on the tunnel team,” Jacobs says. “Although it was not a role on the construction side, I was representing the client, Metronet. It was such an amazing experience and I really got an understanding of what it was like working on a large tunnelling project.
The focus during my studies at university were often around structural design and surveying, neither of which were of interest to me, but when I went into the tunnels, it was like a light-bulb moment and I realised that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
“Professionally, I didn’t meet any obstacles and I was given plenty of opportunities and even allowed to go on shifts, and to do night shifts and I was very fortunate because people encouraged me to try many different things within the team. They allowed me to see different sides of the tunnelling world, which was great.”
After completing the King’s Cross project, she worked for various contractors for six years and then she went back to consulting with London Bridge Associates.
“I was involved in the Tottenham Court Road Station Upgrade Project, with Bam Nuttall in 2011. We were modifying the existing Northern Line platform tunnels and we were doing that behind a hoarding, while the trains were running,” she said.
“We had a three-month closure of the platforms and we were pressured to complete all the works and reinstate the platforms on time. It was the first time that I had done timber headings as a contractor. It was an incredible learning experience; I was there as an engineer with 40 operatives working on different phases across the two platforms.”
HARDING PRIZE
Jacobs won the Harding Prize this year with her paper “Changing the safety culture” based on her work at the Waterview Connection project in New Zealand.
“My first day on the project was TBM launch day, and I was there through to the final breakthrough of the machine and the day the final cross passage was completed,” Jacobs says. “That was a remarkable experience for my professional career. It was the first time I worked from the beginning to the end of the tunnelling works on a project. The tunnel is now open to the public, to say I was part of it is a fantastic feeling.
“I wanted to show a side of the world, which doesn’t have regular exposure, and this is purely because they don’t have large-scale projects very often. I think there was a lot to learn and I wanted to show what I have done and what lessons I have brought back with me to the UK. “In preparation for the paper and presentation I was given a lot of support by my colleagues from London Bridge Associates. They helped me refine the presentation and the paper that I wrote. I had a lot of support to improve it and get the best result. They even allowed me to practice the presentation in front of them so I could practice in a realistic situation and answer questions.
“I’m very fortunate because talking in public is something that I really enjoy. I am a Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) ambassador and I talk to children about engineering so they understand the importance of the industry and encourage more people into the engineering world.” Working as a shift engineer, Jacobs explains: “You own a small part of your team and often the people you work with will bring their own knowledge and experience to the table.
“It’s about ensuring that you bring everything together, allowing people to work to their strengths and support each other. The reward of bringing a team together, is a good shift working effectively. For example, when I worked for Crossrail Western Tunnels, the team was so close, that we worked like a family, and everyone looked after each other.”
Looking at the future, Jacobs sees herself moving away from site based work.
“The wonderful concept about working for London Bridge Associates is the variety of work that you can do while working for them. I have had experience working on bids, as well as working on projects for significant periods of time. I can add value and make a difference to the way the project works.
“Looking to the future I see myself being on a large tunnelling project, working behind the scenes to ensure that the engineers and operatives on site can complete the work safely, effectively, and on time.”
