After an exceptionally busy year on one of the biggest Infrastructure projects in Europe, we caught up with Mark, who has been deeply involved in the survey sections of the Monitoring package.
What is your role at GEO-Instruments?
I am a Survey Project Manager. I’m currently working on the S1/S2 section of the High Speed 2 (HS2) project as part of GSJV (GEO-Instruments/Socotec Joint Venture). It’s probably the largest I&M package in the country right now!
My job involves overseeing survey teams, their daily activities and coordinating between different areas and project managers.
How long have you worked at GEO?
I started at GEO-Instruments in 2021, so about 4 and a half years.
Tell us a bit about your time here.
I joined GEO-Instruments as a Senior Surveyor, working mainly on the London Power Tunnels 2 project, which required extensive daily surveys and monitoring of multiple rail crossings and 3rd party assets across the route of the new tunnels.
Since then, I have contributed to other major projects, including the Wood Wharf development at Canary Wharf, involving regular surveys of London Underground tunnels.
More recently I was promoted to Survey Project Manager and began work on the HS2 project. So far, the project has been very technically challenging but also very rewarding.
I think the varied experience I’ve gained has really helped to improve my skill set and better understand the demands of monitoring large-scale infrastructure projects.
What was it like moving between teams to support the Joint Venture on HS2?
After two and a half years in the core business I transitioned to the HS2 team. It has been relatively stressful at times, but it’s been great working with a dedicated team to manage the survey requirements of the job and help the JV achieve several key milestones.
There is still a lot of overlap in the type of work between this and previous projects.
Similarly to LPT2, I have contributed to the monitoring of the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) drives here on HS2. It has been rewarding to apply my previous experience to a new challenge!
Tell us a bit about your previous experience in the industry.
After University I started by working for an Architecture firm for about 5 years. Afterwards I shifted to building surveys and eventually had the opportunity to get into Engineering Surveying and contribute to the I&M for the Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) project.
What about the future? What are you looking forward to or working towards?
I’m looking forward to following the changes we’re seeing in the sector - driven by HS2 and other major projects - and keeping my experience relevant and my skills sharp.
As well as that though, I’m really looking forward to the Christmas break after such a busy year. It’ll be a chance to rest, spend time with my family, and come back fresh in the new year as the project continues!
