Oral history interview with Jim Forrest, Construction Manager, 2023
Main details
| Reference number | 2023/478 |
|---|---|
| Interviewee | Jim Forrest |
| Dates | 20/03/2023 |
| Collection | |
| Object type |
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| Topics | |
| Completeness | 60% |
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Physical description
Item content Attribute Value Object title Oral history interview with Jim Forrest, 2023 -
Interview summary
Track 1 of 1 [01:08:25] James (Jim) Forrest was born 25th October 1938 in Liverpool. Relocated to the Goole area during the war. Mother from Northern Ireland, father from Liverpool. Family of 6 boys and 2 girls. Attended grammar school in Goole until age 16. Had ambition to join the army. Signed up age 17 for Royal Engineers. Met wife, left army and started working in construction in 1959. Talks about wanting hands-on physical work. Brothers worked in construction too [00:05:00]. Talks through his long career before Crossrail. Started with power stations in Yorkshire. Steel reinforcement work. Nuclear power station in Morecambe. Worked on terminal two at Gatwick Airport. Then a project on initial Channel Tunnel. Worked on Humber Bridge foundation. Explains work on oil rig on Loch Cishorn in Scotland [00:10:00]. Talks about family, wanting to be at home more. Talks about Balfour Beatty doing by-pass project. Joined the company and worked on bridge in Wales. Worked on motorway resurfacing across the country. Then on trams in Sheffield. Describes tram project. Talks about tunnel collapse at Heathrow Airport and follow up construction work. Describes petrochemical jobs [00:15:00]. Describes west coast mainline railway works including steel works needed for increased electric capacity. First retired from Balfour Beatty in 2003. Explains project to turn a single track diesel line into a double track electric at Crewe. Talks about American management company working on mainline and offering Jim a job. Describes projects including at Litchfield and Milton Keynes. Talks about invitation to interview for Crossrail. Construction Manager at Whitechapel in November 2009. Explains being shown simulator for Crossrail work that made him want to join team. Offered viaduct work at Reading but stayed at Whitechapel. Mentions Bill Tucker [00:20:00]. Explains where the project was up to when Jim joined. Describes engagement with local school to sort out water and drainage for site. Talks about supervising installation of electrics to ensure enough power. Explains difference of role of Construction Manager from Jim's past to today. Wanting to be hands-on. Describes status of project when Jim joined. Permission to start granted in 2010 [00:25:00]. Describes meeting contractors, understand details of construction. Tells story about Blind Beggar pub adjoining wall, fish in pond dying due to Crossrail works. Talks about good working relationship with landlord. Describes team when Jim first joined project. Talks about storm relief sewer works, reinforcing lining to enable escalator works. Explains need for inspector chambers for when it rained [00:30:00]. Describes overall role. Diverting gas mains, electric cables. Diverting traffic around nearby Sainsbury's car park. Talks about building a temporary ticket hall at Whitechapel station. Rules and regulations affecting standards required. Comments on lack of understanding of requirements by project. Describes complexity of construction with neighbouring buildings. Explains traffic management challenge and conflict with colleagues [00:35:00]. Talks about knowing when problems are upcoming and approach to resolving challenges. Mentions harmony with other station site managers but not much interaction due to everyone being so busy. Talks about walkway works at Whitechapel, difficult due to Victorian arches and Overground. Explains scheduling of works. Gives example of colleague asking for extension to work and impact [00:40:00]. Explains problem solving by operating machines in shifts and teams. Talks about peak construction period. Describes works including fit out. Explains tunnelling process. Difference with station tunnels, need to be wider. Jobs with tunnellers merging at one period, needing access to station shafts [00:45:00]. Explains extra shafts being built for servicing access in school grounds. Talks about demand for materials, specialist suppliers. Concrete features for all stations provided by one contractor. Door screens also by one contractor. Talks about interaction with station architect, Sam Wylie. Stringent, quality. Describes typical weeks. Steel work installation versus dismantling temporary structures later in project. Talks further about wanting to be on the ground, hands-on [00:50:00]. Responding to what was required. Describes team structure. Senior Project Managers, Senior Construction Manager, Construction Manager for each discipline including signalling, electrics, installation of doors. Electrical Engineers. Quality control, safety. Interaction with civil engineers. Describes colleagues respecting Jim's experience. Talks about challenges of role. Differences of opinion, getting people to change their approach [00:55:00]. Talks about point of knowing project was delayed. Baffled by lack of understanding from senior managers on what work was left to do. Complexity of design process. Need to take a linear approach with tunnelling [01:00:00]. Describes final stages of works. Wrapping of stainless steel. Mentions testing and approvals. Talks about importance of needing signalling to be fully tested. Time needed, can't be compressed. Talks about opening with the Queen. Brilliant to see passengers using the station. Talks about attending test run with son. Estimates working with thousands of people. Describes diversity of staff. Harmony in teams. Fewer Irish contractors [01:05:00]. Praises work ethic of Eastern European staff. Talks about knowing what was needed from role. Describes staff respecting Jim's age. Mentions not yet being used to being retired. Ends with talking about every day being rewarding. Knowing when it was time to retire, at age 83. End of recording [01:08:25]. Please note: this is a summary of the full original recording rather than the edited web version -
People involved
Role Person(s) involved Interviewer Jen Kavanagh, 20/03/2023Interviewee Jim Forrest -
Biography
Attribute Value Biography Jim Forrest worked as the construction manager for Whitechapel station. Having retired twice, he was drawn back to work when interesting opportunities came his way, Crossrail being one. Jim worked on the Crossrail project until 2021 when he retired for the third and final time at the age of 83. -
Associated companies, people and places
Places Place Whitechapel, 2023Interview location Interviewee's home, 20/03/2023
Interview extracts
I wanted to be out there first thing in the morning, amongst the men influencing, showing them […] all that years of experience and knowledge, you learn how not to do things a lot quicker than you learn how to do them.
Extract 1: Site manager role
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Transcript: Site manager role
I came on as a construction manager. Now my understanding of a construction manager was slightly different to what the modern era of a construction manager was. They’re more engineering based now, and albeit I can build things, I know how to build the things and the order to build things, the best way to build things, but I haven’t got a degree in engineering. And I think it’s not because I was lazy, it’s just that it would draw me away from the work front, and my forte and my like is the work front. There was another lad they brought in to do the construction side, which is all the meetings and meeting with the engineers and architects and things like that. I was delighted with that because I wanted to be out there first thing in the morning, amongst the men influencing, showing them, that’s where my forte was, was hands on, you know, all that years of experience and knowledge, you learn how not to do things a lot quicker than you learn how to do them. I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t think it was of benefit, because you can see people floundering and you’d say, well, you know, you get some of them where a lot of them were new engineers on their first job and you’d think, well it’s not an easy job to start on, so either put your arm round and help them, because I had sons their age, you know what I mean? And it wasn’t going to be in the interests of the job if any of us were making it light for the contractor, because it’d come back on us at the end of the day, we weren’t delivering what we were supposed to deliver. So it changed really, but I mainly was out on the field to respond to whatever I wanted doing. It may be a multitude of different things, you’d be dealing with something here and you walked ten yards over there and you’d have to deal with something totally different, then you’d go ten yards over there – and you’re on your way to watch a big lift going on that can’t go on until you’re watching it, you know, because they’ll say you’ve got to make sure you’re there when that’s going up, you know, so you had to try and work your way around the prime things but make sure that in between you were contributing something of value everywhere really. I found every day as rewarding as the next one. Because if I’d have got in a position where I didn’t like going to work, I’d have gone. And when I left work I told them on that day, the reason I was leaving was because my job, I couldn’t fulfil my role as I had because there wasn’t anything left for me to do. And I said because I like to do things as soon as they’re able to be done, I wasn’t of mind to work on a reduced programme, but that would have frustrated me and then I’d have ended up falling out with people that I’d worked with well for years, and that wouldn’t have been their fault it would have been mine. So before that arose I thought time to go Jim, it’s not your job any more.
Extract 2: Storm relief sewer works
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Transcript: Storm relief sewer works
Well to start with I was looking after the subways predominantly. So effectively, had a couple of lads working for me, because we had another job that we were doing, a big sewer, we had to go down and – a storm relief sewer, North Western Storm Relief Sewer, and that was about seven or eight metres deep, but the escalators went underneath it like that and they were frightened they would break its back. So we had to reinforce this for 250 linear metres. To get to it we had to dig a shaft down from the ground level, down onto the top of it and break into the top of it and then go in and work in there to put a line in inside this thing, 250 metres length, 125 metres either side of where the escalators went under it. We had to put an inspector chamber about half a mile from where we were, another one a mile, and have men there guarding it, because if it rained two mile away the flood water would come down that sewer, so we’d know about it when it came, and it used to come fast. So the first time it rained, they said you had eighteen minutes to get out, which was plenty, we had about four, and it was about two and a half metre barrel this and it was two thirds full in about four or five minutes. So that suspended that for about three or four month until they come up with another safety plan, which the safety plan really was put some more men another half a mile away. But we got that done, that was one of the interesting things while the rest of it was happening, was that storm relief sewer. But there was all things like that, diverting cables, diverting sewers, securing the sports centre because we’d took their car park off them so we had to secure all their cable end so they couldn’t come through their fire doors into our construction site, divert gas mains and things like that.