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Meet Steve Beddow

Job: 

Contracting project manager for the smart motorway.

Job description: 

Making sure all the physical work (building the improvements) happen on time and on budget.

Work background: 

Managing lots of infrastructure engineering projects; including working on roading, building, airports, power stations, and marina projects. I’ve worked in Tonga, Fiji, Wales, England, and of course New Zealand.

Favourite part of job: 

Achieving milestones and making money.

Least favourite part of job: 

Paperwork.

What I am working on now: 

Paperwork…

A quick story about a job well done: 

Recent planning into gantry lifts and a stitch pour where a lot of advance planning paid off with successful outcomes.

A (humorous) story about a job that went badly and what you learned: 

Worked on a large viaduct abutment in Wales. Carried out pre-pour inspection in the evening and then pour took place starting at 0400 the following morning when it was pitch black. Formwork was stripped off three days later and it was found that a badger had managed to climb into the formwork during the night and ended up being cast into the concrete. What I learned – badgers can climb scaffold ramps and jackhammering a badger out of concrete isn’t for the squeamish.

Qualifications: 

NZ Certificate in Engineering (Civil).

Interests outside work: 

Fishing, hunting, DIY, spending time with family.


Steve Beddow is the contracting project manager for the smart motorway. Image: NZTA.