Engineering in changing times

In 1966, engineers had a mainly technical role. Fast forward to 2016, and advancing technology had revolutionised the profession, allowing more comprehensive and sophisticated investigations, testing, and analyses. In addition, changes in legislation and the expectations of society have meant that civil engineers are now expected to become involved in public consultation and consider the environmental impacts of projects.

Engineering in Changing Times describes a wide range of projects Graham Ramsay was involved in with the Ministry of Works and Development between 1973 and 1988, and with Beca Consultants from 1988 to 2016. Using these projects, the author has shown how engineering has changed over those years and discusses ongoing challenges facing the profession.

He comments on the changing political and bureaucratic processes for selecting and procuring infrastructure projects that he observed during his career, expresses his views on the reasons for the mixed success of those processes, and reports his experiences with and views on the RMA consenting process. He notes the challenges New Zealand seems to be facing in finding and agreeing on solutions for some serious infrastructure deficiencies and suggests that professional engineers should be engaged more in those decisions.