Shining the spotlight on Miriam Wasik-Evans, Lead Engineer

So, you work in the developer services department. What do your team do?

The simplest way to explain it, is if you’re building anything in north Wales (whether it’s a major new road, a new block of flats, or a housing estate), my team will be there to help. With a team of two engineers and three site controllers covering the whole of north Wales and parts of north England, we will design any new water mains that you need, help you divert any existing water mains or sewers on your land, and if you are struggling to drain your site to a public sewer because of a third party we can undertake the works for you under requisition.

Sometimes, a development’s location means that network reinforcement is needed, as our existing network doesn’t have enough capacity to service more properties. My team also help to deliver that.

What does an average day in your role involve?

One of the big reasons I like my job is the fact that I haven’t got an average day. I haven’t even got an average week! I could be on site with a customer talking about a diversion one day, and I could be in a Microsoft Teams meeting discussing a scheme’s cost the next day, and sometimes I get to be involved with major infrastructure work that is happening across my patch, such as new dual carriageway, a power station or flood relief schemes.

A lot of what I do is review schemes that the engineers in my team are working on and ensure that offers are sent out on time, are accurate and with the correct budget associated with them. I manage our contractors, making sure they keep to programme and to cost and liaise directly back to the customer. I also look at potential new schemes and work out who needs to be involved, how big a design it needs to be and whether any feasibility or modelling needs to take place. Another large part of my role is to make sure we’re working together well with other teams and departments in Welsh Water, whether it’s estates, commercial or operations.

What’s your favourite scheme you’ve worked on?

Looking back over last few years, I’d have to say Caernarfon Bypass. One of my team’s engineers Graham Walker worked alongside our site controller Richard Evans to divert several of our assets, potable and sewerage, so that the bypass could become a reality. They had to work closely with our own operations team, external designers and our contractor and it was great to see the sheer power of what working together can achieve. It was one of the most interesting schemes I’ve been involved in because of the diversity of the solutions required to manage the project and client’s expectations and the impact on our network and customers. The new bypass is going to bring so much improvement to the local community so it’s nice that we played our part in that.

How have you survived lockdown?

During lockdown when you were allowed to go out and exercise, I did a lot of mountain biking near where I live – it was great for blowing off steam. Then in the summer, my husband and I cycled the length of Wales – from Ruthin to Bangor and then down to Cardiff along Route Las Cymru cycle route. It was really nice to see Wales at such a slow pace. It’s worth noting though, that while many of my colleagues moved to working from home, the nature of my job means I’ve always been on site and meeting up with customers and our contractors outside throughout lockdown, as the construction industry didn’t really ever stop we just had to adapt how we delivered our work safely.