The Royal Engineers Ask Bow’s for Help
Sgt John Sparkham and Sgt Rob Evans both ex-Nottingham residents recently contacted Thomas Bow City Asphalt seeking the hands-on experience of a professional Highways maintenance contractor as part of their Highways Engineering Degree with the 1st Royal School of Military Engineering, Chatham, Kent.
Sparkham with 12 years of service and Evans with 15 years of service are both currently completing the course on behalf of the military in order to increase the skills, knowledge and expertise of the armed forces when it comes to the construction of infrastructure.
Evans who has already completed one tour of Afghanistan from March to September 2009 is due to return to Afghanistan later this year with colleague Sparkham, as part of the military’s ongoing objectives to refurbish or replace existing roads and where necessary construct new highways in the country, in order to improve the movement of private, commercial and military personnel, goods and equipment.
The two Sergeants conducted significant research in a bid to identify companies that had relevant experience in the construction and refurbishment of Roads. Sparkham said “we spent ages searching through the internet trying to find companies who carried out both Civil Engineering and Surfacing, but most of the companies we spoke to only specialised in one field; a lot of the companies we spoke to only did Surfacing or in many cases just Driveways, but Thomas Bow City Asphalt did everything”. Evans said, “when we contacted Thomas Bow City Asphalt everyone was really helpful from the word go.”
Both were attached to Thomas Bow City Asphalt for one week’s intensive training in January 2011, which involved them operating various plants and equipment used in the construction and surfacing of the nation’s highways. They visited a number of different sites currently under construction by Thomas Bow City Asphalt including works for Derbyshire County Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
Sparkham and Evans are hoping to return to Thomas Bow City Asphalt during the summer in order to complete a final 5-week attachment within the Private sector as part of their ‘work experience.’
Everyone at Thomas Bow City Asphalt would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent efforts of Sparkham and Evans along with that of all those involved within the British Armed Forces. Thank you and good luck to you all.