Charlotte Turner

6.00 AM

The alarm goes off and my very excited dog, Luna, jumps on the bed to tell me how much she’s missed me in the 8 hours she hasn’t had human interaction. I get dressed, make my coffee and of course feed Luna.

6:30 am

With my coffee in one hand and bag in the other, I head out to the car and start the 30-minute drive to work. On my drive to work, I like to plan out the day ahead so I feel prepared. I think about what I have on my calendar and any upcoming deadlines.

7:00 am

I arrive at work and log into my computer. It’s nice and quiet at this time of the morning in the office. I open my emails, read any new ones and also scan over yesterday’s to check I haven’t missed anything off my task list. I have an email with some test reports to look over before our site visit later on today so I add that to my list.

I also open up Teams as some of my team are based in Christchurch and others in Auckland so this is the main way we communicate. I have a message from my manager asking if I am free tomorrow for a catch-up on my progress and also to provide some feedback on a recent pavement design I completed. He works out of the Auckland office so I send him a meeting invite.

7.30 AM

With this year’s construction season nearing the end, it’s important the regions start looking ahead to the 2023/2024 season. One of the maintenance contracts has sent through a list of the sites planned for rehabilitation and has requested my team’s help with deciding where to place test pits. Test pits allow us to see what materials and layer thicknesses are currently present under the road. We also take samples of the material encountered to send off to the Laboratory for testing.

I start working my way through the list of sites. I look at the traffic volumes on the road, the deflection data and video footage to determine the location and number of test pits required.

9.00 AM

I receive an email from my manager requesting I help him with finalising a stabilisation mix design for a site soon to be constructed. He sends me through testing of the material to be used with a range of different cement and/or lime contents. I make a recommendation by balancing how the material performs both in terms of strength and quality of fine particles. For this site and type of material, I decided that a mix design of 2.0% lime and 1.0% cement is most suitable. I send an email back to my manager with my recommendation and reasoning.

10.00 AM

By 10 am my morning coffee has warn off and it’s time to grab another. I head into the kitchen, make coffee, and grab a banana from the fruit bowl. I bump into one of my other teammates so we have a quick chat.

10.15 AM

By the end of this week, I need to have a completed draft of a pavement design report which I have been on and off working on for the last few weeks. I have finished the investigation of the data collected from various sources and now need to identify some potential rehabilitation options to put forward to the delivery team and client. I propose 3 treatment options for consideration with varying risk profiles.

12.00 PM

Midday – time for lunch! I head into the kitchen and heat my leftovers from last night. I sit down in the lunchroom and have a catch up with some other workmates over lunch.

12.30 PM

After lunch, I have a bit of time to look over the test reports sent to me this morning for the site inspection. I have a look over the nuclear density testing, Benkelman beam deflection results and laboratory tests to see whether they are compliant with the specifications.  All looks good!

1.00 PM

I get changed into my PPE and jump in the car with the Technical Director to head out to the site. I love getting out on site as much as possible and it’s also really good for me to keep up with learning about the practical side of construction in addition to the technical side.

1.30 PM

We arrive on-site, sign in and catch up with the Project Manager and Construction Foreman on how the job’s going. This job involved trialling a new type of base course so it’s been a learning experience for us all. With the weather forecast predicting rain within the next twenty-four hours, we prioritise getting the inspection done so the chip seal can go down as soon as possible. We walk the length of the site looking at both lanes. The base course has a really consistent and good mosaic with no areas of loose stone. It’s ready to sweep and seal!

4.00 PM

I arrive back at the office and do some administration tasks to wrap up the day. I input my site investigation learnings into my OneNote notebook and also into Engineering NZ for my Continuing Professional Development hours. I update my timesheet for the day of how I split up my time against the different contracts and pack up.

5.00 PM

It’s time to head up to the horses! I try to make it up to the horses most evenings but I graze my horse, Jakob, at a friend’s place with her horses so we can share responsibilities when needed.

5.30 PM

I decide to have a quick ride in the arena - we have been working on perfecting our canter transitions. After a ride, I muck out the paddocks and feed the horses before heading home.

7.30 PM

Home time at last. Time for dinner, relaxation and sleep or as my dog thinks – playtime!!!

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