David Wiggins
Conservation engineer and director, Clach Conservation Engineering Ltd
Expertise
Design, StructuralLocation
North WestMy highlights
Saving Brougham Castle Bridge from collapse after Storm Desmond
Repairing the spreading arcades of St Peter’s at the Cross, Chester
Assessing the stability of the leaning walls of Lancaster Priory
I would recommend a career in civil or infrastructure engineering because…
If you enjoy figuring out how stuff works and would like the professional freedom to pursue what interests you, then a career in civil engineering is for you.
There are so many niche areas of it, you can’t get bored.
Start in general practice for a broad grounding, do your university part-time while working on the job, if possible.
Then work out what makes you tick and follow that.
Professional qualification with the ICE is a borderless ticket to work all over the world, and in really niche sides of the wider engineering profession.
What inspired you to become a civil engineer?
I always wanted to be an engineer.
Mainly because I thought that meant fixing the insides of steam engine trains.
I got into structural engineering working in general practice, surveying traditional and non-traditional buildings in Glasgow and the central belt of Scotland.
The more old tenements I surveyed, and problems fixed, the more I got hooked on old buildings.
Learning about the Conservation Accreditation Register of Engineers (CARE) was a lightbulb moment – the golden ticket to working on cool old buildings.
We asked David…
A day in my life
5am. Coffee, strong.
Quick hill run with the dog. Porridge.
Quick scan through emails.
In the van out for a day’s survey in stunning countryside, or on the rope swinging about in the wind on a wonky spire.
Report writing in the evening, finished with 5 mins in the cold tub to switch the brain off and prepare for sleep.
Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also...
A father of three, a hill runner, and a historic masonry conservation geek.
Name one civil or infrastructure engineering myth you’d like to bust.
That masonry buildings ‘breathe’ by allowing vapour to pass through them. This is complete nonsense.
They sweat, by convective drying. This is a liquid-phase transport process.
This sounds like a technicality, but it’s super important to be specific about words, as meaning is easily lost.
How does your role contribute to addressing climate change?
My profession is about fixing existing buildings, with the least intervention necessary to implement effective and long-lasting repairs.
This means I spend my time assessing the buildings that are already there, proving that they don't need loads of concrete and metalwork thrown at them.
This saves the embodied carbon and energy already spent and preserves the physical history that they represent at the same time.
It also designs out all the further carbon and energy cost of new interventions.
What role does digital technology play in your job?
Thorough measured geometry of existing structures is a vital part of their structural assessment, so I rely on digital tech to capture the shape of deformed buildings.
But by and large, a mechanical pencil and a waterproof notepad – and a rubber – is what I rely on most as the tools of my trade.
What motivated you to become professionally qualified?
The ICE is the oldest engineering institution in the world, with some real engineering greats among its numbers.
Professional qualification with the ICE is a borderless ticket to work all over the world, and in really niche sides of the wider engineering profession.
For me, it was about chasing down the CARE accreditation with the specialist register, to allow me to work on the higher grades of listed and scheduled buildings.
What does being professionally qualified with the ICE mean for your career?
It's a benchmark of experience and quality that I couldn’t run by business without.
How did the ICE and your employer support you to become professionally qualified?
The regional membership development officers have been really helpful at each stage in my professional journey.
How has being a member helped your career?
When I was working for larger companies, membership with the ICE was a benchmark of quality and experience that translated directly into the pay packet at the end of the month.
It was an expected part of career progression through the ranks of seniority, opening up more responsibility and freedom to use my brain and work autonomously.
Membership of the specialist register opened up a path to a specific line of work that would have otherwise been out of reach.
How has achieving Fellowship impacted your career?
Fellowship with the ICE (FICE) has strengthened my hand in expert witness work, where the FICE stamp really counts as the most senior membership grade.
It’s also been a huge relief to an engineer that has suffered chronic impostor syndrome all his life – a bit of paper that reminds me ‘yes, I am good enough to do this’.
What’s the biggest/most complex thing you’ve made out of Lego? How long did it take you?
I once built a railway viaduct up the stairs of the flat I was brought up in to extend my train track. It took me a day to build and a good few weeks to enjoy.
Where do you get your engineering inspiration?
The Victorians.
Looking at what they achieved with the great viaducts still humbles me. ‘You need to get this boat across this valley? How impressive do you want it?’
The can-do mindset needs to be rediscovered in our profession today.
Any words of advice?
Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and The New Science of Strong Materials – Or Why You Don’t Fall Through The Floor by J.E. Gordon.
David's career path
I started as an engineering trainee in general practice, civil and structural engineering.
I did day release at university to achieve my bachelor’s degree. I got involved with the ICE early (I'm now a Fellow).
I stayed on at university part-time to do my doctorate in technical masonry conservation.
I got CARE accredited with the ICE Specialist Register. Never looked back since.
