Jim Booth, Service Manager (TMC)

As Service Manager (TMC), I’ve been working with the Trust in various roles since 2013, managing a variety of tasks. This has included the preparation and evaluation of tenders which led to the decision to appoint FM Conway as Term Maintenance Contractor (TMC).

I now manage this contract to ensure the service is delivered to budget and to programme and, importantly, to ensure the bridges are maintained in a safe and operable condition. This leads to a number of engineering challenges on a relatively small area of land, one of them being the Trust’s primary objective of keeping the bridges open at all times.

While I’m not directly involved in the Bridge Refurbishment Project, I am working parallel to it. The areas of the bridges not being worked on will continue to be maintained in the usual manner, and it is my job to ensure this happens. This is just one example of the considerate working required during such a large-scale refurbishment.

My previous experience includes managing projects for a range of public and private sector clients in London and the south east. This has encompassed a number of interesting challenges, such as: reversing the traffic flow in the Strand Underpass for the 2012 London Olympics; replacing the bearings of Waterloo Bridge; refurbishment of Marble Arch’s fountains; and implementation of over-height vehicle detection systems to protect low bridges.

In my spare time I like taking things apart – a V8 engine being my latest project. Thanks to a lecture given by the Trust some years ago I’m also nearing the end of a personal challenge to visit every medieval cathedral in England – only a few left to go now!