Kate Castle, Bridge Programme Engineer

As the Bridge Programme Manager I work alongside the Bridge Clerk to ensure all elements of the Rochester Bridge Refurbishment Project can be carried out according to plan.

Having previously worked for Bridge Engineer Arcadis – I am on secondment to the Rochester Bridge Trust – I have been involved in this project for some time. This means I have a good understanding of the project and strong working relationships with all parties.

My area of expertise is in managing large multi-disciplinary projects. However my background is in traffic engineering and road safety, so I’m always particularly interested in those elements of the work. This experience will be important for one of the biggest challenges of the project: keeping the traffic moving. Minimising the disruption to the public is a priority because the bridges are such a key part of the local infrastructure network.

I think the key to doing a job well is being versatile and making the most of a project and its lessons. In my career I’ve worked on some projects that I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to do, but I’ve turned my hand to them and given my best, finding the fun in it where I can and making some very good friends along the way. As a result, I now have a varied enough experience that I was able to choose to work on this unique project.

One of the things I’m particularly looking forward to about this project is completion of the refurbishment of the ornate items. This is an area of work we don’t see too often and given that some of the ornate items cannot be removed from the Old Bridge and will have to be refurbished in-situ I’m sure this element will be fascinating.

Outside of work you can find me looking after my baby daughter; writing for NaNoWriMo; partaking in Advent Running or Parkrun (running buggy and baby optional); or sewing and crocheting.