1. Level 2 Construction

2.  To move through this power point presentation you will need to press the pictures and icons used throughout this presentation..  These buttons will guide you to a page that will describe a project and help you to understand the social and economic benefits the construction industry brings both nationally and locally  When you have finished, end the presentation by clicking the icon, ‘end show’

3.  The Construction Industry is capable of producing many different types of buildings and structures to suit the clients needs.  In this presentation we are going to look at three separate examples,  1. Building a House.  2. Constructing the Conway Road Tunnel  3. Designing the Scottish Parliament Building  The next screen has a picture associated with each project, simply click on each picture to discover the different types of job roles associated with each project.

5.  The Average cost of a house in Conwy is £161,842 (This is an average figure for all types of houses).  Terraced housing is around £125,000 with detached housing at £205,000.  Do you think the type of housing we build influences how people behave and respond to each other.  As the population increases, more houses are required.  How we manage our land is very important, and this leads us to use ‘Brownfield’ sites, as opposed to ‘Greenfield’.

6.  The Conway tunnel took 5 years to build from 1986 to 1991, and cost £102,000,000.  This was the first immersed tube tunnel to be built in the United Kingdom.  This Civil Engineering project was described at the time as ‘The solution to the worst bottleneck in Wales’.  Anyone travelling through North Wales prior to 1986, would have been faced with long delays once they arrived at the Historical Town of Conway.  For many years Civil Engineers and Architects had tried to design a suitable solution to allow traffic to flow through this part of North Wales.  As well as easing the traffic problems in the town, the Conway tunnel also had huge social and economic benefits for the rest of North Wales. Return to Main Screen

7.  This building can be found in Scotland's Capital city of Edinburgh.  This government building was designed by the renowned Architect Enric Miralles and opened on the 9 th October 2004.  One of the interesting features of this building is the unusual design.  This building has also become famous due to the construction costs.  It was estimated at the start of the project to cost a total of £50 million pounds.  This figure then increased dramatically, as the unusual design, and extra demands from the client, added to the costs.  The final figure for the cost of construction was estimated to be around £400 million pounds.  10 times as much as originally planned.  The extra costs were associated with extra rooms and buildings added on after the initial design was completed.

8.  The construction of the Conway Tunnel has made travelling in North Wales a lot easier.  The A55 expressway can now link Holyhead in Anglesey to the M56 motorway and Chester.  Travel times have been cut dramatically.  This in turn will attract more people to holiday in North Wales, and also allows easier access to the ferries in Holyhead.  Conway and its surrounding area, are now free of heavy traffic, will this make a difference to local property?  People are more likely to move into the area to live, knowing the traffic problems have eased.  Property prices will increase if people what to live in the Conway area.  As communities develop, what other facilities will be improved?

9.  As communities develop, it is important for local areas to have a good level of employment.  A good level of employment will bring money into an area.  One of the major employers in North Wales is Tourism.  More people travelling into North Wales for holidays will provide more employment for local people.  The Conway Tunnel is one significant Civil Engineering project, that has helped to improve this situation.  As more people travel into North Wales, it will help to improve the cash flow for this part of Wales.  An improved road system will also encourage businesses, both local and national, to base themselves in North Wales.

10.  What Roles and Responsibilities would you associate with this Civil Engineering Project?  Client  Architect.  Project Manager  Structural Engineer  Civil Engineer  Surveyors  Plant Operator  Ground workers  Can you think of any More Roles and their Responsibilities?

11.  Why do we live in a house?  People need to feel secure and warm, and they also like to have some privacy.  Why is it important for houses to be built to a required standard?  Houses need to be constructed to a good quality, this means that they will not fall down, particularly in bad weather.  It is also important that houses are affordable, how can we define affordable?  People need to be able to either buy or rent the property, it is also important for people to be able to afford the cost of running a property.

14.  The Scottish Parliament was established following a vote on Devolution held on 11 th September 1997.  This purpose built facility was designed to allow Scotland to legislate on most of their domestic matters.  Prior to the construction of this building, SMP’s and their administration were housed in various buildings rented from the City Council.  This Government building, funded by the Scottish taxpayer, now houses 129 SMP’s and 1000 staff.  This has now created some additional work for local people.