30/01/2017
My year 2016
It’s time again to put together what I’ve done in 2016. Necessary? Not really, however life is going on and things of the past are used for things in future …. sometimes.
Well, in the beginning of the year I had to focus again on the navigability of the Vecht river in the Province of Overijssel in Holland. The Province invited me to contribute my experience to a panel of experts on hydraulics, morphology and physical geography, within the framework of the Room for the Vecht Project. In the past I did work on this for a group of business people in the tourist sector to provide an independent and objective view on the potentials for navigability of this river.
In the context of a land reclamation project in Lagos, Nigeria -Festac Town Phase 2 -, I contributed to the team of CDR International on drainage aspects. It was nice to discuss the technical issues with young and bright colleagues in my profession and to have the simple piece-of-paper calculations competing with numerical modelling.
The year brought me in a rather heavy physical effort as well after having planned to renew my garage. An enthousiastic group of Chevy lovers from a nearby village were so kind to take my old wooden shed to use this for their repair and maintenance work, so I could start to construct a new brick wall and insulated garage with necessary support of friends. I’m still busy with the pavement so it was quite an effort.
Another private thing is the announcement by my youngest daughter and son-in-law of our second grandson, on a lovely beach in Brittany. His birth is expected next month, so we have exciting times.
OK, back to work, I had a nice visit to Dhaka, working for a Chinese contractor through CDR International. The project involved was the first environmental screening of a coastal expressway between Chittagong and Teknaf on the border with Myanmar. From 1985 to 1987 we lived in Chittagong and drove that way in my Landrover along the beach, more than 30 years ago !!!!
Further, later in the year, I visited with a colleague of CDR International Jakarta and Singapore, to meet old friends and colleagues and to strengthen our network.
Finally, I’m still consulting one of my family members who is the owner of a historic farmhouse being a cultural heritage. The building was likely to be affected by a major railway development project by Prorail, the agency responsible for railways in the Netherlands. I support my family from my background experience on environmental impact assessment.
These are my highlights of past year, wishing all of you readers a prosperous 2017!!
