HAMBLY'S LEGACY

Those who doubt if contractors give a fig for environmental concerns should have been at the Institution of Civil Engineers' annual dinner last week.

There, in the presence of one who clearly shares those doubts, Environment Minister John Gummer, the industry's environmental achievements were proudly paraded through the words of the late Edmund Hambly and in the speech of Josephine Aston.

Both attested to a deep and passionate desire to help construction play the fullest part in delivering a better environment for future generations. They were inspiring words that reminded everyone present how noble a calling civil engineering can be in its service to society.

That society at large still fails to appreciate this is a well-established truism, illustrated yet again by public reaction this week to the downgrading of the M25 motorway widening programme. This reaction seems, broadly, to be relief that the promised 14 lane sections are scrapped and disappointment that the 10-12 lane sections are going ahead.

So aware have contractors become of roads' unpopularity that instead of dismay at Dr Mawhinney's downgrading, there is merely relief that so much work is still left on the table.

As Contract Journal has argued before, roadbuilding per se will not ease gridlock. Greater provision of public transport is essential but the price mechanism alone can cure congestion. Yet while we await such measures, roadbuilding must not be allowed to suffer its anti-environmental tag.

Properly planned, and with accompanying traffic-reduction measures, new and enhanced roads are still the key factor in the battle for CO2 reductions and a greener world.

That Dr Mawhinney went as far as he did this week in adding new lanes signals his acceptance of this fact. That he went no further signals the need for Edmund Hambly's message to be amplified far beyond the Grosvenor House Great Hall.