Faces of the CRL – Thibaut L’hopital
Delivering the country’s largest infrastructure project takes some seriously talented people, so in this section “Faces of the CRL” we talk to some of City Rail Link’s best and brightest. This month we turn the spotlight Link Alliance’s Mt Eden Station Project manager Thibaut L’hopital. Thibaut hails from France, bringing with him a long and colourful career in construction - and his young family.
Name: Thibaut L’hopital
Age: Flirting with 40 dangerously
Suburb: Waiatarua
How long have you been working with Link Alliance on the City Rail Link? I started with the Link Alliance during the tender stage in September 2018.
What is your role? My role is to manage the construction of Mt Eden Station precinct which includes the buildings, the rebuilt North Auckland Line platform, the new grade separation structure on the West and the cut and cover tunnels that link with the mined and TBM tunnel going to Britomart.
How do you do it? That is a tricky question: I try to make sure I understand the various scopes and interfaces to understand the bigger picture and be able to make the right decisions for the project.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Probably the diversity and complexity of the scope in Mt Eden, that part of the project has a very broad range of activities and methodology (utilities, streetscape, building, rail, civil structure both bottom up and top down, witnessing the logistics required for the TBM and mined tunnel). Being involved in this part of the project is like a case study so there is a lot to learn. I also enjoy working in a project which is structured as an Alliance.
What is the most challenging part? Probably the downside of being in a project that big is that you have to spend a lot of energy convincing people of what you think is the right way forward, very few strategic decisions can be made by yourself which is sometime the case when you manage small projects. Another challenging part is having to deal with the constraint generated by the fact the TBM and tunnel are starting from Mt Eden including what that means for space, programme, etc - as well as the difficulties of working in the live rail corridor.
What have been some of your previous jobs? My experience was mainly in building rather than infrastructure. I have worked mostly in London both for main contractor and for a client. These projects were always design-and-construct projects but they varied between new build of hospital and schools, heavy refurbishment of high rise buildings in central London, refurbishment/façade retention of a $200m townhouse in Monaco as well as refurbishment of heritage mansions in London with construction of mega basement under the properties.
Do you have any hobbies outside work? Currently with three young children (Kowhai 7, Benoit 3 and Kahurangi 1), my wife and I are spending a lot of our time entertaining our kids for their own hobbies but when I have time my main hobby is road cycling.
What are you looking forward to most about when the CRL is complete? Seeing how it will transform the city and using it myself, being especially proud having been part of it.