Building a Legacy: Tom Heath’s 35-Year Journey in Civil Engineering

Tom is a Senior Construction Manager at RAM with over thirty (30) years of experience. He has extensive experience in all aspects of delivering large-scale public utility services, specifically potable water and wastewater with a large regional utility provider serving more than 2.3 million people in 22 municipalities. He has a diverse background in new infrastructure design and construction, repair and rehabilitation projects, systems planning and policy development, and operations and maintenance of facilities. He is experienced in developing and implementing regional servicing schemes, strategic planning, workforce management, and the application of automation technology.

Tom’s interest in engineering was sparked during his childhood in South Surrey, where he spent long days building forts and rafts with his friends. He followed this early passion all the way to UBC, but his specialization in public utility infrastructure came about through serendipity; while wandering the halls of the civil engineering building one afternoon, Tom overheard a professor asking if anyone was interested in a job with the Greater Vancouver Water District. His decision to answer yes proved pivotal: What began as a hobby evolved into a successful career building vital infrastructure that serves millions of people.

A Career Built on Purpose

After accepting the role at Metro Vancouver (formerly GVRD), Tom discovered that he found the work engaging and rewarding. He progressed steadily, from EIT to Department Manager, enjoying both the challenges and the sense of doing something worthwhile for the community. Working for a public utility didn’t feel like doing a job to collect a pay cheque; it felt like leaving a legacy by making the region a better place.

Now, more than three decades later, RAM is fortunate to benefit from Tom’s expertise, particularly in his role as Senior Construction Manager on the Fleetwood Reservoir, a challenging initiative to build a 13.6-million-litre underground water storage reservoir along with a valve control chamber, access structures, and connections to the Greater Vancouver Water District and City of Surrey’s systems. This project aims to secure a vital resource for the region by delivering long-lasting essential infrastructure, and Tom’s experience and aptitudes are a key component to its success.

Navigating Industry Challenges

Over the course of his career, Tom has gained significant expertise in strategic planning, infrastructure management, emergency response, dam safety, and submerged river crossings. His extensive project history includes:

• Developing a region-wide Water Shortage Response Plan after a major drought
• Constructing a 1,000 m long, 900 mm diameter steel pipe force main and a 1,000 m long, 1,200 mm diameter high-pressure main crossing the Fraser River in Mission, BC
• Building 30 major water transmission mains and large sewage interceptor projects
• Managing a complex soil and rock tunnel enlargement project at the Coquitlam Intake

As the Manager of the Operations and Maintenance Department at Metro Vancouver, Tom supervised 550 staff and oversaw an annual budget of $150 million. He also managed the Comprehensive Regional Water Supply Study, which created a master plan for capital facilities designed to meet forecasted water requirements through the year 2041. In addition, he directed crucial seismic safety studies for the Cleveland and Seymour Falls dams.

Tom’s long career has given him keen insight into the challenges of delivering large-scale utility projects. He points out that while cost is always a crucial factor, especially in today’s uncertain economic environment, true value requires a holistic, big-picture approach. This means balancing new projects with the replacement of aging infrastructure and prioritizing durability over simple construction cost to ensure the greatest public benefit per dollar invested.

The need to minimize risk and disruption to the public and other infrastructure is no less critical. Materials and methodologies must be carefully selected, not just for longevity and cost effectiveness, but for safety, something Tom has learned firsthand on particularly challenging projects such as submerged river crossings. With such installations typically taking place over a continuous 24- to 36-hour period, there’s no room for error. Everything must be pre-planned to a very high standard so that nothing goes wrong. After all, nobody wants to pull a pipe a kilometre across a river only to find out they’ve run out of power. For Tom, these high-stakes projects were as rewarding as they were challenging.

Shaping the Future of Utility Infrastructure

Over the past 30 years, Tom has witnessed key industry factors evolve, including attitudes toward water conservation. At the start of his career, water was cheap and plentiful, so it wasn’t given much thought, a viewpoint he notes has certainly shifted in the present. Project planning now incorporates a much stronger focus on sustainability, including evaluating how infrastructure will hold up in the face of seismic activity and climate change. These new priorities have led to greater demand for innovative technologies, such as trenchless solutions, that minimize both environmental impact and public disruption.

Another major shift Tom has observed is the greater degree of public involvement in projects. In the past, engineers made decisions and more or less showed up in neighbourhoods to build what they wanted. Today, Tom notes, it’s no longer enough for an engineer to say, “it’s good for you.” The public is now invited and encouraged to provide feedback in the early planning and design stages, and that feedback is taken into consideration and addressed. This change not only leads to increased community buy-in but also results in projects that truly benefit everyone.

Mentorship and Effective Leadership

Tom’s mission statement can be summed up as “We can accomplish anything if we don’t dwell on who takes the credit.” This approach, widely embraced by his teams, focuses on collective achievement over individual recognition and empowers professionals across disciplines to succeed together.

His philosophy on building collaborative, high-performing teams is twofold: first, select the right people to lead, and second, empower them to take responsibility. Giving leaders enough authority and room to take risks is crucial to ensure both successful outcomes and staff wellbeing. For Tom, it all boils down to fostering a shared sense of purpose.

Equally important in building effective teams is passing down institutional knowledge. At the start of his career, Tom recalls being handed three binders of design standards intended to serve as the definitive reference on everything. In today’s increasingly complex regulatory environment, it’s more crucial than ever to build and maintain a rock-solid knowledge base. This is particularly essential for large public utilities, where easy access to trusted knowledge is critical but young engineers can’t necessarily pop into the next office and ask someone who’s been there for 20 years. Tom’s approach to meeting this challenge is to ensure high-quality written policies and procedures are in place, and to make full use of organizational technology, especially computerized systems with built-in asset management tools. Tom’s experience, especially at Metro Vancouver, has shown him that knowledge technologies have come a long way and investing in them pays off.

Advice for Emerging Engineers

When asked what advice he’d give someone beginning their career in utility infrastructure, Tom says he would tell them to remain curious and learn as much as they can. Even if it’s outside their chosen specialty, it’s valuable. To this end, he recommends gaining varied experience on different types of projects, demonstrating a willingness to take on new challenges, and never being afraid to ask more experienced colleagues for advice.