HWL companies manage huge projects with billions
of moving parts. At the centre of it all: The Control
Room. Who – or what – are the brains that ensure
that the grand dance of power, ships, and waste flow
to the places they are needed?
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MANAGEMENT
CONT-
ROL
ROOM
COOL
an’s advance to civilisation came
through his command of fire,
farming and the wheel. But to
urbanise and develop the real
hallmarks of civilisation – learning,
commerce, laws, courts and systems – he needed
infrastructure. Road networks, not trails.
Aqueducts, not rivers. Energy delivery and waste
disposal, not hot sun and latrines. Withmodern
infrastructure in all its glorious complexity, man
needed better systems, interlocking systems,
systemswith safeguards. For civilisation togrowand
for man to advance, he needed The Control Room.
The Control Roomhas its own special place in fiction
– and dramatic fact. From Tom Cruise’s Minority
Report to the bridge of theUSS Enterprise in Star Trek,
the control rooms of science fiction have been scenes
of high suspense. Very real control room dramas
have been brought to life in films likeApollo 13, where
NASA scientists tried to save astronauts suffering
equipment failure in the cold and dark of space.
HWL engineers manage hugely complex real
life systems. They are no drama queens. They
manage the infrastructure of the modern world
moving goods, water, energy, and even our
garbage, around cities, nations, and continents
without a hitch day after day.
Here we examine HWL Control Rooms around the
world. This small sampling showcases some of the
range of operations and what is commanded from
the centre. Hutchison Ports Holdings (HPH), as one
of the world’s largest port operators, no doubt has an
eye-catching number of port related control centres.
Energy is one of the pillars of modernity. Hongkong
Electric’s (HK Electric) performance standards are
the most demanding in the “world’smost vertical
city”. A small group of elite individuals ensure the
lights stay on and the lifts always rise in the city that
never sleeps.
Without water, we could not survive. Northumbrian
Water makes sure 700million litres of water a day
arrives in the right places in theUK, and leaves them
again safely. They closely monitor water flow and
quality 24/7 to ensure against flooding, water loss
and even contamination that can lead to fatal
loss of life.
Control rooms can even watch over alchemy as
lead is turned into gold. Or in the case of AVR,
from waste into valuable energy.
All these control rooms deploy state-of-the-art
technology in the hands of well trained, dedicated
staff who guard against disaster every day around
the world. Turn the page and step into...
The Control Room.
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