Balfour Beatty Living Places Control Room Operative named as Highways Magazine’s ‘Hero in Highways’

Archie Pope, Control Room Operative for Balfour Beatty Living Places, has featured in Highways Magazine for going above and beyond to save another person’s life.

The article explores how Archie, who is one of several operatives who closely and carefully monitor CCTV cameras located across Southampton through ‘Citywatch,’ took immediate action and alerted the emergency services when a member of public jumped from Itchen Bridge into the water.

Despite the severity and upsetting nature of the situation, Archie remained calm under the immense pressure; guiding the emergency services to the exact location of where the individual had jumped, resulting in the individual rescued and taken to hospital for treatment.

Talking specifically about the heroic and courageous act, Brian Hammersley, Contract Director for Balfour Beatty Living Places, said: "It is through services such as Citywatch, that our dedicated team can not only react to disruption on the highways but can intervene to save people’s lives and truly make a difference for the communities in which we operate.

“For his bravery and noble actions, I couldn’t think of a better person for this commendation to be given to - Archie truly is our Highway’s hero.”

‘Citywatch’ is a 24/7 public safety and traffic monitoring control hub in Southampton, manned by an experienced team of Balfour Beatty Living Places operatives, who deal with both minor and major incidents and are trained to know when to alert the emergency services to keep local people safe.

To read the article in full, please click here. 

ENDS

Media enquiries to:Bryony Murch
Balfour Beatty
+44 (0) 203 810 2345
[email protected] 
www.balfourbeatty.com | follow us @balfourbeatty

All non-media related enquiries should be directed to +44 (0)20 7216 6800 or [email protected]

Notes to editors:

• Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group with 24,500 employees driving the delivery of powerful new solutions, shaping thinking, creating skylines and inspiring a new generation of talent to be the change-makers of tomorrow.  
• We finance, develop, build, maintain and operate the increasingly complex and critical infrastructure that supports national economies and deliver projects at the heart of local communities. 
• Over the last 113 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including: the £1.5 billion A14 improvement scheme - Britain's biggest road project; Hong Kong's HK$5.5 billion world-class harbour theatre project for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority; and the 12.5-mile $429 million North Metro Commuter Rail line in Colorado, US.

Information about how we handle personal information is available in our Privacy Notice.