Senior Hydraulic Modeller Rory Clements

I’m a Senior Hydraulic Modeller at APEM and I sit on the geomorphology, hydrology, and river restoration team. I came to APEM at the start of 2021 having previously worked for several commercial consultancies within the private development and strategic infrastructure sectors.

Why do you love what you do and why was it the career choice for you?

I came to APEM looking to diversify my experience, I’m particularly interested in hydromorphology and river restoration. APEM were looking for an experienced Hydraulic Modeller to come and help build the capability within the team, so the opportunity to come to APEM seemed tailor-made for me!

What does your typical day look like?

A day can be quite varied for me, I’m often in the office looking at data and writing reports. I spend a lot of time looking at spreadsheets plotting up hydraulic model results, comparing them with observed data and interpreting the results for bedload transport. 

The work I do is typically used to inform bank erosion risk assessments as well as studies which are used to inform aquatic habitat parameters and I absolutely love the work. I do sometimes get out on site to undertake walkovers too!

What’s been the strangest thing that you’ve come across on the job?

The strangest thing I’ve come across whilst on a job was working on a flood risk assessment for a housing project in the Peak District. The site itself was greenfield land, it was however situated on top of a historic lead mining site called Blobber Sough. A sough is a network or single drainage channel used to drain a mine. 

Due to the network of underground tunnels which had been abandoned in the 1700s, the local hydrology of the greenfield was completely altered. During significant storm events rainfall would land on the field and infiltrate into the underground mine network before springing out elsewhere on the field. In the end the client abandoned the proposals to develop the site, but it was certainly interesting to work on.