From Graduate to Award-Winning Surveying Engineer supporting complex monitoring on HS2 That’s the story of Harriet Langfield, Senior Project.
Engineer at GEO-Instruments (part of Keller Group), whom I met on-site at HS2’s Victoria Road Crossover Box, a project as complex as it is critical.
The visit followed her winning the Rising Star in Innovation award at the SCCS London Survey Awards. Harriet: “I started on the project three years ago as a fresh-faced graduate, with no experience in instrumentation and monitoring.
I was thrown in at the deep end and I’ve never looked back.”
Harriet’s work has focused on safety-critical ground and structural movement monitoring, installing and managing complex sensor networks for the Northolt Tunnel East Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) drives.
Harriet: “We’re monitoring to millimetre-level accuracy. If we were to breach these trigger levels, construction would have to stop immediately. It’s about protecting the public, assets, and the integrity of the infrastructure.” With over 70 automated total stations deployed and multiple platforms feeding real-time data.
Harriet works with equipment like Leica Geosystems GMOS and Worldsensing’s wireless loggers. “All the data is mapped, graphed, and used to detect heave, settlement, twist, angle changes, you name it.
It all feeds into a full 3D data model used for decision making across the project.” Her story is a testament to how major infrastructure projects can empower the next generation and shows just how digital solutions are making a big impact in infrastructure projects.
Harriet: “The responsibility has grown massively. This was just a flat site when I joined. Now we’ve got cranes, tunnel boring machines, and a structure that’s one of a kind in the UK.”
And for anyone wondering what it takes to follow in her footsteps? Harriet concluded: “Always ask why. Stay curious. Believe in yourself. If you pull every tool out of your toolbox and deliver, no one can stop you.”
With seven years left on this segment of HS2 and so much still to be delivered, Harriet’s journey is a clear reminder of how projects like this don’t just build infrastructure, they build careers, capability, and legacy.