Ákos Jávorcsik: The focus is on quality

Ákos Jávorcsik began working on the Paks II project first in the autumn of 2017 and then again in the summer of 2021. In between, he received an exciting offer that was simply too good to turn down: he was invited to Dubai to work on the construction of a monumental infrastructure tunnel. He was welcomed back and returned to Paks to put his extensive experience gained on the international stage to good use.

He graduated as a civil engineer from the Miklós Ybl Faculty of Architecture at Szent István University (now Óbuda University), specialising in geotechnical engineering. He cannot recall the specific reason why he chose this particular place, but his grandfather, a miner, and the National Geographic canal played a part in it; there, he would always gaze in awe at the extraordinary structures, the huge tunnels and dams, and even then he knew that he wanted to be involved in projects of this scale.

– Absolutely – he replies immediately when asked whether it was the right decision. The fact that he still feels this way today is largely down to his career having turned out just as he’d hoped, and to his former teacher, who taught soil mechanics and civil engineering in such a way that he fell in love with the subject straight away. – There’s always a twist here; even with the most thorough exploration in civil engineering, surprises can still crop up. That’s what makes it exciting,” he says. Even as a student, he had the opportunity to start working in the profession, and after receiving his degree, an old school friend invited him to join the M6 tunnel construction project, Strabag, which was an excellent start to his career. He worked as a site engineer, which proved to be a good learning experience.

– I was part of a young team working on an excellent project, and I’m still in touch with several of them today. Just as in Paks and on other projects, I felt there that we were working together towards an important goal,” he says. He adds: “Moving from project to project is a bit of a nomadic existence, especially at an international level, but it really brings the team together.

Once the project was completed, Ákos joined a small domestic company that was constructing a tunnel in Balatonakarattya using the NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) method. This is a mining-based tunnel construction technique that utilises the natural load-bearing capacity of the surrounding rock, under continuous monitoring and with shotcrete reinforcement. The project was successfully completed, and he was commissioned to introduce the company’s ISO certification. “I really enjoyed it, because I like it when everything is always in order, everything is traceable and searchable, as this helps to clarify any issues,” he emphasises. Beyond the fact that his passion for large-scale projects has never waned, he also wanted to broaden his experience abroad.

It was this ambition that took him to Germany, where he joined an engineering consultancy firm involved in the construction of an underground railway system, as well as in the preparatory work and subsequent evaluation of road and rail tunnels across Germany. It was here that he received a phone call from Qatar, where investment projects were beginning in preparation for the World Cup, and he was invited to join the Austrian firm PORR. He became involved in the construction of the Green Line, an 11-station metro line.

– “I arrived in the barren desert, in 50-degree heat and with incredibly high humidity; the whole thing was utterly chaotic,” he recalls, making no secret of the fact that he thought he’d be heading home that very day. He stayed for four years, overseeing ground investigations, the installation and operation of monitoring systems, and coordinating the tunnel construction works – including the earthworks for stations, shafts and overpasses – whilst literally accompanying the project from the very first ground-breaking right through to the laying of the tracks in the tunnels.

– My work required close collaboration with colleagues in both the design and construction departments – he recalls, adding: – I believe it is important to have a good working relationship between these departments, as this is essential for the successful completion of a project.

Countless cultures came together on the project, and Ákos Jávorcsik particularly enjoyed the multicultural environment, which also provided him with a wealth of personal experience. Not to mention the professional lessons learnt, as he had never worked on a project of this scale before. “Six TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) shields, a 2×17 km tunnel, dozens of cross-passages, stations and shafts,” he lists the parameters. He wanted to gain experience, but not to live abroad, so in the autumn of 2017 he joined the team of experts working on the new nuclear power plant project.

Less than a year had passed when he was called from here to Dubai, where he was expected to carry out a project that was monumental in a different sense: a tunnel built by PORR for infrastructure purposes, specifically one where the shields had a diameter of 11 metres. By way of comparison, a metro tunnel is around 6 metres in diameter.

– I told my managers, ‘Please don’t be angry, but I have to go.’ They replied that they were looking forward to my return – he recalls the events. As a geotechnical engineer, he supervised the excavations, the development of the new monitoring system, and the TBM, tunnel construction and shaft sinking works; then, after the project was completed, he returned to Paks to realise his professional dream and put his experience to good use in such a large-scale domestic project.

Until last October, he worked as a senior geotechnical engineer, at which point he was asked to lead the site preparation programme. – I was delighted to accept.

I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by, either for the sake of the project or for my own sake. I can put the experience I’ve gained on the contractor’s side to good use, and I can provide valuable support to the main contractor and, by extension, to our project. The most important things are careful preparation, rigorous supervision of the construction work, and feeding back the experience gained on site. Plan it, work to the plan, analyse it, and put the experience to good use! That’s my tried-and-tested method

– he says. For him, being able to work on the construction of a nuclear power station means that the focus is even more on quality.

Ákos Jávorcsik considers continuous learning and development important not only within the project but also for himself, which is why he is constantly on the lookout for online courses – mainly in English. Among other things, he has completed courses on building information modelling (BIM) (BIM (Building Information Modeling)), AI (artificial intelligence) and management. “I always try to acquire knowledge that I can put to use in my work. So far, I’ve been successful,” says the person responsible for the Paks II. Zrt. site preparation programme element.

It also notes that, although attention has recently shifted to the concrete works taking place in the Unit 5 construction pit, significant progress has also been made in site preparation: soil stabilisation is now underway in areas outside the nuclear islands, and in mid-March, excavation work began in the Unit 6 construction pit to a depth of 23 metres.

– “Based on the experience gained during Block 5, we have optimised our processes, thereby improving efficiency, the quality of our work and, last but not least, health and safety,” he emphasises.