work on oil and gas pipelines in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, as a site environmental manager, coordinating environmental operational activities and a staff of 50. Her next job was also for AMEC, a gas pipeline, where her title was project environment and socio-economic manager, here with a staff of about100 people. Until 2009, Lasne was project environ- mental manager on a Spiecapag, a 700 km (435 mi) multiproduct pipeline. Lasne was based near Johannesburg, South Africa. In many of these projects, she oversaw compliance with national, ISO and World Bank standards. At various points in her career, she contributed to ISO operational strategy, making recommendations. Implementing Sustainability Another colleague, Didier Verrouil, executive vice president, Eurofrance, North America, United Kingdom, Soletanche Bachy, says Lasne likes interacting with her colleagues and sharing ideas, points of view and information with them. She is also “very comfortable” speaking in public, conveying her knowledge to others. She works to make things happen, believes in what she does and is “very persevering,” according to Verrouil. Jérôme Stubler, president-CEO, Soletanche Freyssinet, adds that Lasne “can transform a complex subject to clear guidance for our business. She delivers pragmatic ways to improve our projects and resolve the details.” Lasne also works hard and provides leadership through her enthusiasm. Summing her up, Stubler says, “she is totally devoted to sustainability.” Spreading the Word on Sustainability Some of Lasne’s early goals, those involving sports, were much more easily attained, or so it seems. She was a competitive squash and tennis player as a youth, and later found ways to play tennis in Sana’a in Yemen and to pursue long-distance running in South Africa. It’s possible that her sports activities contributed to her ease and skill at interacting with people from other cultures. Through DFI and other construction organizations, Lasne has spread the word about sustainability. She is the chair of DFI’s Sustainability Committee and a trustee on the DFI Board of Trustees. Speaking about her own work, she says she likes working as a problem solver, helping corporations deal with complex situations and getting systems up to speed. She explores various ways to incorporate sustainability into construction projects at different stages of the work. She also enjoys relating what she has learned from these experiences to younger generations and tries to lecture at universities when she can. She also says in her field, “one needs to expend a lot of energy even to accomplish little.” Lasne accepts that and, fortunately, has a lot of energy and the perseverance to continue her sustainability crusade. Virginia Fairweather 50 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2014
