Lego scale model created to visualise the counterfort walls built for the Port Botany Expansion project.

In 2008 computer modelling gave designers the cutting edge ability to visualise concepts in three-dimensions. However, the designers of the massive counterfort walls for the Port Botany Expansion perceived the need for a physical model, that could be "touched" and "felt" by the design team members and various stakeholders, including the Client. The model was constructed using Lego by the lead geotechnical designer and his young son. Our hope is that future generations will value the timelessness of a simple physical model in engineering projects, even when so many other advanced digital visualisation technologies are available. We also hope that they will appreciate how the concepts of engineering can be transferred from one generation to another through time spent together on a Lego project, a "toy" that has brought joy to children and adults alike for many generations, and may still be a delight to young and old in 2126.