NEW ZEALAND’S CIVIL CONTRACTING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
JUNE 2016 $8.95
RUNWAY HEROES Working through the night with Wirtgen machines to complete runway improvements
INSIDE: bauma – why you should not miss the next show in 2019 A lesson in council road contract collaboration When you need a 250t excavator for civil construction Looking back – WW1 veterans save Paekakariki Hill Road
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CONTENTS CONTRACTOR
INSIDE:
18
Regulars
Highlights / Features
4 Editorial
18 bauma 2016
6 Upfront 14 Contractors’ Diary 16 On the Cover 58 Motoring 60 Classic Machines 64 Innovations 66 Civil Contractors NZ update 66 Advertisers’ Index
Comment 31 Caroline Boot
Clever Buying / Plan A
55 Malcolm Abernethy CCNZ 56 Lisa Douglas Heaney and Partners 57 Rob Gaimster CCANZ / NZRMCA
Training
This year’s bauma show in Munich closed its gates with outstanding results.
24 Lessons in Aussie flood mitigation
Toowoomba Regional Council’s A$45 million Circulating Road Victoria Street extension project: a keynote presentation at this year’s IPWEANZ 2016 conference.
28 A lesson in road contract collaboration
A look at the unique roading agreement between four district councils in the South Island.
32 It’s all changing at interchange
An ‘army’ of earthmovers is remoulding the landscape in preparation for what will be a much improved highway interchange in the Hutt Valley.
36 When you need a long reach
One of the largest excavators used in this country for civil construction has arrived from a mining site in Panama for underwater work in Auckland.
44 History – Saving Paekakariki Hill Road
See page 16
Paekakariki Hill Road from closure.
48 The aftermath of a serious accident
10 suggestions for employers on what you should do regarding a serious harm incident.
50 Towards a zero harm target
43 N ew Procurement Procedures Diploma
52 Silica dust in control
54 Demystifying the new CPD requirements
Downer worked through the night at Queenstown Airport to complete runway improvements with minimal disruption. To do so it used a variety of specialist machines from Wirtgen to deliver the highest quality finish without delay.
An almost forgotten group of WW1 tunnellists saved the
42 Civil Trades: Meet the graduates
43 Zero qualification fees for Civil Trades RCC candidates
ON THE COVER
Fulton Hogan’s safety story.
The civil construction industry’s response to the silica dust hazard.
44 JUNE 2016 3
CONTRACTOR EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER Contrafed Publishing Co Ltd Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland PO Box 112357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: +64 9 636 5715 Fax: +64 9 636 5716 www.contrafed.co.nz
A three-way dialogue We will be celebrating the company’s 40th birthday in the October issue by republishing some articles from the inaugural Contractor magazine published by the then newly established Contrafed in October 1976. I can tell you – it carries some very impressive industry journalism and it came as a surprise to us in this office that not much has changed in terms of both industry issues or journalistic integrity, such as keep editorial and advertorial at a distance. What has changed over 40 year is our publishing medium. We started with a lot of printed black and white photos and advertisements, gradually blossomed out into glossy colour and, some years ago now, this was expanded to a three way publishing dialogue with our readers – print magazine, online digital and social media communications. You hear a lot of doomsday nonsense (especially when it comes to foreign owned media trimming costs here) about print magazines being replaced by online information. As you guys would say, this is simply bullshit. They are separate media mediums that complement each other and we, among other publishers, use all three to make sure we stay on top, as our company mission statement says, as ‘the voice of the industry’. With print magazines we can run superb illustrations and long articles that are very easy and convenient to read. Then, at a later date, we file these features within the online (website) versions of our magazines. This makes it very convenient for our readers to refer back to information and share it with colleagues and friends who have a mutual interest in the subject. We even use this online source ourselves as a perfect reference library. Our online social media, such as newsletters and Twitter, serve to alert readers as to what you can expect in the next issue of Contractor (and our other publications) and point to popular articles (now published online) that you might have missed. In short – print and digital make up a happy family of publishing mediums rather than a competitive one. In any case, regardless of the medium, there is a golden rule in publishing that says ‘quality content is absolute king’. Whatever the medium, rubbish is rubbish. You only have to look down that dark hole called the internet to realise that a good deal of it is undisciplined, non-sourced, and often demented, prattlings (I wont start with the click bait … 10 things you didn’t know about Game of Thrones!). We take pride here at Contrafed in putting our professionalism and resources into creating quality content that is purposely designed for all our publishing mediums, just as we did when we put the first magazine to bed in 1976. That was the same year a little US computer company called Apple was set up. I am writing this guest editorial on an Apple computer and I am still guided by the sincerity, content quality and constructive dialogue with our readers set up by Contrafed 40 years ago. Please carry on reading. Alan Titchall, guest Editor
GENERAL MANAGER & EDITOR Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 Email: kevin@contrafed.co.nz EDITORIAL MANAGER Alan Titchall DDI: 09 636 5712 Mobile: 027 405 0338 Email: alan@contrafed.co.nz REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Malcolm Abernethy, Mary Searle Bell, Richard Campbell, Hugh de Lacy, Cameron Officer, Richard Silcock, Chris Webb. ADVERTISING / SALES Charles Fairbairn DDI: 09 636 5724 Mobile: 021 411 890 Email: charles@contrafed.co.nz ADMIN / SUBSCRIPTIONS DDI: 09 636 5715 Email: admin@contrafed.co.nz PRODUCTION Design: TMA Design, 09 636 5713 Printing: PMP MAXUM
Contributions welcome Please contact the editor before sending them in. Articles in Contractor are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the shareholding organisations.
www.linkedin.com/NZcontractor @NZContractormag nz contractor magazine nz contractor magazine The official magazine of Civil Contractors NZ www.civilcontractors.co.nz The Aggregate & Quarry Association www.aqa.org.nz The New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association www.hha.org.nz The Crane Association of New Zealand www.cranes.org.nz Rural Contractors New Zealand www.ruralcontractors.org.nz The Ready Mixed Concrete Association www.nzrmca.org.nz Connexis www.connexis.org.nz
ISSN 0110-1382 4 www.contractormag.co.nz
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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT
Veterans and supporters A CCNZ stakeholder’s function, following a CCNZ General Council meeting, was held at Rydges hotel in Wellington and drew a long list of industry veterans and industry suppliers.
Two ex Contractor Federation chiefs – Peter Tritt (left) and John Pfahlert, now the chief executive of Water New Zealand.
Ron Mark, deputy leader NZ First (left); Rod Auton, chief executive, Crane Association of NZ (middle); and CCNZ chief executive Peter Silcock.
Construction industry meets to address major issues This September the whole construction industry will come together for the first time to discuss the major industry issues at an inaugural forum, Constructive led by the Registered Master Builders Association (RMBA). The forum will build a collaborative platform for the industry to develop strategies for the future development of our building and construction sector, say the organisers. RMBA chief executive David Kelly says the event is a first of its kind, and will play a critical role in sector development and our economy. “As industry leaders, we have a huge responsibility in ensuring our sector is strong, and moving in a positive direction. The industry is in a really critical period right now, and we really need to work together to tackle the challenges and issues that we’re facing,” he says. “The ramifications following the Canterbury earthquakes and the
global financial crisis have led to changes in the building industry as a whole. We need to address the changes, not only with our members but across the entire industry. We are in a period of growth and more changes are on the horizon. We need to ensure our built environments are fit for purpose and resilient.” Constructive takes place on September 21-23 and is made up of informative and interactive panel discussions, followed by a series of site visits and tours, and the usual gala dinner. For registrations visit www.constructive.org.nz. To set up an interview, or for further information please contact: Frances Coles Acumen Republic for Registered Master Builders Association D: 04 494 5126 M: 022 071 9115 E: fcoles@acumenrepublic.com
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A legend leaves us
Turning the sod on stage two of Alexandra Park’s urban village: CEO of Ganellen Peter Maneas, CEO of Alexandra Park Dominique Dowding, Auckland deputy mayor Penny Hulse, Auckland Trotting Club president Bruce Carter and Ganellen project leader Michael Doig.
First for Aussie contractor Australasian construction company Ganellen has been appointed as the contractor for the second stage of Alexandra Park’s urban village development. The company has been involved in the reconstruction of Christchurch, but this will be its first major new build project in Auckland. Earthworks will see 36,000 cubic metres of soil and basalt rock excavated before construction starts. The development will have two integrated buildings, one comprising nine levels above ground, the other five, with 128 apartments and 2500 square metres of ground-floor retail space. A shared two-level basement will include 248 car parks. Auckland deputy mayor Penny Hulse turned the first sod in late April to officially mark the second stage of construction.
On April 7 Merv Leach passed away aged 87. Merv had been involved in the quarrying business since the early 1950s spending many of his early days delivering road metal while his brother Bruce did most of the loading at the quarry. He was actively involved with with Tirohia, Waitawheta, Matatoki and Kauaeranga quarries until he “retired” in the mid 1980s. Diversification saw the HG Leach & Sons business become a player in the landfill business in several locations in NZ and in Fiji. Merv attended many Contractors Federation and IoQ conferences and was particularly proud when HG Leach & Co was awarded the Mimico Environmental Award (2002) for the Tirohia landfill.
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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT
$278m upgrade for popular Coromandel route Work will begin this year on the design, consents and property purchase for a $278 million project to upgrade State Highway 2 between Pokeno and the SH25 intersection. The project will be carried out in five stages over several years, with the 32 kilometre long stretch of road widened to
three lanes, with two lanes for traffic heading west towards Auckland. The work will also be future-proofed, enabling the road to become four lanes if needed. Construction is expected to get underway in 2017/18.
Why you need good liability insurance More changes to the country’s universal accident compensation scheme could prove very expensive for employers caught under new health and safety legislation. Our accident compensation scheme came into effect on April 1, 1974 under the administration of the new Accident Compensation Commission (ACC). Both the empowering legislation and the Commission (now Corporation) have constantly changed over the past four decades. The most recent change, through an amendment to the Sentencing Act 2002 made in December 2014, allows the Court, in instances where a criminal act has caused personal injury, to award reparations to victims for losses suffered as a result. The change is defended as a ‘top up’, awarding the difference between the victim’s ACC compensation (80 percent) and their actual lost earnings. It is also argued that this change remains ‘consistent’ with the basic principles of the ‘no-fault’ scheme as it simply covers the shortfall between ACC cover (80 percent) and ‘actual loss’. That is – if you interpret the Act as only providing ‘fair’ rather than ‘full’ compensation. In addition to the 20 percent ACC ‘shortfall’ in compensation, victims can also claim reparation for medical bills and loss of benefits. 8 www.contractormag.co.nz
You would have noticed the increasing size of fines and reparations the courts are handing down to companies found guilty of workplace accidents that result in serious injury. These ‘penalties’ are widely advertised and touted like spiked heads on city gates to warn other employers of their obligation to keep workers safe. Reparations to victims in criminal trials involving individuals don’t appear to get the same publicity. The new safety in the workplace laws came into force in April and, with this amendment to the Sentencing Act, you can expect to see even larger dollar-value fines and victim reparations handed down to companies where breaches of the act have caused serious harm in the workplace. Reparation orders of this nature are generally covered by your statutory liability insurance cover. However, the response of statutory liability insurance policies will depend on the wording of the policy. While they are generally covered, it will vary from insurer to insurer. It is also expected that an increase in the number and scale of court reparations will place a new focus, for both insured and insurer, on the ‘adequacy’, and costs of statutory liability insurance. • See related story on page 46.
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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT
Contract awarded for Nuggets Road Contracting company SouthRoads has been awarded the construction contract for the Nuggets Road sealing project. The project will be completed in two stages. Stage one, due to start this coming winter, will involve sealing the car park at the end of the road, closest to the lighthouse, installing guard rails, and tree cutting and rock stabilisation work. The second stage will begin next summer and will involve widening some of the road and applying a chip seal from where the road meets Karoro Creek Road all the way to the lighthouse. The NZ Transport Agency approved a budget of $2.7 million for the project and is contributing $1.6 million, close to 60 percent of the total cost. The remaining cost is being met by the Clutha District Council.
Stormwater improvements for Kapiti An upgrade of Kapiti District’s stormwater network has begun, sparked by widespread damage from last year’s May/June storms. Group manager infrastructure services, Sean Mallon, says the first part of the programme has been to clear streams and open drains across the district. The aim is to clear at least 50 percent of the drainage network before the end of June this year, he says. A detailed investigation of capital works (upgrading and renewing parts of the network) is also going ahead and a field survey to determine how and where each property in the district discharges stormwater is also underway. Once completed, findings from the survey will help determine further areas that need work.
AV Jennings wins Airfields contract Panuku Development Auckland has confirmed AV Jennings as the housing developer for the first stage of the Airfields precinct at Hobsonville Point. The precinct consists of a 20 hectare Auckland Councilowned site, which was formerly part of the Hobsonville Airforce Base. The site was designated for housing and mixed use late last year following previous attempts for it to become a marine industry precinct. Up to 890 homes in total are planned for the Airfields precinct, with around $78 million worth of housing to be built as part of the first stage by AV Jennings and its builder partners across 1.95 hectares on the southern edge of the site.
New sales manager at Titan Kirsten Davidson is Titan Equipment’s new National Crane sales manager overseeing the sale of new and used cranes and providing overall market support. She has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience, most recently as regional sales & marketing manager at Manitowoc Cranes and has also spent 10 years in the Middle East and two years handling sales into East Africa focusing on mobile cranes. Prior to that, Kirsten was with Mitsubishi Corporation in sales, commercial and tender business development. 10 www.contractormag.co.nz
Aussie racing – no engine required An unusual race in Western Australia recently pitted the Komatsu Australia’s 2016 apprentice group against Supercar Team Championship leaders Triple Eight Race Engineering at Barbagallo Raceway for the first ever Komatsu Apprentice Kart Race. The Komatsu Apprentice Kart Race has a simple set of rules. Two motor-less karts and two drivers sit on the grid. Four ‘pushers’ build each kart’s momentum to a cut-off line, where they must release. The karts then race 400 metres downhill to the finish. Karts are tuned, and then sent out again to improve on their last run. Team Komatsu Apprentices clinched the win, blitzing the West Australian tarmac to beat Triple Eight with a lead of just 15 centimetres in the final round.
OAG Scirt report The Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (Scirt) is making solid progress on repairing earthquake-damaged pipes and roads in Christchurch, according to a follow-up audit by the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG). By April 2016, 86 percent of Scirt’s repairs were complete, it claimed. That represents 533 kilometres of wastewater pipes; 56 kilometres of stormwater pipes; 91 kilometres of freshwater pipes; and 1.38 million square metres of roading. The OAG’s report, Effectiveness and efficiency of arrangements to repair pipes and roads in Christchurch – followup audit, picks up on seven recommendations the OAG made in 2013. These included a lack of clarity about governance roles and responsibilities, and public entities not having a common understanding of levels of service to be delivered by the pipes and roads. Auditor-General Lyn Provost says overall, the public entities have made good progress in addressing her earlier recommendations. Both the Crown and the Christchurch City Council have reportedly raised concerns about “slippage” in the overall programme to the board of Scirt. Scirt was still working towards completing the programme by the end of the year, but the council says, “individual projects may be shuffled”. Director of the Government’s Greater Christchurch Group, Kelvan Smith, says the council and the Crown continued to “closely monitor” Scirt’s schedule with the intention for Scirt to complete the programme by December 31. “As with any programme of this scale there are challenges and while Scirt is 88 percent of the way through the entire programme, there are 151 projects still to be completed.”
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CONTRACTOR UPFRONT
Not investing in rail is not an option
A shot of the rockfall taken with a quadcopter a few hours after the rockfall.
Martha rockfall stalls contractors OceanaGold’s Martha opencast mine has been out of operation since the beginning of April when an expected rockfall on the north wall dumped about two million tonnes of rock down the slopes of the pit. With no work available the Macmahon Contractors contract was terminated and about 50 people lost their jobs. The fall was caused by historic underground mining beneath the north wall combined with the rock structure of the wall after a smaller slip weakened the area in early April, when mining in the open pit was halted. “Although the rock fall looks dramatic, its effects are limited to the north wall of the Martha open pit,” says the company. “Mining operations at Correnso have not been affected. Work underground continues as usual.” OceanaGold also says it will take “months” to determine the best course of action. “There is still unstable material which will fall. While we are waiting for this to happen we will determine the safest way of dealing with the fallen material and stabilising the north wall. Then we can determine the safest way of re-entering the pit.”
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National should let KiwiRail compete for funding from the enormous roading budget and scrap the two-tiered funding system which grossly favours costly highway projects. The comments from the Green Party come following a report by KiwiRail showing it considered shutting down its entire freight business to meet the government’s requirements to deliver a short-term profit. “The $3 billion a year in National’s transport budget should be opened-up to be invested in rail, not just roads,” says Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. “National’s current system grossly favours investment in a few expensive motorways, and underinvests in New Zealand’s rail system,” she says. “The government should be funding whatever transport project offers the best solution for shifting freight, reducing climate pollution, and making our roads safer – be that better rail or better roads. “KiwiRail should not be forced to operate as a commercial enterprise, while National spends over $2 billion a year on a few expensive highways with no demand for them to return a profit. “The rail network removes over a million truck trips from our road each year, which means less congestion, less pollution, and safer roads. Not investing in rail is not an option,” says Genter.
NOC contract The NZ Transport Agency, in conjunction with Tasman District Council, awarded a consortium called Tasman Journeys the new Network Outcomes Contract (NOC) for highways in Tasman and all roads in the Golden Bay area. The contract is for five years with an opportunity for a further two. Tasman Journeys, led by Clive Lane, comprises staff from Fulton Hogan, Opus, Donaldson Civil, Ching Construction, Nelson Civil Contracting and Delta.
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UPFRONT CONTRACTOR
Fulton Hogan welcomes quarry workers Twenty seven employees from Waikato Quarries’ Waingaro and Tauhei operations were officially welcomed to the Fulton Hogan ‘family’ at an induction at the company’s Waikato regional office. Fulton Hogan bought the quarries and their operating assets to make sure it has sufficient aggregate resources to meet the increasing needs of its Waikato-based customers. “Fulton Hogan takes a long-term view on investment in our people, and in serving our customers,” says Fulton Hogan’s Waikato regional
manager, Kerry Watkins. “We are particularly pleased to have retained the majority of staff employed by Waikato Quarries and are already enjoying learning from their knowledge of these sites.” Waikato Quarries general manager, Peter Walsh, has been appointed to the role of Fulton Hogan North Island resource manager, and will initially focus on the integration of the two quarries.
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JUNE 2016 13
CONTRACTOR UPFRONT
Dennis up for sale One of the brightest and most familiar sights on the Auckland construction skyline, Dennis the yellow lifting gantry working above the Northwestern Motorway, is to be sold. The night-working gantry has been lifting 277 precast super T beams into place on the interchange ramps which will connect the Northwestern Motorway and the Waterview tunnels when they open in early 2017. The 98-metre long, 140-tonne gantry, designed and built in Italy specifically for the project, was named Dennis in memory of a 33-year-old worker on the project who died from cancer. It was painted yellow to recognise the partnership between the
Well-Connected Alliance, which is constructing the interchange and tunnels, and the Cancer Society. “The gantry has eliminated the need for conventional cranes which would have needed to have been moved into place at the start of a work shift at night and then taken away before the morning traffic peaks,” says the Transport Agency’s Highway manager Brett Gliddon. Details of the gantry’s auction and other items being sold by the Waterview Connection project are available at: www.trademe.co.nz/ business-farming-industry/industrial/earthmoving-machinery/other/ auction-1073774132
CONTRACTORS’ DIARY Date
Event & Venue
13-14 Jun 22-25 Jun 13-15 Jul 27-29 Jul 3-6 Aug 10-12 Aug 30 Oct-1 Nov 7-8 Nov
The Intelligent Infrastructure Summit IPWEA NZ Conference, Auckland Joint AQA/IoQ QuarryNZ Conference, Blenheim Crane Association Conference, Nelson Civil Contractors NZ Conference, Auckland Heavy Haulage Assoc Conference, Christchurch NZTA/NZIHT 17th Annual Conference, Dunedin NAMS Advanced Asset Management Forum, Wellington
Contact www.conferenz.co.nz conferenceteam.co.nz/ipweanz2016 www.aqa.org.nz www.cranes.org.nz/conference www.ccnzconference.co.nz www.hha.org.nz www.nziht.co.nz/conferences-and-seminars www.nams.org.nz
Please send any contributions for Contractors’ Diary to kevin@contrafed.co.nz, or phone 09 636 5710
14 www.contractormag.co.nz
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CONTRACTOR ON THE COVER
Runway heroes Downer worked through the night at Queenstown Airport to complete runway improvements with minimal disruption. To do so it used a variety of specialist machines from Wirtgen to deliver the highest quality finish without delay. BY MARY SEARLE BELL. THE QUEENSTOWN AIRPORT has recently been expanded to allow
for night flights. The $18 million project incorporated widening the runway from 30 metres to 45 metres and then resurfacing it with a 110mm asphalt overlay. In addition, a comprehensive lighting package has also been installed, including runway taxiway, apron and approach lights, along with trenching for electrical cabling. The runway improvement works was undertaken over summer by Downer. The team began in October last year with site drainage improvements. Then, for 100 nights, the team started work once the airport was closed at the end of each day, working through the darkness until 5am, when they left site to allow the airport to open in time for the first flights of the day. Beginning at the western end, Downer completed up to 80 metres of new runway each night, steadily moving away from neighbouring houses to progressively lower noise effects. Downer’s mobile asphalt plant and mobile laboratory were used to deliver a high quality asphalt mix, with tests conducted on site to ensure required high specifications were met. Aggregate was sourced locally from Parkburn Quarry in Cromwell. On any given night, Downer had between 15 and 35 specialists on 16 www.contractormag.co.nz
the job. A very high level of communication between the night shift team and the day time team ensured a smooth ongoing operation. Materials were delivered during the day to further minimise impact on the local area during the night. The 1891-metre-long runway was milled using a Wirtgen W100F cold milling machine. Downer national surfacing lead George Leidig says it milled depths from 10mm to 150mm over a total area of about 90,000 square metres. Reliability was key, as the profiler worked every shift in advance of the paver. “It was important that this machine was reliable as any downtime would put pressure on the paving,” says George. “Fortunately, it did its job really well.” The Wirtgen profiler is usually based in Auckland but Downer transported it down to Queenstown especially for this job. “It’s a very useful machine,” says George. “It’s very mobile – we can do crosscut and infill mills with it as it is very agile.” Once the Wirtgen had done its profiling job, it was the turn of the Vogele paver. Downer used its Vogele 1603-3 to lay a total of around 24,000 tonnes of asphalt in 30 shifts. The runway overlay itself comprised
“For Downer to have a partner like Wirtgen is good. It’s a one-stop shop for all our key plant.”
21,000 tonnes of asphalt with another 3000 tonnes laid elsewhere at the airport. George says all of Downer’s frontline pavers are Vogele, and this one performed admirably, with no downtime and all surface levels 100 percent compliant to specification. Another machine working hard on site was the Hamm HD+80i VO articulated tandem roller. The VO in the machine’s name stands for vibration oscillation – the front drum vibrates and the rear oscillates for better compaction quality. This machine also has intelligent compaction and a GPS system – this gives certainty about rolling patterns and compaction methods. On a tablet screen in the cab the changing colours on a map of the site show the operator exactly where the roller has been and how many passes have been done. “It’s a very useful tool,” says George. “It makes things very easy for the operator – a bit like painting by numbers.” This Hamm also has an oscillating roller which augments the aggregate better, resulting in a much more uniform texture. “We had varying depths of asphalt laid yet still achieved 100 percent compliance on compaction needs.” These three machines are relatively new to Downer, with the Vogele paver and Hamm roller both less than six months old. All were sourced from local distributor Wirtgen New Zealand. Part of the Wirtgen Group, the company includes a number of well known and trusted equipment brands.
George says this essential equipment was well supported – Wirtgen New Zealand offers its customers a full technical back-up service and the ability to supply parts immediately if they are required “Overall, it’s been a very successful job, but to achieve this everyone has to play their part,” says George. “For Downer to have a partner like Wirtgen is good. It’s a one-stop shop for all our key plant.” Downer is a specialist in airport construction and resurfacing, having previously completed a number of airport jobs around New Zealand. Projects include resurfacing the runway at Hamilton International Airport and Gisborne Airport in the past two years, and having just completed the Christchurch International Airport Runway widening project. George describes the Queenstown runway upgrade as an exceptionally successful project. The completion of the airfield improvements are seen as a win for the local community as evening flights will bring more choice for travellers and boost the region’s tourism sector, encouraging further growth. Air New Zealand says it will start night flights in and out of Queenstown from July, subject to regulatory approval. If that approval is granted, the airline will be able to operate services between Queenstown and Auckland between 7am and 9.30pm daily. The introduction of evening flights in and out of Queenstown will be welcomed by skiers, of course, during the winter months as the airport will be able to offer more flights. The increased hours will spread the load of peak times, easing pressure for staff.
•
JUNE 2016 17
CONTRACTOR BAUMA 2016
A SHOW NOT TO MISS EVERY THREE YEARS This year’s bauma show in Munich closed its gates with outstanding results, including record exhibitors and 580,000 visitors from a total of 200 countries. ALAN TITCHALL was one of them.
IF YOU WANT AN opportunity for a tax-concession business trip to
Traditional Bavarian breakfast of sausage, pickle and egg on constant supply at bauma – beer a breakfast option. 18 www.contractormag.co.nz
one of the finest cities in Europe don’t look further than bauma, held every three years in Munich. This is the largest such trade show in our industry and the place to catch up on new products and services in specialist fields of construction. And it’s an exciting venue with its own tube stations on the eastern edge of town, with plenty of cold Munich lager flowing through the day (even at breakfast) and literally tonnes of Bavarian sausages and potatoes. Then there’s Munich, a conservative but arty and very walkable city. With over half a million visitors descending on the southern city just for the show, the city is well geared up for visitors from all around the world. A large number of Kiwis attend bauma, many travelling through Messe Reps in Auckland, the Kiwi travel representative for the show’s state-owned organisers. Murray Francis from Road Metals in the South Island attends every show with his family and staff. “I think I have only missed one show since the 1990s,” he tells me. “We figure that if we just get one good idea from each trip, it has paid for itself. “This year we came home with a couple of great ideas. “And it is always good networking with the suppliers – such as Cat, Wirtgen and Volvo. They usually host you to a lot of events. They are always very generous and it’s great to get the chance to talk directly to them. “I also love Munich. It’s a very attractive city with a lot to see and explore. “I always tack on two side trips to a different destination when
1. With an impressive freestanding height under hook of 80.9 metres and a jib length of 80 metres, the 21LC750 tower crane from Linden Comansa (with 48 tonnes of maximum load capacity and flat-top design) could be seen from every corner of the bauma trade show. This model has been part of the exhibits from tower crane manufacturer Linden Comansa and German partner BKL Baukran Logistik GmbH, a leading crane rental, sales and service company in Central Europe. 2. The public is allowed to take a very hands-on approach to viewing even the big machines up-close. 3. A steady stream of visitors (600,000 in total) poured into bauma 2016 exhibition over the week of the show. Most of them came via the suburban train (U2) to one of two dedicated Messe stations. Pictured in the background is Messestadt West.
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CONTRACTOR BAUMA 2016
1. The scale of some of the machines, such as this 7000 tonne excavator was impressive.
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2. Munich sense of humour – lemon squeezers in the shape of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 3. Central markets in the old city area are a tourist attraction as much as a source of great food products. 4. It wouldn’t be Munich without sausage!
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attending bauma. I have been to Cuba three times. Great place. “This year, attending bauma, we stopped at Copenhagen and Dubai. “The crowd at bauma was noticeably bigger this year, but we have long worked out to break our group of nine down to pairs so we can get around better and do our own thing.” I can vouch for the crowds. Covering bauma’s 17 halls and 425,000 square metres of outdoors exhibition space consumes a lot of shoe rubber. And if you visit the show on the weekend expect standing room only on the tube ride to the venue, and a show crowd that requires nimble footwork to navigate. Be warned – the Germans are not great ones for queuing. Whatever your reason for attending bauma is your business, but the city of Munich and the show are, in reality, one tax-concession package. While we have covered the actual show a lot in this magazine, and bauma has an excellent online coverage of the 2016 show, we haven’t covered the city in the past.
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4 20 www.contractormag.co.nz
Munich by European standards is not a big city and the beautifully restored historic centre is very walkable. The city was carpet bombed out of revenge by the Allies during the last stages of WW11, but you wouldn’t know it. It has been lovingly restored and is a beautiful place. Among Germans Munich has a reputation for being conservative, the most expensive city in Germany, and a shopping mecca for rich Arabs and Russians looking for high-end designer labels. While accommodation is relatively expensive by our standards – $550 per night is about as cheap as it gets – other aspects are not. Food and beverage is on par with New Zealand if not a bit cheaper. Most Kiwis stay within cooee of the central railway station as they are within walking distance of bauma, once you have taken the rail from Munich Airport. The area is a little grungy with a lot of refugees
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2 1. The new ‘Documentation Center’ opened last year as one of many museums in the city of museums. This modern square white three-storey box sitting next to the site of the infamous Brown House (destroyed during the war and left as a vacant lot) and the Fuhrer Building (original Nazi elitist headquarters and now a music school) uses multimedia displays in both English and German to chronicle Nazism from 1920 to the 1960s with a focus on the huge local resistance to that rise, until 1933 when hell broke loose on Munich, Germany, and the world. 2. Classic architecture. 3. Surfing on a fast-flowing river bordering the old inner city and the huge English Gardens.
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CONTRACTOR BAUMA 2016
1. The famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel is a tourist attraction must in Marienplatz – the heart of Munich city. Huge bus-loads of visitors are mesmerized every day at 11am (and 12 pm and 5pm in summer) when the complicated mechanical clock system chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century. 2. The bronze boar is a symbol of Bavaria and a much loved tourist attraction.
from the Middle East having moved in, but safe. Dead centre of this area is the restored Deutsches Theater Munchen, Germany’s largest theatre for guest performances, especially musicals. During my visit Jesus Christ Superstar was being staged. This lovely Baroque-style complex is an oasis for jet-lagged Kiwis looking for a good café or bistro to relax in.
Sightseeing As already said, the centre of Munich is a delight to walk around and was beautifully restored after the Americans carpet boomed it into rubble in 1944. Use your smartphone map to get around the cobbled streets and to target attractions as no road goes in a straight line and it’s frighteningly easy (like being in the NZ bush) to walk around in circles. The old city is a large circle of antiquity with the main pedestrian mall running through its centre – Kaufingerstrabe. While shopping is not considered ‘cheap’ by German standards, it is less expensive than New Zealand, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The state-owned Hofbrauhaus (managed by the Sperger family) is the most famous of a vast collection of beer halls around the city, and arguably the most famous pub in the world, thanks to the founding of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi) there in 1920 and
bauma 2019 The next bauma exhibition takes place from April 8 to 14, 2019 in Munich. Make sure you are there. Contact Robert Laing, Messe Reps. & Travel, phone 09 521 9200; 021 682 300; email, robert@ messereps.co.nz; website www.messereps.co.nz.
Information: bauma 2016 For all the information about the products, suppliers and innovations at the 32nd edition of the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, building material, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment, and world-leading industry innovations go to: www.bauma.de
22 www.contractormag.co.nz
the infamous rise of Adolf Hitler in Munich between that date and 1933 when he seized power over Germany. The pub was a focal point for meetings and speeches. Spoiler alert: There has been a beer tavern on the site since 1603 and the existing building was supposedly built in Bavarian architecture style around 1897. However, it was flattened during the war and the current building is a very good rebuild that opened in 1958. It has become so popular again as a major tourist destination that, in 1965, the kitchen was equipped with the largest stove in the world at a cost of three million Deutsche marks. A note about Bavarian beer – it is made from the good water of the area and under a ‘brewing purity’ law decreed in 1516 (the world’s first foodstuff law), which is still enforced today. Good luck trying to get into the place on the weekend when it is chock-a with tourists and locals wearing traditional garb such as those nice ‘Alpine’ hats with a peacock feather and more badges than a national bowls champ stuck on the side (part of the traditional lederhosen garb commonly worn at festivals). Other attractions I would not miss are the spacious English Gardens just north east of the old city centre (walkable) and the museums concentrated in the stately Konigsplatz area just north of the city centre (also walkable). Being a post war baby boomer I made a beeline to this area that was remodelled by the Nazis for rallies and showmanship. Just east of this area is a new museum – the carefully named ‘Documentation Center’ that opened last year. It’s a modern square white three-storey box sitting next to the site of the infamous Brown House (destroyed during the war and left as a vacant lot) and the Fuhrer Building (original Nazi elitist headquarters and now a music school). This four storey museum using multimedia displays in both English and German chronicles Nazism from 1920 to the the 1960s with a focus on the huge local resistance to that rise, until 1933 when hell broke loose on Munich, Germany, and the world.
The bauma show As you can see from the photos – the show is bigger than BenHur, hosting some 600,000 visitors over a massive site that is dedicated to the show. I heard one major supplier paid 84 million Euros just for their site! Best to attend the start of the show at the beginning of the week and avoid the weekend if you have a crowd phobia. Anyway – this is a show not to miss.
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CONTRACTOR IPWEANZ 2016 CONFERENCE
LESSONS IN AUSSIE
FLOOD MITIGATION ANGELA FRY, a civil engineer, university lecturer, and principal project manager with
the Toowoomba Regional Council, is a keynote speaker at the IPWEANZ 2016 conference being held at SkyCity, Auckland, June 22-25. Her presentation is based on the council’s A$45 million Outer Circulating Road Victoria Street extension project and its challenges. IN EARLY 2011, South East Queensland experienced the most
devastating floods in living memory. After months of rain, more than 150mm of rain fell in a day in the Toowoomba region, creating an inland tsunami that swept through Toowoomba’s city. Lives were lost, infrastructure destroyed and questions asked about what could be done to improve the city’s flood immunity. The $45 million Outer Circulating Road Victoria Street extension project had already been planned as a measure to improve traffic efficiency, but quickly evolved to deliver a number of flood mitigation benefits the city so desperately needed. The project involved constructing a four-lane extension of Victoria Street, a new Gowrie Creek bridge, doubling the capacity of the Russell Street culvert structure on West Creek and upgrading of both the East and West Creek channels. Designed by GHD, project management was carried out by Toowoomba Regional Council and constructed by Probuild Civil, with Harrison Infrastructure Group acting as superintendent. 24 www.contractormag.co.nz
The project presented significant technical and social challenges for Toowoomba Regional Council as the project is located at the confluence of the two creeks, which form part of the Gowrie Creek catchment whose waters eventually run into the Murray-Darling River system. Working in these waterways provided a constant challenge for construction crews, with the site flooded on a number of occasions. One of the major challenges was the existing ground conditions. Most of the site – former railway land – was considered to be contaminated and had been adversely affected by the 2011 Toowoomba flood. The project also had to contend with a live sewer system running along West Creek and extensive service relocations. Construction impacts, including lengthy road closures, required Council to consult extensively with city businesses and residents. Despite the considerable challenges, the Council delivered a landmark project for the city, both in terms of traffic efficiency and flood mitigation.
Contractor asked Angela a few questions about the project as in what delegates to the IPWEA Conference in June can expect to hear. How comprehensive were the enabling works required to operate on a constrained site? Considerable early works at the site and adjacent areas involved the following: • Demolition of an old petrol station building and decontamination of the site, including removal of underground abandoned fuel tanks. • Relocation of electrical infrastructure (high and low voltage and fibre optic lines) from above ground adjacent to the channel, to underground. This has improved the visual amenity and improved security of electrical supply for the CBD. • Dismantling a heritage-listed toilet block, brick by brick, prior to construction. The bricks were placed in storage during the works and the toilet block was rebuilt in the same location after the adjacent culvert upgrade works were completed. • Clearing rail tracks and old debris from contaminated land which was formerly Queensland Rail land to clear the way for construction of the four-lane roadway. An abandoned timber bridge on former Queensland Rail land also had to be demolished. • Purchase of adjacent private property, and clearing adjacent sites for construction access.
What were the environmental controls used to allow removal of contaminated materials while ensuring the integrity of the creek? Similarly what environmental controls were used for the earthworks and construction activities? Soil samples were taken from approximately 40 test holes prior to construction to identify contaminated areas. Monitoring and testing of material as it was excavated determined the level of contaminant and location for disposal. Extensive noise monitoring was undertaken around the construction site to help reduce the impacts on nearby businesses and residents. The project team closely monitored noise levels at an adjacent conference centre during university exams to ensure there were no disruptions to students.
What level of monitoring of historic buildings was required to protect against vibration induced damage? During the design phase, geotechnical assessments of the zone of influence from piling works were used to identify any at-risk buildings. Condition assessments and dilapidation surveys were undertaken at buildings around the construction site before works started. As an added protection to buildings, vibration JUNE 2016 25
CONTRACTOR IPWEANZ 2016 CONFERENCE
Outer Circulating Road, West Creek
BEFORE and AFTER
limits were placed on construction and vibration monitoring was carried out at key locations during works. As a result of the protective measures undertaken and ongoing monitoring, there was no damage to buildings as a result of the project construction.
What was the level of protection for the historic buildings? Dilapidation surveys were carried out to determine the preconstruction condition of historic buildings around the project site. Noise and vibration monitoring were carried out during the works and post-construction dilapidation surveys were undertaken after project completion to confirm that there had been no damage to the historic buildings. The heritage-listed Russell Street Men’s Toilet Block was carefully dismantled, placed in protective storage, and rebuilt on site by a specialist heritage masonry company.
It appears the project is in the CBD and represents a small construction site so planning using a systems approach may have been very important – how were the bridge beams transported and lifted into place? The bridge beams were transported to site from Brisbane between the hours of 4am and 9am using a pre-approved route around the CBD to avoid traffic delays. A total of 39 girders were placed as part of the three-span Gowrie Creek Bridge construction, ranging in size up to 32 metres in length. The project team used a 400-tonne super lift crane to lift the girders. Assembling the crane itself was a huge task, which took about a week to complete. Some of the girders weighed more than 60 tonnes each. Due to a lack of suitable area for onsite storage, the girders were lifted straight from the back of the truck on to the bridge.
Was a ‘systems’ engineering’ approach used to determine site logistics and to manage the construction activities and their interactions? This was the contractor’s responsibility. The programme remained very flexible to cater for unanticipated difficulties encountered onsite, such as unrecorded services and abandoned pipes, and
26 www.contractormag.co.nz
to allow for an overlap in the constrained work area.
How extensive was the flood mitigation works for the project? The project area was devastated in the 2011 floods which were considered to be somewhere between a one in 300-year and one in 500-year flood event. Flood mitigation works included duplicating the capacity of the Russell Street culvert structure on West Creek, constructing a covered structure along the creek to contain flood waters in the channel and widening and extensive upgrading of the West Creek channel itself. The East Creek channel was widened and upgraded and a three-span Gowrie Creek Bridge was constructed over the confluence of the creeks. A section of the channel north of the bridge was widened and lined with rock to reduce erosion. These measures have provided significant flood mitigation benefits to businesses, residents and road users in the area.
What were the major risks associated with the work and how were these mitigated? Several major risks were identified during the design phase of the project. A major risk was the need to work in two creek areas, which were subject to flooding at short notice. On a couple of occasions the entire project site was flooded due to the sheer volume of water in the creek systems. High-level working platforms were constructed to improve safety, reduce risk and increase flexibility for construction crews. The project team used adjacent land to locate plant and equipment out of the water level at short notice. The team also relied on Toowoomba Regional Council’s Flood Early Warning System to provide alerts when water levels began to rise in West and East Creeks. The location of services also represented a major risk. The project team undertook extensive potholing and groundpenetrating radar to locate and verify known services. However, due to former industrial uses of the land, there were more than 100 years of abandoned and formerly unidentified services. The project manager ensured designers were on hand for
Russell Street structure
BEFORE and AFTER
construction fixes onsite. The project team also developed strong working relationships with services authorities for fast response as required.
How were live services located and then managed and how extensive/frequent was the need to remove or relocate services?
The project team liaised closely with Council’s waste management facility to ensure the efficient disposal of material. Much of the material from the site was able to be used as day cover at the waste management facility just north of Toowoomba. Highly contaminated material was securely shipped to an Ipswich facility about 90 kilometres away.
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Magnetic and ground-penetrating radar were used to locate live services. Pothole vacuum excavation was also used to locate services in coordination with service authorities.
What difficulties were experienced in disposal of contaminated materials, distance to disposal site and any treatments required of those materials?
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CONTRACTOR RIMS
A lesson in road contract collaboration ALAN TITCHALL looks at the unique roading agreement between four district councils in the South Island
that sets a precedent for road contract work collaboration. Based on a presentation by Ashley Harper and Suzy Ratahi at Road Infrastructure Management Forum 2016. SINCE APRIL 2014 the Ashburton, Mackenzie, Timaru and Waimate
District Councils have collaborated on their road resurfacing and maintenance with efficiencies for both local taxpayers and contractors. The road operations and maintenance activity for the collective region was procured by each of the four district councils via a single common specification with a schedule of quantities relating to each council. The long process by which this was achieved, through the new Mid-South Canterbury Collaboration Group, was presented at the 2016 Road Infrastructure Management Forum in Rotorua earlier this year. The presenters were Ashley Harper and Suzy Ratahi. Ashley is the group manager District Services at Timaru District Council and has been responsible for council’s infrastructure since 1989. Suzy has been the roading manager for Mackenzie District Council for the past four years and was involved with the development and writing of the common contract document. Suzy Ratahi (roading manager for Mackenzie District Council) and Ashley Harper (group manager of district services at Timaru District Council) on stage delivering their detailed presentation on local authority NOC collaboration in the mid-south Canterbury region.
28 www.contractormag.co.nz
The combined network of the four councils is large; containing 6000 kilometres of mostly rural network roads and 740 bridges. It is also extremely diverse, with each district, from coast to high country, facing different weather challenges. After three years of intense work together a collective procurement process between the four districts was settled with contractors in September/October last year. New collective contracts contain a mix of unit rate and lump sum items for road maintenance service and, collectively, have a value of $60 million over a five-year term. “Three years ago three district councils [Mackenzie, Timaru and Waimate] set off on a journey with a lot of technical discussions, workshops, and presentations,” says Ashley. “Elections in the middle of it all [October 2013] resulted in delays and then a change of mayors at Waimate and Timaru. Discussions restarted early 2014 and it all came to a head in April 2014 at a summit meeting between the mayors, chief executives and technical staff.
“The three councils of Mackenzie, Timaru and Waimate got their heads together and agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] in June that year that was relatively easy and documented into three to four pages.” The MOU covered shared service delivery of both road asset management and shared operations. “In hindsight it turned out to be a great document in terms of giving guidance on where we were meant to go for the next two years. Along the way Ashburton was kept in the communication loop and it joined the MOU in August 2014.” A key move at this point, says Ashley, was the appointment of an independent project manager – Peter Hall. “We all believe this was a catalyst in getting results.” Technical liaison was critical, says Ashley. “This is where the gains were determined.” The MOU described a single contract for road resurfacing for two years from August 2015. “That didn’t mean to say it was easy. Previously it was done quite differently. One of the councils had annual contracts. Getting people on the same page to do the same thing was a real challenge.” Resurfacing was placed into a single contract (with one specification) for two years and under joint procurement (using lowest price procurement) for three councils – Mackenzie, Timaru and Waimate. This was won by Downer NZ – after bids were received ranging from $8.48 million to $8.55 million. This contract involves multi-party funding agreement that protects Timaru District Council – the principal to the contract. A TDC land transport manager is the engineer to this contract, and three territorial local authority (TLA) engineering supervisors represent the separate council networks. This was also applied to the four collaborative road maintenance contracts.
Maintenance contracts In August 2015 road operation and maintenance tenders were called, and by the end of October two unconditional and two conditional tenders had been accepted. In December last year the four, five-year road maintenance contracts started.
The tendering and procurement process (and documentation) for these contracts was a long process says Suzy. “There was robust debate over number, scope and scale, and duration of these fiveyear contracts that had started before Ashburton came on board.” Not only did the four councils have to agree on common contract specifications, but it involved unique aspects for each district to be detailed in the Common Appendices, and had to involve a common basis of payment. A tender requirement was Road Assessment & Maintenance Management software contractor/Pocket RAMM integration. Many contractors who eventually put in a tender bid for a contract failed in this respect. Says Ashley, “Our technical people said we need RAMM as we need good data, and we need to own the process of how that is collected.” There were four tenders advertised with identical calling and closing dates. Conditional tendering was permitted, he says. “A contractor could offer to do more than one area/contract, but this was conditional on them winning a contract.” An area of concern for the four council chief executives was that the tendering process wouldn’t disadvantage their council. Mackenzie and Waimate being the smaller areas didn’t want to be swamped out in the pricing process and to this effect, transfer payments were allowed between districts that had to be approved by the NZ Transport Agency. The tendering process involved a compulsory briefing, presentations and interviews.
The result The tenders attracted seven contractor tenderers and 25 bids (15 unconditional and 10 conditional). “We ended up with a lot of documentation to fill a tender room, which generated a lot of work after tenders closed,” says Ashley. Evaluations were concurrent for the four contracts and done by a tender evaluation team (one representative from each council) with an independent chair. They used the Price Quality Method (PQM), which takes in both JUNE 2016 29
CONTRACTOR RIMS
quality and price in the selection of tenders, which is said to be a more sophisticated and transparent adaptation of Weighted Attributes – the most commonly used tender evaluation method. PQM uses three parameters: The scale of the job (represented usually by the engineer’s estimate or the median price or in this case, the lowest price received); the importance of quality to the project (ie, the weighting assigned to quality); and the bidders’ scores on their Non Price Attribute information. This formula-based evaluation distinguishes the difference in quality between tenderers by translating the non-attribute grades to a Supplier Quality Premium (SQP). This is effectively a dollar value that corresponds to the additional quality represented in the attribute scores of each bidder. The larger the project, the more the weighting on quality, and/or the better the non-price attribute scores are, the higher is the SQP for any bidder. That SQP is then deducted from their price; and the lowest adjusted price is then the preferred tenderer. This method is labour intensive, for suppliers and valuation team, but provides a transparent trade-off between the value add from the quality component of each bidder’s response, and their price. The results were that Fulton Hogan (the incumbent) won the Ashburton and Timaru districts with two unconditional tenders and Whitestone Contracting won Mackenzie and Waimate districts with a conditional tender. Although Whitestone was not the incumbent it offered the Mackenzie contract a ‘discount’ if it won the Waimate tender. This conditional tender now involves Mackenzie making a transfer payment to Waimate to compensate it.
What was learnt? Suzy says it took over 12 months to get contract specification aligned. “Collaboration takes a lot of discussion, negotiation and time and it is resource hungry.” Throughout the debate there was a lot of learning about each other’s management practices and asset management, she iterates, reflecting different management practices among the four unique networks. “In the 87 scheduled items in the contract the only one we all couldn’t agree on was ice gritting. The two biggest councils are coastal and don’t have huge issues with ice, whereas Mackenzie is an alpine area.”
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Relaxing after the presentation in the RIMS 2016 trade area (from left): Suzy Ratahi, Mackenzie District Council; Grant Chesterman, Selwyn District Council; Ashley Harper, Timaru District Council, John White, Hurunui District Council; Andrew Petrie, Waimakariri District Council.
Ashley adds that current NZTA procurement rules are inhibitive during the tender evaluation process. “At the end of the day, two thirds of the bids could be discounted because of high price or low quality. “If we could have dismissed these from the process … then the work would have been over in just a couple of days [rather than weeks] and the result would be much clearer and much sooner, and the contractors wouldn’t be left waiting.” Ashley also says that, unexpectedly, local market conditions (especially the effect of the two-year NZTA NOC in the district) had a “large influence” on the tendering process and determining price. The Mid-South Canterbury Collaboration Group now believes it has produced a standardised collaboration document that can be used nationally by other councils. “It is all about the people involved,” says Ashley, “and we had a great team that has made it work. “The challenge is to ‘carry-on’ the task and cement the gains we have made through collaboration.” These involve further MOU objectives around shared work in the area of RAMM data management; sharing resources and skills in areas of corridor and asset management and business cases for the 2018-2021 NLTP; and even collaborating on 30-year infrastructure strategies.
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Hallmarks of procurement excellence CAROLINE BOOT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLEVER BUYING AND PLAN A.
IT’S PLAN A’S MONDAY morning business meeting where our team
of bid writers from all over the country (as well as one in Australia and one in Europe) is busy planning and coordinating our latest week input on 31 current tenders. Those RFx documents have been put together by procurement staff from a huge range of government organisations, both here and in other countries. They’re for services which cover just about every industry that supplies government – from major construction projects to travel and social services. All these procurement projects, supposedly, share one common goal – to achieve best value for money, but a review of the range of approaches is alarmingly wide. Some are clearly worded, well-structured, with relevant questions and clear scoring systems. These will most likely be more straightforward to respond to, and will encourage thoughtful, well-designed solutions that will make best use of public money. Others have been hastily thrown together with scant attention, or effort, put into determining what each project’s drivers for value may be. When suppliers have the luxury of choice on which tenders they respond to, these are the tenders that repel quality suppliers and result in poor solutions and or poor use of funds. So in a nutshell, what are the hallmarks of excellence in procurement processes and how do high-performing procurement professionals manage the process of government procurement to deliver the best value for money in the suppliers that are selected through the process? We have interviewed scores of procurement managers through the process of training and assessing them for their NZQA qualifications. For most, the process of planning a procurement is an exercise that takes several months (or longer). Ideally, it involves a team that brings together both technical and procurement skills. The indicators of sound procurement processes are generally: 1. The tender evaluation team (not an independent consultant or an administrator) takes responsibility for full procurement planning. They front-load their insights and intelligence into the design of the procurement process and the tools that are used, rather than having those imposed on them after the responses are received. 2. Procurement planning involves detailed consideration of the project’s place within strategic programmes of work; the critical risks to project success; opportunities for innovation; and the potential effect of the procurement on social and environmental outcomes as well as economic considerations. 3. The supplier market is carefully considered within planning, including the potential effect of the procurement on maintaining a healthy market and meeting broader strategic objectives for regional economic outcomes. Unsuitable suppliers are eliminated early on a pass/fail basis to reduce costs of tendering for all. 4. The tender evaluation method, attributes and weightings (if applied) are chosen to align to the risks and opportunities inherent in that specific project. Attribute weightings are
tested to confirm that the client would be prepared to pay an appropriate premium for a higher quality supplier. 5. The evaluation team determines and agrees on an objective scoring system before they review the responses, using facts and figures rather than subjective descriptions to define scoring bands. When individual evaluations, moderation to determine agreed scores, and tenderer debriefs take place, this scoring scale is used to support the rationale for scoring. The second part of our review looked at the RFx documents that are at the coalface of tendering. Based on our analysis, this is a list of the qualities of outstanding tender documents that attract the best suppliers and deliver the right decisions. 1. The RFx document has a clear description of the project that includes details of what the client thinks are the most important drivers for value. That description has been generated for this project only – it’s not a cut-and-paste! 2. There is a mechanism for identifying the factors that will eliminate unsuitable suppliers (eg, preconditions, supplier panels, prequalification status or an EOI with pass/fail attributes defined.) 3. The information sought to differentiate the remaining suppliers is structured soundly and is clearly 100 percent focused on the drivers for value. There are no generic or irrelevant questions, duplications or confused instructions. 4. The evaluation method and weightings (if applicable) are clearly stated; and there is a definition within each attribute category of what will satisfy the requirement and/or what constitutes a ‘fail’. 5. I nstructions to tenderers for their submissions are unambiguous and have been carefully reviewed. The closing date, time and format is specified; and a client contact person is named and their contact details given. The time given for responses is in line with government Rules of Sourcing (should typically be 20–25 clear business days for a RFT or RFP). There are significant financial benefits gained by following these simple Best Practice procurement guidelines. The process is clear to all, the responses are faster and easier to score, and the responses to quality RFx documents are high quality proposals. It’s cost-efficient for both clients and suppliers because it eliminates
With solid planning and clear scoring methods that align to project priorities for value, there is minimal chance of legal challenge. unsuitable suppliers early, then it targets only the factors that are critical to project success. With solid planning and clear scoring methods that align to project priorities for value, there is minimal chance of legal challenge. What’s more, our suppliers are more likely to engage when they see unbiased, fair, fit-for-purpose procurement methods that don’t waste their time on irrelevant activity. JUNE 2016 31
CONTRACTOR PROJECT
It’s all changing at interchange An ‘army’ of earthmovers is remoulding the landscape in preparation for what will be a much improved highway interchange. RICHARD SILCOCK takes a look at this comparatively fast moving project in the Hutt Valley north of Wellington.
THE OFTEN ACCIDENT prone intersection of State Highway 2 and
State Highway 58 (Haywards Hill) north of Wellington was again recently highlighted with another accident hitting the news. However, with construction work well underway for an elevated roundabout to replace the SH58 and Manor Park turn-offs and the traffic lights on SH2, accidents should be a thing of the past. Following a turning of the sod ceremony last November by the Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges and the mayor of Upper Hutt, Wayne Guppy, earthworks and construction work began in earnest in early March this year and have been rapidly progressing with land contouring, construction of abutments, stormwater pipes, retaining walls, cycleway underpasses, and the foundations for the new roundabout commencing in late April. Downer New Zealand is the contractor for the project, with Aurecon and Tonkin and Taylor providing the design for the New Zealand Transport Agency under a $43 million design and construct contract. Project manager for the work, Iain Fletcher, says the main feature of the interchange will be the elevated roundabout which will allow an uninterrupted flow of traffic along SH2. “The new interchange will be grade separated and consist of an elevated roundabout over the existing SH2,” says Iain. “This will allow traffic heading north and south to flow freely and not have to stop for traffic lights. The traffic diverting to SH58 [Haywards Hill] or to Manor Park will take off-ramps at the side and at both ends of the interchange and enter the roundabout before proceeding on to their destination route.” The current flurry of earthworks being carried out by Downer and subcontractor Burgess Crowley Civil will see around 200,000 cubic metres of earth shifted by late this winter. This work is being carried out using an array of bulldozers ranging in size from D4 to D6, along with five- to 37-tonne excavators and scrapers. Additional material is being brought to the site by truck and trailer units and compacted by several 12-tonne vibrating single drum rollers. Due to the exceptionally dry weather conditions experienced over summer, dust is being suppressed by watercarts constantly working around the 20-hectare site. “A lot of the earthworks have involved cut-to-waste material, such as peat, organics and saturated silts, which are unsuitable as fill,” say Iain. “Cut-to-fill granular rock is being supplemented by 32 www.contractormag.co.nz
rock from nearby local quarries, with the general fill material from one quarry and the structural fill from another. This is working well as it eases the pressure on the quarries to achieve the production and delivery times we require to maintain our schedule. “In some cases we’ve pre-loaded areas where there is deepseated compressible peat. To achieve this we have placed three metres of surcharge material in these areas and expect to have the required amount of consolidation by September this year. “Work on the abutment supports for the two roundabout ‘bridges’ is also progressing well and is tracking well ahead of our programme,” says Iain. “These abutments comprise four reinforced earth walls faced with concrete panels. The panels have been cast on-site by Hutt Concrete Products, who are locally based and our team are constructing the walls.”
There are four reinforced earth walls in total, each with two return walls at each end. When completed they will be six metres above the four-lane SH2 carriageway. SH58 itself is being widened and a number of tight corners are being taken out (refer Contractor October 2015), and at the interchange with SH2 will comprise a grade separation between the north- and southbound lanes. “We will achieve this by a series of retaining structures comprising reinforced earth walls and geogrid reinforced earth embankments,” says Iain. “This will allow us to accommodate the changes in the ground contours.” As the site, which rises relatively steeply on the western (Haywards) side, is bisected by Dry Creek Gully, stormwater from the gully is being piped via an 1800mm diameter stormwater pipe
An artist’s impression of the completed interchange, looking north, showing the dual carriageway of SH2 running through the centre with the on/off ramps to the elevated interchange for SH58 (running up the hill to the left) and Manor Park, the railway line and Manor Park Station on the right.
JUNE 2016 33
CONTRACTOR PROJECT
Top: Drone view of construction site, with cycleway underpass (foreground) and 1800mm in diameter Dry Creek concrete storm water pipe under construction. Also visible is a mound of compression material (centre), SH58 (left) and SH2 to the right. Above left: A concrete cycle/ pedestrian underpass being constructed. The existing SH2 is on the right. Above right: Foundations for one of the reinforced earth walls under construction.
34 www.contractormag.co.nz
to the eastern side. An existing box culvert, which conveys water from another stream under SH2 is also to be extended at both ends to allow for the on and off-ramps. Rain water will be drained from the highways via kerb and channel to collector stormwater lines, which will be up to 750mm in diameter. A combined pedestrian and cycle overbridge to the north of the interchange will connect the railway station at Manor Park on the eastern side of SH2 to a new park-and-ride car park, which is to be constructed as part of the project, and the walkway to the Belmont Regional Park on the western side. The overbridge will be constructed using a combination of in situ and precast concrete materials and will include urban art features on the fascia that are in keeping with the local environment. Micro-piling for the ramps leading to this bridge is complete and pile cap
construction has commenced for the bridge itself. A new cycleway in both the northbound and southbound directions will also be constructed as part of the interchange development. The cycleway will pass under the highway’s on and off-ramps via four underpasses. NZTA central regional director Raewyn Bleakley says the new interchange will not only improve safety at the intersection but also improve journey times for traffic heading north/south on SH2, or west to Porirua and the Kapiti Coast on SH58. “This multifaceted project will also make a real difference for travel choices and help remove barriers for people using alternative forms of transport,” says Raewyn. While the project faces a tight timeframe and is being constructed over a busy stretch of highway, the interchange is expected to be completed by June next year.
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CONTRACTOR PROJECT
One of the largest excavators used in this country for civil construction arrived from a mining site in Panama for underwater work in Auckland. By ALAN TITCHALL.
When you need a long
Above: The 250 tonne excavator arrived in Auckland at Bledisloe wharf in many parts and, because of its overall size, had to be re-assembled where they were landed. Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage then moved the completed machine to the project site on Fergusson Wharf some 2.5 kilometres away. Opposite: Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage used a 20-axle Goldhofer (UT) platform trailer to move the excavator to the end of Fergusson Wharf and the construction site. The trailer was slipped under the machine, which was lifted up so it straddled the trailer in its middle.
AT 250 TONNES it wasn’t the largest excavator in
the country – that title goes to a 400 tonne R9400 monster working at Rotowaro opencast mine – but it is not common to see a machine of this size on a civil construction project. With shovel attached, the Liebherr R9250 weighs in at 253,000 kilograms and can lift 1500 cubic metres. The machine is designed for high productivity mining sites and smartly filling fleets of 100 tonne dump trucks. So how it ended up working on the first new wharf to be built at the Ports of Auckland since the early 1980s is a long story, and involves a mine in Panama, three months of assembly, Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage, Heron Construction and Brian Perry Civil.
First new wharf in three decades Ports of Auckland obtained consent for an extension of the Fergusson container terminal
36 www.contractormag.co.nz
upgrade back in 1998. This included construction of a new east-west wharf at the end of the old, 650-metre Fergusson wharf (the longest container wharf operated by Ports of Auckland). In 2015 the port was in the news for a project to extend two wharves at the other end of the port a bit over 90 metres north into the harbour. Consent for this project was revoked by the High Court after a media beat-up and public commotion about stealing harbour views. The new Fergusson wharf goes east-west, or parallel to the city shoreline, so is less contentious. This project has a total value of $50 million including the pavement and services works required to connect to the structure and is expected to take 18 months to complete. It will be 300 metres long and 33 metres wide, or big enough to handle one large container ship. Ports of Auckland has contracted Brian Perry Civil to build the wharf and its subcontractor, Heron Construction, to build the sub-sea
reach
JUNE 2016 37
CONTRACTOR PROJECT
Clockwise from above left: The 250 tonne excavator arrives from Panama in pieces; Matt Ball, Ports of Auckland project manager, next to the bucket; Almost assembled; Grunt – with shovel attached, the Liebherr R9250 weighs in at 253,000 kilograms and can lift 1500 cubic metres. The machine is designed for high productivity mining sites and smartly filling fleets of 100 tonne dump trucks. Opposite page: The machine came with an extra-long arm (never used) that has been fitted – ideal for the dredging work on the wharf project.
38 www.contractormag.co.nz
infrastructure, which involves preparing the sub-sea reclamation slope with mud-crete and protecting it from tides, waves and container ship wash with rock armour placed on the revetment/ batter. A six-metre ‘toe trench’ at the bottom of the reclamation slope also has to be dug out to ‘gravity anchor’ and restrain the sloping wall of rock.
The search for gear Greg Kroef, the managing direct of Heron Construction, says he went looking for a suitable machine for the job and found it working in Panama for a Belgian mining company. He couldn’t believe his luck, because not only was the Liebherr R9250 going for a good price, it also came with an extra-long arm (never used) ideal for the dredging work on the wharf project. “When that work is finished we have an older Liebherr machine working in Melbourne’s harbour that needs replacing. So we will take this
machine off its tracks and ship it over there to replace it,” says Greg. The machine arrived in Auckland in many parts. It took over three months to put it together, including fitting the new arm and reconditioning some of the hydraulics. Rather than using the traditional open hydraulic circuit on its arm, the R9250 uses a closed-loop swing circuit to enable maximum swing torque while retaining the full oil flow for the working circuit. The independent swing circuit in combination with the powerful drive system leads to very fast arm motion for something of this size. The re-assembly of the excavator required so much room that it had to take place at the end of Bledisloe Terminal close to where the cargo ship discharged its consignment of excavator parts. Specialists from Liebherr were involved. The problem now was that the assembly site was about 2.5 kilometres away from the project site. The excavator was ready by the end of March and Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage was engaged to
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CONTRACTOR PROJECT
Above: Three trucks were on standby for the hauling exercise but, in the end, it was completed by a single Kenworth. Above left: Ready to be moved. Above right: Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage used a 20-axle Goldhofer (UT) platform trailer to move the excavator to the end of Fergusson Wharf and the construction site.
move it to the construction site. The Aucklandbased company used a 20-axle Goldhofer (UT) platform trailer to move the excavator to the end of Fergusson Wharf. The trailer was slipped under the machine, which was lifted up so it straddled the trailer in its middle. Three trucks were on standby for the hauling exercise but, in the end, it was completed by a single Kenworth.
Northland aggregate The basalt rocks used on the new terminal project are quarried by Puhipuhi Rock & Metal Supplies in Whangarei, average 2.5 tonnes each and will be placed in a three-metre thick layer on the revetment slope. The boulders are being transported to the old Whangarei Port on the Hatea River and then barged to Auckland. Each barge carries around 1200 tonnes of rock and the
40 www.contractormag.co.nz
project will use about 60,000 tonnes in total. The 250 tonne excavator sits out over the harbour on some of the 300 piles already driven into position (to a depth of 40 metres), lifts the rocks off the barge and positions them very accurately underwater through a GPS system on the boom. A layer of smaller underlayer rock is placed first with the large rocks placed individually on top with an orange peel grab. A screen in the excavator also allows the driver to ‘see’ what’s happening underwater. The spacious cab on this excavator is mounted on silent blocks, which reduces vibrations and limits noise. The cab also has a panoramic view over the entire machine and loading spot. Which makes you wonder just how they built the original Auckland wharves and reclamation in the mid-19th century with the technology of the day?
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CONTRACTOR PROJECT
Civil Trades: meet the graduates It’s now six months since Civil Trades was officially launched. In this issue we catch up with graduates Billy West and Barry Bowen to see how things have changed for them since they became Civil Trades certified.
Billy West, Fulton Hogan
Barry Bowen, City Care
Billy West is based in Whangarei and was the ninth Kiwi to become Civil Trades certified. He put his hand up to be part of the Civil Trades RCC pilot because he wanted to be recognised for his 20+ years of experience in the roading sector. The last six months have been pretty much business as usual for Billy. As a maintenance supervisor for the Fulton Hogan Northern region, he manages the programme of work for Whangarei District Council. Billy is also a Competent to Operate (CTO) assessor for Northland where he assesses staff on their skill levels on different machinery, then provides them with the necessary training. The Whangarei branch is now rolling out Civil Trades among its experienced employees, and Billy is acting as an advisor to other RCC candidates. “We have four guys going through the programme in Whangarei,” Billy explains. “All of them are working towards Certification in Road Construction and Maintenance. Two will do the endorsement in Road Construction and the other two are doing the endorsement in Road Maintenance.” Billy continues, “I’ve been talking the guys through the process of gathering their evidence. They have years of experience between them, but putting the portfolio together is still quite a big job. Luckily we have good processes in place anyway, so it has been pretty straightforward to grab things like job sheets, photos, check sheets, hazard IDs, plans and digging checklists.” Already Civil Trades certified in Road Construction and Maintenance, with an endorsement in Maintenance, Billy is now thinking of gaining the endorsement in Construction. Fulton Hogan regional manager Keith Cocking says that Billy is seen as a role model in terms of how someone can progress from in the field to foreman and now supervisor, and the fact that he has successfully completed the Civil Trades certification. “Billy’s achievement has motivated a number of others within the business to strive for this certification,” he says. Jason Walters, Whangarei District Council department manager at Fulton Hogan, adds, “Knowledge in infrastructure continually changes and Civil Trades will help keep our employees’ skill levels up. This certification will also be of benefit to our business at tender time, as it will form part of our company attributes and employee CVs.”
Barry Bowen was the 10th person to become Civil Trades certified, and holds endorsements in Road Construction and Earthworks. Barry has worked in civil infrastructure for more than 25 years. During this time he has worked on everything from commercial to farm sites, managing site set outs, site works construction and reinstatements. Since he joined City Care, Barry has worked on numerous Christchurch rebuild projects. He has found this very rewarding and enjoys the variety of jobs that the infrastructure industry offers. Barry jumped at the chance to become Civil Trades certified because he felt it was important to gain formal recognition of his skills and experience. He’s no stranger to qualifications and has previously achieved a Level 4 National Certificate in Infrastructure Works Supervision. Barry is also a Connexis registered assessor and holds Site Safe certification, Site Traffic Management Supervisor Level 1 and numerous endorsements including Wheels, Tracks and Rollers (WTR). Since becoming Civil Trades certified, Barry has moved from his role as senior foreman to road maintenance supervisor. His Road Maintenance team manages a Christchurch City Council contract, which covers road maintenance, kern and channel and footpath reinstatement. His new role has a large element of project management and he is responsible for scoping work, managing multiple sites and coordinating staff, subcontractors and other tradespeople. Barry is thoroughly enjoying the new challenge and says that it is something he always wanted to do. “When the opportunity came along, I jumped at the chance,” he explains. Industrial training manager, Pat O’Brien, says that City Care places a high value on Civil Trades certification. “We hope there is widespread uptake across the civil sector. We see this as not only a way to recognise stars in our workforce, but also a great tool for adding credibility to and promoting civil infrastructure as a worthwhile career option. We also anticipate that having Civil Trades certified staff will become an essential attribute for companies tendering for work. City Care is currently identifying experienced staff within the business and we will be encouraging them to engage in the RCC pathway to become Civil Trades certified.”
42 www.contractormag.co.nz
Zero qualification fees for Civil Trades RCC candidates
New Procurement Procedures Diploma to launch New Zealand’s best known qualification for tender evaluators has been given a major facelift and is expected to be available for enrolment next month. The brand new NZ Certificate in Infrastructure Procurement Procedures is a leading-edge qualification which will be relevant to thousands of people engaged in public procurement practice for infrastructure projects throughout New Zealand. The Level 6 Procurement qualification has been around in various forms for over 20 years and is a staple for the transport sector. Developed specifically to recognise practical skills for procurement practitioners, it is regarded as the benchmark for industry best practice and is a requirement for at least one tender evaluator on NZTA-subsidised contracts valued at over $200,000. The new qualification is an adaptation of this proven formula, with added innovations from the best in national and international procurement. It has been specifically tailored to the New Zealand procurement environment, and has a strong focus on knowledge and application of the New Zealand government’s five mandatory Principles of Procurement and its Rules of Sourcing. Perhaps most significantly, the qualification content has been adapted to make it relevant to all types of procurement. It is set to become the new benchmark for procurement practitioners, not only within the transport sector, but also in water and wastewater, telecommunications, energy, civil construction, facilities management, civil engineering and other infrastructure sectors. For further information call Connexis on 0800 486 626 or go to www.connexis.org.nz.
The brand new Civil Infrastructure Trades qualifications are now available through the Recognition of Current Competence (RCC) pathway. And until the end of 2016, Connexis is waiving the normal $450 qualification fee and resource costs for Civil Trades RCC candidates. There has never been a better time to get qualified, so candidates are encouraged to enrol now and be first past the post! The RCC pathway is ideal for operators with a minimum of five years of industry experience, who are currently employed and have been working at a high level for the past two years. Candidates gain a New Zealand qualification through recognition of the skills and knowledge they have already gained from previous work and/or study. Assessment is carried out through a professional conversation where the candidate meets with an assessor to discuss a portfolio of evidence which they have collated from previous jobs and projects. On successful completion of these qualifications candidates will be eligible to apply to the Civil Trades Board for recognition as a Certified Civil Tradesperson. Five specialist (Level 4) qualifications are available: • Civil Works (with strands in Earthworks, Road Construction, Concrete [non-structural], and Road Maintenance). • Bituminous Product Manufacturing (with strands in Binder Manufacturing Operation, Bituminous Mixes Operation, and Bitumen Spraying Operation). • Bituminous Surfacing Construction (with strands in Bituminous Mixes, Chipseal, and Slurry). • Utilities Maintenance (with strands in Water, and Stormwater and Wastewater). • Pipe Installations (with strands in Trenched, and Trenchless). Want to become Civil Trades certified? For further information call Connexis on 0800 486 626 or go to www.civiltrades.co.nz.
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CONTRACTOR HISTORY
SAVING
Paekakariki HILL ROAD
HE
RI TAGE
TRAILS
An almost forgotten group of World War One tunnellers saved the Paekakariki Hill Road from closure, as HUGH DE LACY discovers. THOSE CANTANKEROUS heroes of World War One, the New
Zealand Army Engineers Tunnelling Company, deserve the credit for there still being a Paekakariki Hill Road northern approach to Wellington – without them it would have been shut down at the start of World War Two. The Paekakariki Hill Road was every bit as much a bane to travellers to the capital down the western side of the island as the similarly precipitous Rimutaka Hill eastern route was from the Wairarapa to the Hutt Valley. Both roads began their lives as Maori walking tracks that eventually evolved into paved highways, but where the road out of the Hutt River valley became the base for the eventual SH2 the Paekakariki Hill Road was supposed to have been closed after the massive SH1 western deviation along the Pukerua Bay coast to Paekakariki was completed just as World War Two began. The Paekakariki Hill leaps out of the sea 41 kilometres north of Wellington, opposite Kapiti Island, bringing a pinched end to the broadening sweep of coastal plains that take in Palmerston North. Near-vertical cliff in some places, the hill climbs 248 metres above the sea that laps it, and until the completion of the western deviation the only way to get to Wellington by road was over the top. After fleeing the Waikato tribes and his home harbour of Kawhia for the Kapiti coast, Ngati Toa leader Te Rauparaha exterminated the resident Muaupoko tribe in 1822 and was in control of the area when European settlement began. The colonial government bought the land north and south of Paekakariki from Te Rauparaha in 1847, and two years later widened the old Maori walking track over the hill to accommodate coaches. That became the sole western approach to the capital for the next 90 years. It was steep, it was windy, it was precipitous and it left a monstrous legacy of accidental death from horse and motor vehicles plunging off it and not stopping till they hit the rocks at the bottom. Accordingly, it came as little surprise to most people that the government decided to close the hill road after the completion of the western deviation when Hutt County said it couldn’t afford to maintain it. And closed the Paekakariki Hill Road would have been were 44 www.contractormag.co.nz
it not for the quality and speed of the work of veterans of the Engineers Tunnelling Company. Soon after the war a group of them was doing maintenance work on the hill for the county as it battled to get the government to take over the cost of the road’s upkeep, which the county reckoned was beyond its own means. The tunnellers were a specialist army unit formed during World War One after a plea from the British government to its far-flung colonies for miners and engineers to drive tunnels under the German lines, fill them full of explosives, and then blow them and the Germans up. The Germans had themselves set the precedent for this tactic
Raine, William Hall, 1892-1955 :Negatives of New Zealand towns and scenery, and Fiji. Ref: 1/2-101069-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
A William Hall Raine photo taken on top of the Paekakariki Hill Road of a 1941 model REO Speed Wagon hauling three massive logs.
by exploding 10 50 kilogram mines under the British trenches at Festubert in the Pas de Calais just before Christmas 1914, then destroying the British frontline at Cuinchy with double the number of mines a month later. The New Zealand company was formed of 937 men with mining and tunnelling experience – mostly from the gold and coal mining areas of the Waikato, the West Coast and Waihi – reinforced half a dozen times between June 1916 and November 1917. Their greatest feat was blowing up the German lines at the Second Battle of Arras, which allowed the British forces to make significant gains that, typically, then bogged down in stalemate. The New Zealanders were commanded by a young Boer War
veteran, Major JE Duigan, who lamented that the unit contained 17 ex-secretaries of labour unions and a number of members of the Red Federation, a founding element of the Labour Party. Duigan reckoned he had disciplinary problems with his tough and worldly troops, but if he did they melted away under the heat of battle. The standing in which the tunnellers were held immediately after World War One ensured that Hutt County’s plea to keep using them to maintain the Paekakariki Hill Road – because they were doing such a good job – was eventually acceded to by the then government’s Minister of Works, Sir William Fraser, and soon after the road was gazetted as part of the national highway network. JUNE 2016 45
Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888-1972 : Photographs of New Zealand. Ref: 1/2-047388-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.
CONTRACTOR HISTORY
Early days on Paekakariki Hill Road.
But as World War Two loomed, the Labour government’s Works Minister, Bob Semple, committed to hacking a highway around the coast to avoid the hill, and he proposed then closing the hill road altogether. But as the Plimmerton-Paekakariki deviation neared completion, a cry went up from the Farmers’ Union, Hutt County and the Automobile Association to save the old road. Semple devolved its maintenance back onto Hutt County, but the county protested that the cost was beyond its means – the hill road was just too steep and bendy, too prone to slips, and now too little-used – but not beyond the government’s. With World War Two under way, the argument refreshed the country’s memories of the tunnellers to the degree that the wartime government saw war service advantages in reclaiming the road out of respect for them. Because World War Two was a fluid rather than a static war, there was no need to call on the tunnellers for specialist service again, and after the war their memory faded away. It wasn’t until the Arras tunnels were re-discovered in 1990 that interest in the New Zealand tunnellers’ contribution to World War One was rekindled, and they have since been accorded the recognition they deserve. The hill road they kept from closing has since adopted the mantle of a scenic drive, with windy and bushy gullies having to be negotiated up the Hutt Valley side before the road bursts out onto the summit and the gob-smacking views across to Kapiti Island, south to the entrance to the Pauatahanui Inlet, and northwest to Mt Taranaki away in the misty distance. 46 www.contractormag.co.nz
NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
KAPITI ISLAND
PAEKAKARIKI
PAEKAKARIKI HILL ROAD AREA
WELLINGTON
C&R Developments, Cambridge Partners since 2001 Plant 85+
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LUBRICANTS
CONTRACTOR HEALTH & SAFETY
“...even the very best teams strike problems, and in some jobs the margin for error is small. Civil construction is one such industry so contractors need to be aware of what to do when a serious accident occurs.” – Brett Harris
THE AFTERMATH OF A
SERIOUS ACCIDENT Brett Harris can remember the days when the maximum fine a health and safety case could garner was $50,000 and you could get insurance to cover it. But things have changed a lot since then. By MARY SEARLE BELL.
A BARRISTER WITH QUAY CHAMBERS in Auckland, Brett Harris
has been specialising in health and safety and related risk management work for over 15 years. He is often engaged by an insurer, a solicitor, or in-house counsel to provide specialist defence assistance after a ‘serious harm’ incident or a fatality. Brett specialises in early investigation management, OSH trials and sentencings. As such, he is an expert on the subject and was at the EMA Health & Safety Concert to speak on ‘The aftermath of a serious accident’. He began by saying that even the very best teams strike problems, and in some jobs the margin for error is small. Civil construction is one such industry so contractors need to be aware of what to do when a serious accident occurs. If an accident happens on site and you are faced with an injured worker, or a number of injured people, you will need to manage a number of competing aspects simultaneously. The top priority is, of course, the victim. Then there’s the emergency services to be called and, perhaps, the safety of the public to address. Later, WorkSafe needs to be involved and there are legal liability matters, evidence gathering and insurance to deal with. Brett recommends you get your legal and insurance people involved early, especially if it’s your first accident. You’ll need to deal with the victim’s co-workers and family, the witnesses to the accident and other staff. There also may be other regulatory bodies to involve, clients to notify and update, consequential project delays and delivery issues to handle, and, of course, the media to deal with. Brett says when all of this occurs you will be forced into reassessing what ‘good’ looks like.
48 www.contractormag.co.nz
“Cases in this area frequently traverse the benefit of hindsight,” he says. “The law requires all reasonably practicable steps to be taken and the law imposes ‘strict liability’ making intention irrelevant.” He says you must do all you reasonably can to ensure your staff’s safety. He gave an example of a case regarding an accident where a worker went out of his way to remove a safety shield to clear a shredder and consequently lost his hand to the machine. The company was prosecuted and fined as it could have installed a non-removable guard. The human element is invariably a factor in accidents – people are often only trying to help out or speed thing up when things go wrong. Brett has 10 tips for employers on what you should do regarding a serious accident: 1. Take the time and effort (now) to revitalise your safety systems. Review all the hazards faced by your workers, contractors and others – remember, prevention is better than cure. You don’t necessarily need to engage a specialist consultant to do this. In fact, Brett warns against H&S consultants selling snake oil – focus on what you can reasonably and practicably do. However, fresh eyes are always a good thing, so if you hire a new team member, get them to look over the workplace and identify 10 hazards – they may pick up on something you missed. 2. Have a written plan for what to do if an incident were to happen. This is actually a legal requirement – you have a duty to prepare, maintain and implement an emergency plan. Brett recommends you also prepare a parallel liability incident plan.
3. It’s all about people. Put the victim and their family first. Trust your instincts – good employers look after their people. “ Basic assistance and support is always well received and, despite some concerns, in my experience, this will never be treated as a sign of guilt or responsibility,” says Brett. Prioritise the human side – after a serious or fatal accident people tend to go through denial, then anger, bargaining, depression or mourning before reaching acceptance. Coworkers and witnesses may need counselling or time to come to terms with what has happened. As the employer, you too will go through the grief cycle, and need to look after yourself. 4. Look after yourself legally – take pictures of the accident and accident site. 5. Do your own accident investigation – try to piece together
what you think happened. Remember, there is an obligation to freeze or preserve an accident scene until WorkSafe has cleared it. 6. Avoid the temptation to alter or create documents to cover what has happened. 7. Beware the tendency to accept blame and take responsibility. Take time to complete a full review of the accident before you make any concessions. 8. Work with Worksafe – avoid unnecessary conflict with inspectors, even though the natural human instinct is to push back. 9. Do take legal advice, and don’t be afraid to ask a lawyer how often they have worked in this area. 10. Cover the risk. You can’t insure against fines, but you can get cover for reparations and legal costs.
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JUNE 2016 49
CONTRACTOR HEALTH & SAFETY
TOWARDS A
ZERO HARM TARGET Fulton Hogan has worked hard in the past few years to improve its safety culture and to achieve zero harm. At the recent EMA Health & Safety Concert, Jules Fulton shared the company’s safety story. MARY SEARLE BELL was there.
FULTON HOGAN IS ONE of New Zealand’s largest civil construction
companies, and, like all responsible employers, is focused on the health and safety of its workers. It is willing to admit, however, that it has had its share of tragedies, and Jules Fulton, executive GM people, was at the recent EMA Health & Safety Concert to share some of the company’s safety stories. With a staff of around 6500 people across New Zealand, Australia and Fiji, it’s everyone at the company’s job to ensure they each get home safely at the end of the working day. Jules is very aware of the impact getting health and safety wrong has on families, friends, colleagues and communities. “Having a deep appreciation of the consequences and longterm effects of tragedy and disaster is a key foundation for building a safety culture.” Fulton Hogan asked its some of its staff for the “Back to Work programme” who was important to them, and the answer was clear – their partners and children. When asked about concerns relating to the effects of an accident, the worries were around the future: Who was going to pay the mortgage? Who was going to provide for the family? How long would it take to fully recover after an accident? Would they ever fully recover? “Safety has to be personal,” says Jules. “It’s about people in the organisation. Always.” The company is committed to zero harm – it is its only safety target. “It’s not an aspiration; it’s what we do today.” Jules says the company is focused in its belief that every injury is unacceptable and avoidable. The company strategy for zero harm is focused on three key planks – people, processes and plant. People: This is about leadership from everyone – and the mantra “I always work safely”. Communication between staff was revised to have more faceto-face interactions and less reliance on email. There is now also more focus on recognising excellent work in the business, acknowledging outstanding safety leadership. There are also consequences for unsafe behaviours says Jules: “Unsafe people and unsafe behaviours have no place in Fulton Hogan.” A set of seven ‘golden rules’ was introduced in July 2012. Fulton Hogan is implementing a ‘Just Culture’. The aim is to encourage positive conversations, so around 80 percent of chats are for ‘green’ behaviours, recognising good practice. Around 15-18 percent of safety conversations are for ‘orange’ 50 www.contractormag.co.nz
“Before stepping up to a job, we ask everyone to think about the three StaySafe questions: ‘What am I doing? What could go wrong? How could I do it safer?’” – Jules Fulton
behaviours – when someone slips up or makes a mistake and the like, remembering that to err is human. The remaining ‘red’ conversations are disciplinary ones, for deliberately unsafe or reckless behaviour. When looking at its processes, Fulton Hogan assesses its business to see where people get seriously injured. It identified five critical risk areas – electricity and energy, falls, bitumen, moving plant, and traffic. The company implemented its simple StaySafe programme. “Before stepping up to a job, we ask everyone to think about the three StaySafe questions,” says Jules. “What am I doing? What could go wrong? How could I do it safer?” Its procedures are also being revised to ensure they were simple, logical, easy to understand and represent best practice. As literacy is an issue in the industry, instruction sheets include photos, flowcharts and diagrams. And training is reviewed to ensure it is effective and related to staff. Near-miss reporting has been actively encouraged since 2012. Interestingly, as the rate of recorded near misses has risen, the number of recorded injuries has declined. If Jules sees that a team hasn’t reported any near misses he goes to them and asks why. Mistakes happen, and reporting them is necessary as a learning tool. When it comes to plant, Fulton Hogan is working harder to standardise its fleet. “We have introduced “certified safe” checks to ensure our plant meets ours and industry minimum standards, says Jules. In the past four years Fulton Hogan has done a lot of work to improve the safety of its people, processes and plant, but, as Jules points out, the safety journey never stops. “A lot of people talk a good game, but how good are they really?”
VAUGHAN’S BRIDGE Site Project Name Project Owner Engineers Main Contractor
Long Bay, Auckland Vaughan’s Bridge Todd Property Novare Design HEB Structures
With the restricted nature of building suspended abutments, the Complete Reinforcing placing and technical teams collaborated to develop a methodology to prefabricate in only one section at our Auckland factory. The prefabricated cages were 17m long 1.7m wide and 2m high. The considerable amount of detail and planning that made up the prefabrication methodology for this structure was the result of our drafting, detailing and placing staff working closely with site management. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken six men and a full-time crane two weeks to install both abutments. Complete Reinforcing’s prefabrication method achieved the same outcome with only four men and four hours of crane time. Talk to us or send your tender documents to quotes@completereo.co.nz Auckland 09 271 7419 Christchurch 03 982 5053
Cromwell 03 445 4639 Nelson 021 588 944
For more information visit
completereinforcing.co.nz 4530
CONTRACTOR HEALTH & SAFETY
SILICA DUST IN CONTROL The civil construction industry’s response to the silica dust hazard in the Christchurch rebuild has been such that it’s unlikely that asbestos-type regulations will have to be introduced to control it. HUGH DE LACY explains. SILICA DUST IS carcinogenic, leading to lung diseases like silicosis,
and from there to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, tuberculosis and kidney disease. Alarm bells rang in the Christchurch rebuild industry when a pilot study carried out by WorkSafe NZ and published in July last year revealed high levels of silica dust at 39 construction sites. Silica dust is not a problem in the extractive industries though it might conceivably occur in some goldmines, but it is otherwise confined to construction sites where it’s mostly generated by breaking, cutting, grinding and smoothing concrete. The demolition stage of the Christchurch rebuild in particular generated huge amounts of the dust, and that has continued into the reconstruction phase. The industry at large was generally unaware of the hazard that silica dust poses, and WorkSafe responded when its pilot study identified a lack of efficient dust suppression, and the failure of many workers to use respiratory protection. “There was a real lack of awareness among people – they seemed to be a bit surprised about it,” Donna Burt, WorkSafe’s occupational health project manager for the rebuild, tells Contractor. 52 www.contractormag.co.nz
There was plenty of international data to show the extent of the hazard, but little to tell whether it was a problem in Christchurch. “What we did [after the publication of the pilot study] was we engaged with industry directly to get them to take ownership of it as well, and we’ve worked with them since then,” Donna says. And the industry’s response has been such that WorkSafe has no plans to introduce regulations for silica dust such as those about to be unveiled for the better-known and more widespread hazard of asbestos. “[The industry] have really taken it on board: there’s still room for improvement but there are a lot of really good things that the sector’s doing – in fact we’re just about to do an evaluation of it,” she says. This new research will seek to document the worksite behavioural changes that have taken place since the hazard became known and WorkSafe and the industry began working together to mitigate it. Donna says the principal tools in getting the silica hazard message out to the industry have been fact sheets and Toolbox Talks. “We’ve had really good buy-in from industry with that approach.
“Rather than saying ‘This is what you must do,’ we’ve said ‘These are the things that actually work, so let’s try them and see if they work out there in your workplace’.” Donna saw the effects of the campaign herself on a Christchurch site in early May. “The guys showed me how they were using water suppression on the demolition work they were doing. “They were all kitted up and the water was keeping the dust down really well. “They wouldn’t have been doing that 18 months ago,” she says. Because industry had taken up the challenge so well, “We haven’t had to regulate to the nth degree and say ‘Thou must do this’ – we haven’t felt the need to do that at this stage.” As for the workers who might have been exposed to silica dust before the alarm was given, Donna says it’s too early to see if any health problems are emerging. “We’re working with industry and health professionals to develop the awareness that, if a worker does come in with respiratory problems, to think whether it could be related to work. “The health professionals don’t always think of that.” There has been anecdotal evidence of workers being affected by dust, “but nothing robust yet”. “We’ve just got a project underway looking at some of that [evidence], and there’ll be some data looking at health monitoring results and the lung function that’s been going on for five years here in Christchurch.” Once that data arrives in a few months, WorkSafe will be able to judge how effective its response to the silica dust hazard has been.
Meantime, it can safely be assumed that silica dust does not pose a serious threat to underground and surface miners – it’s largely unique to the construction industry – because a study carried out nationwide in the mid-1990s allayed such fears. Andrew Robertson, currently a member of the New Zealand Safety Council, was at the time a mines and quarries inspector employed by the then Ministry of Energy. He was appointed to an inspectorate created under the auspices of that ministry and the state-owned research body Environmental and Scientific Research (ESR) to evaluate the silica dust hazard in the extractives industry. The inspectorate took samples from quarries all around New Zealand which were then tested by ESR. “In the whole country we could only find one quarry that exceeded either the respirable dust exposure limits or the free silica levels,” Andrew says. The single exception was an Auckland quarry, and that occurred “only because they had a dry dust collection system above screens and all sorts of things, and when they blew it into a bin they had an Archimedes screw with a water jet on it that blended with the water to produce a slurry they could dump in the overburden”, Andrew tells Contractor. Because the dust kept bridging at the bin, a worker – properly kitted in respiratory gear – was designated to clear it, and it was at that point that the dust might have been a hazard. “I can well understand how silica dust might be a problem on Christchurch construction sites, but it’s certainly not a major for the extractives industries,” says Andrew.
Make EROAD your competitive advantage
It’s put us in a league of our own with this client. We’re more favoured to do the work because of the system we’ve got. Simon Mulligan, Director, Taranaki Civil Construction
Read the Case Study at www.eroad.co.nz/taranaki-civil
JUNE 2016 53
CONTRACTOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Demystifying the new CPD requirement It’s a new concept in the extractives industry, but Continuing Professional Development is a key element in the new era of health and safety. HUGH DE LACY reports. (Originally published on the Q&M magazine web page in May 2016)
IT’S THE SORT OF practice you associate
with the professions – doctors, for example, do it throughout their careers – but Continuing Professional Development (CPD) has been extended to Certificate of Competence (CoC) holders in the extractives industry in the wake of the 2010 Pike River coalmine disaster. Government safety body WorkSafe has gazetted requirements for 16 roles ranging from senior site executives needing to do 120 hours of CPD over the five-year term of the certificate, to winding engine drivers who have to do a minimum of 30 hours over the same period. The essence of CPD is keeping operators up to speed on the latest technical and health and safety developments within their particular competency. WorkSafe defines CPD as “the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge, understanding and skills, and the development of personal qualities necessary to undertake duties throughout a CoC holder’s working life”. The requirements, which came into force on January 1 this year, are the latest to flow from the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Pike River mine disaster. “It is important to keep up to date not only with operational and technical knowledge and skills, but also knowledge and skills about how people work with one another and how they work with systems and machines,” WorkSafe says. The requirement for all CoC holders to comply with CPD regulations is contained in the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2013, and certificates will not be renewed unless the applicant can demonstrate they have done the necessary hours. The CPD hours are made up of formal and informal components. Formal learning includes attending or delivering seminars and workshops, completing training courses, attending industry conferences, studying for tertiary 54 www.contractormag.co.nz
qualifications, and publishing peerreviewed papers or articles in an industry publication such as this one. Each type of learning attracts a certain number of acceptable CPD hours – for example an A-grade opencast coalmine manager is required to perform a minimum of 16 hours of formal and up to eight hours of informal learning a year. Informal learning includes reading technical articles, conference papers and publications such as this one, attending field trips, delivering or receiving nonformal in-house training – such as learning to operate a particular machine – reviewing principal hazard management plans and participating in conducting reportable incident investigations. Additional hours earned in one year can be counted towards the following year’s total, but not beyond that. WorkSafe both sets and administers the requirements and, though similar to other such systems, the extractives framework contains some features that may be world firsts. These include a focus on safetycritical statutory roles rather than being profession or trade-based, and rather than focusing on one level of the extractives industry it encompasses everyone from senior site executives to mine managers and B-grade managers. CPD hours have to be recorded in a logbook provided by WorkSafe, which can be filled in either online or physically. Each CoC holder is responsible for recording their own CPD activities, and needs to keep evidence of formal activity participation in case they are audited. A percentage of log-books is selected and checked randomly every year for audit, and log-books will also be checked when the holder applies for the renewal of their certificate. “Because this is new to everyone, we are currently working closely with those who are sending in their log-book entries by checking each entry and providing feedback and information,” Ariadna Motus, WorkSafe’s high hazard project
manager says. The system was new both for CoC holders and WorkSafe and has generated “lots of questions”, something that was “not unexpected given the newness of the scheme”, Motus says. “The board secretariat is working with holders to assist, and also holding workshops to explain CPD and answer questions. “We are closely monitoring how it is working,” she says. Les McCracken, the chief executive of extractives industry safety body MinEx, says there were “quite a few” CPD schemes in operation in other industries, but New Zealand’s extractives initiative is “one of the few in the world that extends down to the supervisor level. “Basically it’s a way of people not losing touch with the industry, and maintaining their technical and operating knowledge.” The log-book system was still being set up and “eventually it’ll go live online, but at the moment it’s a paper system”. McCracken said CPD had become “a bit contentious among people in the quarry sector in particular, and I’ve been saying to people, ‘Calm down: this is new for you, it’s new for the board of examiners and there are little wrinkles that need to be ironed out every day’.” He said it was important for certificate holders to complete a certain amount of the required hours every year, as they would not be allowed to do them all in the last year. “People are asking obvious questions such as what happens if we miss out on year one. “The board of examiners doesn’t seem to have a view on what they’ll do there, but the danger is if you give people a way out on day one, they plan their whole year on taking this way out,” McCracken says. “The big benefit I see is that you’ll get these regional gatherings of people, and the good operators are mixing with the not-so-good who don’t really know what to do.”
COMMENT CONTRACTOR
Supplier due diligence MALCOLM ABERNETHY, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND
OVER RECENT MONTHS and leading up to the introduction of
the Health and Safety at Work Act there has been considerable debate about how a client can demonstrate that they have completed due diligence on their suppliers. Different organisations have implemented different methods to do this from off-the-shelf commercial products that undertake desktop audits of a supplier’s health and safety system through to in-house methods that check and ensure that suppliers have effective health and safety systems that are used as part of their business-as-usual activities. That is a supplier has a fit-forpurpose health and safety system that is used and is working to address the many hazards presented by a workplace. Suppliers have over time developed systems that meet the Accident Compensation Corporation’s (ACC) Workplace Safety Management Programme (WSMP) requirements. The WSMP has a 10-part audit tool that requires an independent third party accredited auditor to undertake safety audits on a business. If successful the business will be accredited at either primary, secondary or tertiary level. There is a system of self-audit for small companies called Workplace Safety Discounts (WSD). And for large companies there is a Partnership Programme under WSMP. In all cases if a business passes an audit at the various levels the company receives a discount on its ACC levies. The WSMP audit requirements are based on NZS 4801 for Safety Management Systems with some additional requirements. The WSMP audit also requires interviews with workers and site visits, in particular construction sites. We understand that ACC is reviewing WSMP and will replace that with a system that will be jointly managed with WorkSafe NZ. So that’s the system and in large part I believe it works! There may be some variation in the quality of audits, but that is an issue for ACC, which accredits the auditors. In my view those businesses that have a commitment to safe working environments spend a great deal of time (and cost) in developing systems, managing those systems and improving them over time. With the use of independent commercial desktop audit systems now being insisted upon by some client groups we need to take a good hard look at what is the value for money in doing this. Some of these systems have annual costs for the suppliers (read contractors) that vary from $1000 to $4500 for a company of up to 24 employees, to tens of thousands of dollars for a large company. The systems also vary as to the integrity of the desktop audit from 10 questions to – it’s been reported – 50 pages of questions.
It’s also interesting to note that one of the first questions asked is what level of health and safety accreditation does your company have (ACC or equivalent)? The clients also frequently describe this type of review as a prequalification system – it is not! At best it may be a supplier management system so at the very least let’s call it that. Prequalification is another issue that if it is to be used or called that then it needs to cover more than health and safety. Some client groups say that the cost of these sorts of reviews will be passed on to themselves, but the reality is a company will absorb that cost as an overhead and reduce the bottom line profit, or alternatively the client will bear the cost – but are we getting value for money? Unfortunately often procurement may be all about lowest price rather than best price and value for money concepts and we need to get away from that – but that’s another issue. Commercial entities that provide these desktop reviews sell the idea to clients saying that by using their system they will be able to demonstrate that they have completed due diligence for their suppliers. So really what and how would you demonstrate due diligence has been completed? Borrowing from WorkSafe NZ guidance materials and in particular the ‘Health and Safety Guide: Good Governance for Directors’ what does this really mean? Due diligence requires directors (as officers) to take reasonable steps to understand the PCBU’s operations and health and safety risks, and to ensure that they are managed so that the organisation meets its legal obligations. It is my strong view that simply by employing a commercial entity to complete a desktop audit of a supplier is no better than verifying that a supplier has appropriate levels of accreditation to WSMP. With the development of reporting apps (eg, Civil Contractors NZ Safety App), the use of a supplier’s health and safety system can be verified. I know there are many other apps that are available or being developed that will also aid in verifying that a supplier’s health and safety system is current and being used. WSMP audits are two yearly so surely it is a simple exercise to ask a supplier for their incident and accident reports or the latest version of their policy or a sample of their worker participation and representation records. Surely the Health and Safety at Work legislation did not intend that all audits needed to be audited by yet another auditor? If there is something wrong with the WSMP audits then let’s fix that and not impose a whole new level of compliance costs on our suppliers.
Postal Address: PO Box 12013, Thorndon, Wellington 6144 Physical Address: Margan House, 21 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, Wellington 6011 Phone 0800 692 376
JUNE 2016 55
CONTRACTOR COMMENT
The benefit of foresight LISA DOUGLAS, PARTNER, HEANEY AND PARTNERS
PICTURE THIS: It is a busy working day. You have recently arranged
for some key equipment to be sent off for maintenance to a new service provider. Your PA brings in a trade account application form from the maintenance company to be signed, and on the second page are the fine print terms of trade. You don’t pay too much attention, sign the document and get on with the day. The equipment is sent off for maintenance, is returned and put back into service. Soon after, a key component which had been the subject of the maintenance work breaks down. Work stops, losses are mounting and the maintenance company points to their terms of trade to say they have limited their liability and the losses are yours to bear. Could this happen to you? It was the unfortunate result for Iceland Drilling in a case considered by the High Court in March 2016: Jardboranir HF (t/as Iceland Drilling) v Summit Hydraulic Solutions Ltd [2016] NZHC 490. Iceland Drilling owned and operated geothermal drilling rigs. Its largest rig, aptly named after the Norse God ‘Thor’, was sent to Summit for maintenance work. The rig subsequently broke down and Iceland Drilling suffered losses estimated by it to be in the region of $1.3 million. It was claimed that Summit had caused those losses by performing substandard work on the rig’s main mast cylinder. At the time Summit was engaged by Iceland Drilling to carry out work on its rigs, it supplied Iceland Drilling with an application for a credit account. At the bottom of the application was a declaration stating “I the undersigned, ..., have read the Terms and Conditions of Trade set out over the page and agree that those terms and conditions form an Agreement between the customer and Summit ...”. The document was signed underneath the declaration, but the reverse was not signed and the terms of trade printed on the document were not discussed between Iceland Drilling and Summit. The signed document was returned to Summit, the rigs sent for maintenance and work completed. The terms of trade limited Summit’s liability to the purchase price of the services in question. The sum charged by Summit was $46,444. A far cry from the losses alleged to have been suffered by Iceland Drilling. The issue was whether Summit’s terms and conditions of trade applied. Although the court considered a number of legal arguments, the issues essentially boiled down to whether oral discussions between the parties after the signing of the original document was a new contract, whether the fact that the page containing the terms of trade had not been signed by Iceland meant they did not apply, or whether the term was ambiguous and should be interpreted in a way so that it did not apply to what had occurred. The court rejected all of those arguments and held that Iceland Drilling was bound by the terms of trade because it had signed the declaration on the credit application form. Whether it had in fact read the terms of trade was irrelevant. This may sound harsh or unfair, but is in line with the general principle that commercial parties are capable of 56 www.contractormag.co.nz
Hand on heart, do you always read the terms of trade before signing a document? Or, on the flip-side, are your terms of trade robust? Ask yourself where the risk will be if things go wrong. looking after their own interests and allocating risk between themselves. The courts will be very slow to interfere with such agreements, no matter how unfair they seem with the benefit of hindsight. This principle dates back at least as far as the 1930s, an example being a hapless train passenger who was injured when stepping off a train and sued the train carrier for injuries and losses suffered. The train ticket referred to terms and conditions listed in a timetable that could be purchased by the passenger. Those terms excluded liability for injuries. The passenger was illiterate (not uncommon at the time), and had clearly not read the conditions or had them explained to her. Even so, the court found that all passengers were deemed to have read the terms and conditions and were bound by them. The law has moved on since the 1930s. There are now various protections in place to protect consumers from unfair contracts and from poor goods and services. This includes provisions in the Fair Trading Act, Consumer Guarantees Act and Sale of Goods Act. The position is different when it comes to parties in trade. Such parties can contract out of a number of Fair Trading Act provisions and a specific contract will trump the Sale of Goods Act provisions. The courts, as seen in the Iceland Drilling case, will generally uphold a contract that the parties have agreed to, unless there is evidence of misrepresentation or fraud. The benefit of this position is that there is certainty as to where the risks lie between trading parties. The downside is that there is a need to be vigilant when entering into any form of contract as the law will generally not assist when, with the benefit of hindsight, the terms are seemingly too restrictive. Great losses can flow from what might initially seem to be a straightforward and even minor part of an operation or project overall, but if you are not protected either by contractual terms and/or insurance it might be too late when the importance is appreciated. Hand on heart, do you always read the terms of trade before signing a document? Or, on the flip-side, are your terms of trade robust? Ask yourself where the risk will be if things go wrong. The benefit of foresight can be a great saver.
COMMENT CONTRACTOR
A resilient concrete research roadmap ROB GAIMSTER, CEMENT & CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NZ (CCANZ), NZ READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION (NZRMCA)
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH the Building Research Association of NZ
(BRANZ) CCANZ is developing a Research Roadmap for the wider concrete industry under the unifying theme of resilience. Canvassing opinion from within the concrete industry along with stakeholders in government, engineering and academia, the Roadmap will identify common research areas, and articulate these as a series of goals. Specific research projects to achieve these goals will form the final component of the Roadmap. In drafting the Roadmap a methodology is also being developed, one which examines a range of influencing factors such as resource availability and the current research landscape. The methodology is holistic in that it studies the entire construction supply chain to ensure that concrete related research is considered across all stages.
Resource availability A key problem with an overarching research strategy is to accept that possible demand exceeds the resources available. As such the exercise quickly becomes, consciously or not, one of prioritisation. The Roadmap will therefore acknowledge that prioritisation may occur, but it will be an outcome of understanding research needs. A successful roadmap will ensure everyone benefits, and that engagement will continue even if some sector needs don’t appear to be met immediately.
Concrete coverage What areas does a concrete research roadmap cover? Obviously materials and construction are to be included, but also that ‘something’ which allows a ‘service’ to be provided. As an example, take the construction of a bridge. The location and design of the bridge may make the use of concrete the preferred choice, and the bridge must be constructed safely and to the standards required. However, the bridge will also be of immense value to the region’s economy. When discussing a research roadmap, an awareness of the interplay between these different viewpoints is important to ensure optimum coverage.
Current research landscape The international scale of the concrete industry is huge, as is its investment in research. For instance, prior to their 2015 merger LaFarge and Holcim spent close to 100 million euro per annum. From a New Zealand perspective, research broadly occurs within companies, universities, crown research institutes and industry specific associations or institutes. Although this landscape is complex, it can be assumed that
research undertaken in companies is market focused, university research has an education focus, while government and independent research institutions develop sectorspecific expertise with a commercial mind-set.
Adopt, adapt and adept With an appreciation of the current global and domestic concrete research landscape the Roadmap will proceed under the assumption that this country will not attempt to be world-leading, but rather a mixture of customer, innovator and in a small number of cases, a front-runner. The Roadmap will define these roles as adopt, adapt and adept. • Adopt – a customer of products, expertise and technologies developed elsewhere. Examples include imported cement, admixtures, structural design innovations and software. • Adapt – informed selection of existing products and services but with a significant adaptation of their standard use or application. An example might include adapting concrete admixtures for New Zealand’s high UV levels. • Adept – widely acknowledged as domain specific expertise. An example being capacity design principles developed by Park and Pauley at the University of Canterbury.
Methodolgy To ensure the methodology for arriving at the Roadmap is inclusive, concrete related concerns across the supply chain will be accounted for – from constituent materials, concrete supply, design and construction, ownership and maintenance, as well as end-of-life. The complex interaction between these stages of the supply chain will be considered, along with their relationship with investors, project managers and consultants.
Moving forward Initial consultation has identified common themes based around security of supply, adoption of overseas technology and workforce demographics and capability. These areas of concern will be teased out under a unifying theme of resilience within and across the supply chain. The ongoing series of stakeholder interviews and workshops is helping to build a clear picture of research objectives and projects that acknowledge and respond to the theme of resilience. Potential research projects will be assessed against probable outcomes from reasonably foreseeable scenarios. This final step will formulate a list of probable research initiatives, as well as complete the roadmap methodology for possible application to other material sectors. JUNE 2016 57
CONTRACTOR MOTORING
MITSUBISHI PAJERO SPORT
TAKES THE HIGH ROAD The Pajero Sport is ‘a bit of a stunner’, says motoring writer CAMERON OFFICER.
THE NEW PAJERO SPORT has a big job to do for Mitsubishi. It’s
an entirely new model and effectively replaces two different vehicles in Mitsubishi’s line-up; the Pajero and the Challenger. The still-reasonably-popular Pajero is now ancient and has
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport VRX Engine: 2.4-litre MIVEC intercooled turbo diesel Power: 135kW Torque: 437Nm 0-100km/h: 9.9 seconds Max speed: 185km/h Tow rating: 3100kg (braked) Fuel economy: 8.0-litres/100km C0 2 emissions: 208g/km Price: $63,990
58 www.contractormag.co.nz
only received mild updates over the past decade, while the Challenger was once a big seller but only enjoyed moderate success after its reintroduction to the Kiwi market in 2010. But the body-on-chassis ute-style SUV is still something worth having in the line-up. A surprising number of manufacturers still embrace the ute-with-a-boot branch of SUV design. It’s not a new idea, but it has certainly come back into fashion within the past couple of years; Holden, Ford, Toyota and Isuzu all now offer SUV variants of their popular utes. And so does Mitsubishi. Although don’t go thinking the Pajero Sport is a straightforward translation of the manufacturer’s Triton. It’s far from it. When I first saw images of the new model upon its release last year I considered it a bit of an awkward-looking thing. It seemed overly tippy-tall, with creases and chrome going hither and thither. The tail lights seemed overly dramatic and that steeply raked c-pillar overly fussy (not to mention a bit Toyota Prado-ish). In the metal though, I almost immediately reversed my opinion entirely. The Pajero Sport is actually a bit of a stunner; an opinion imparted by several other people I encountered
during my time with it. I’m not sure whether it’s a compliment, but a couple felt the need to suggest the Pajero Sport’s design was “much more stylish” than they’d expect from Mitsubishi. And it really is stylish; more so than anything else in the Mitsubishi range. The Pajero Sport does this while retaining a beefy 4x4 attitude too. You’d never realise that underneath that body it features the same ladder chassis platform used for the Triton ute. The big wheel arches and running boards are a bit of a giveaway, but there is plenty of modern-looking chrome trim and a razor sharp grille design to give it a premium feel. I’ve even come to like that c-pillar. The top spec VRX I tested (there is also an XLS grade available) featured swish-looking 18” alloys, LED headlights and Daytime Running Lights, leather-faced and heated seats, keyless entry and start, dual zone air conditioning and a 7” touchscreen through which to access the entertainment system. The Pajero Sport is both Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatible, meaning you synch your mobile phone of choice with the system to access maps, music and phone book contacts. The screen also gives you a view out the back with the reversing monitor, augmented by Mitsubishi’s handy multi-view surround camera system. Both grades get Mitsubishi’s gutsy 2.4-litre turbo diesel matched with an eight-speed automatic transmission, which also features shift paddles behind the steering wheel. Rather than work-spec leaf spring rear suspension like the Triton features, the Pajero Sport retains more car-like coil springs at the back which give it a settled ride. It feels like a stable and compliant SUV; nowhere near as agricultural as the creaky old Pajero was starting to feel when stacked against the competition. Four-wheel drive ability remains key; the new model is wearing the Pajero nameplate after all and, whatever quibbles you might have had about the old version’s ride comfort, it remained a ‘proper’ off-roader with Paris-Dakar Rally pedigree. To that end the Pajero Sport will acquit itself well when the tarmac disappears. In addition to its exaggerated ride height, it features Mitsubishi’s very good Super Select II 4WD system which lets you swap between two-wheel, or four-wheel high and low settings with the simple twist of a dial in the centre console. Add to that the Mitsubishi’s 673-litre boot space and a braked tow rating of 3100 kilograms and you have yourself a very useful SUV. Replacing two models with one is a huge gamble in anyone books. But it certainly seems to have paid off for Mitsubishi.
Volkswagen updates Amarok with V6 power THE POPULAR AMAROK is about to get a big power
boost with the latest generation of Volkswagen V6 engines added to the range. The 3.0-litre top-of-the-line engine delivers maximum output of 165kW and 550Nm of torque. Volkswagen states the engine produces its maximum torque at only 1500rpm, meaning it should prove an effective mud-plugger. What’s more, at 550Nm, the V6’s maximum torque is also 130Nm higher than in the previous range-topper. Other improvements have been announced for the Amarok too, including Volkswagen’s responsive Servotronic steering system as well as 17-inch brake discs on the front axle and 16inch discs at the rear. Another new standard safety feature is the Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which has won multiple awards. The Amarok also receives other external and internal upgrades in order to bring its design more into line with other Volkswagen models. A redesigned front end, an all-new dashboard and new ergonomic seats all serve to up the premium factor. Pricing for the Amarok V6 will be announced in the coming months.
JUNE 2016 59
CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES
CL
M
A
ASSIC
C H I N E S
1
The Euclid S-7 revisited Smallest of all of Euclid’s motor scrapers, the S-7 had an appetite for dirt nonetheless and was a good performer, serving its owners well. BY RICHARD CAMPBELL.
WE FIRST HAD a look at the Euclid S-7 back in the March 2005
issue of Contractor. In those days I didn’t have much column space and so was limited to the material I could present. Since that article was written I have uncovered more information on the little S-7 which was a popular scraper in New Zealand. Designed from the outset as a utility machine for large or small contractors, the Euclid S-7 was introduced in 1954. Powered by a General Motors 4-71 diesel rated at 138 horsepower and sporting a Fuller 5-speed manual transmission, the nippy little machine held seven cubic yards struck and nine cubic yards heaped and was known as the 3UOT-26SH series. The machine was a success from the outset, and at the time of its introduction, it had little in the way of competition other than LeTourneau-Westinghouse’s Model D, which held a similar payload. With bare bones basic design and all-hydraulic operation, S-7s were preferred by a lot of contractors who couldn’t get to grips with the all-electric LeTourneau D. Spurred on by the success of the 3UOT S-7, Euclid introduced an improved version in 1956 known as the 4UOT-26SH series. 60 www.contractormag.co.nz
This retained the GM 4-71 powerplant which had a power increase up to 143 horsepower, but was fitted with a 4-speed Allison powershift transmission making the unit extremely user-friendly for novice operators. Both the 3UOT and 4UOT were built at GM Euclid’s Hudson, Ohio manufacturing plant. Euclid had also established a manufacturing facility in the UK in Scotland which began producing S-7s in mid-1955 which were called B3UOT-B3SHs. The UK-built S-7s differed from their American cousins by having Leyland AU600 engines rated at 147 horsepower and a Simms or CAV electrical system. Bowl capacity was the same as the US version and the UK machines also retained the 5CB Fuller manual transmission. As an indication of how well GM/Euclid had ‘got it right’ first time, S-7 open bowl scrapers were manufactured virtually unchanged during the entire 17-year production life of the machine. There were some small modifications however as the USmanufactured machines received a horsepower increase in 1961 to 148 flywheel horsepower and a newer version of the Allison CLT 3341 powershift transmission.
1. A powershift 4UOT S-7 working an industrial development in the USA, location unknown. The addition of a powershift transmission made the little S-7 even easier to use. A good entry point for novice operators before they moved to larger machines. The S-7 did all the things a larger scraper could, but on a smaller scale. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
2
2. A uckland-based contractor Collins & Brown uses a British built B3UOT S-7 on housing work on the North Shore. Collins & Brown was fond of small motor scrapers as it also owned two Allis-Chalmers TS-160s. Note that this S-7 is fitted with the optional suspension seat. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
3. One of the first ever S-7s off the production line on a housing development in Ohio, USA, 1955. The S-7 was an ideal size machine for this sort of work as it was quite nimble but could carry an effective payload. This example is painted in Armington Green, a very dark forest green colour originally used by Euclid. 3
It was around this time that the tractor unit panelwork was revised and the machine lost its two prominent front headlights, these being replaced by modular units mounted on the bumper but Euclid US did not change the serial number series to reflect these modifications. Alterations were also made to UK-produced S-7s.These were a little more drastic and involved replacement of the Leyland engine with a 148 horsepower GM 4-71, installation of the powershift Allison CLT3341 transmission, and a similar remodeling of the tractor unit’s panel work. In this form, the ‘new’ S-7 was known as the B8UOT-B3SH series. The S-7 continued in production in the UK for three years after the type had been discontinued in the US.
Paint For the first two years of S-7 production, the machines left the assembly line painted a dark ‘Armington Green’ (Euclid Road Machinery’s original paint scheme). From 1956 until 1967 they were painted GM ‘Hi-Lite Green’ and from 1968 until they were discontinued in 1972, ‘Terex Green’.
PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
Options The standard S-7 was a very basic machine but there were a few extras that could be added to it ex factory. These included a cab, cab heater, windscreen wiper and an air suspension seat, as the standard machine came with a seat mounted on a circular pedestal. There was also the option of fitting larger 21x25 16-ply E3 tyres.
The competition Contemporaries of the Euclid S-7 included the aforementioned LeTourneau-Westinghouse Model D, the Allis-Chalmers TS160, Michigan 110 and Curtiss-Wright CW-28. Caterpillar did not offer any comparable sized machine to the S-7.
Variations on a theme. The S-7 tractor unit proved to be a good basis for mounting other forms of earthmoving equipment. There were several different variants offered over the years and these are described as follows: S-7 with Easton-designed rock dumper (US) First marketed in 1956, the 3UOT-129W series rock dumper was designed to compete with the LeTourneau-Westinghouse D JUNE 2016 61
CONTRACTOR CLASSIC MACHINES
1. C K Brill & Son owned this British B3UOT Leyland powered S-7 and worked it around the Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay areas. This photo is dated December 1966 and was taken in Palmerston North. PHOTO: LATE ROGER WERETA – AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
2. One of the modifications offered by Euclid was the substitution of the open bowl for a Hancock 12E2 elevating scraper. The GM 2-71 diesel mounted on the rear powered only the elevator (through a drive shaft) and provided no pushing power whatsoever. This 1965 factory photo shows a standard 4UOT S-7 with optional suspension seat. Capacity of the S-7 Hancock was 12 cubic yards.
1
PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
2
Tournarocker but only had a limited production run and very few were manufactured. L-W had this segment of the market well sewn up. S-7 with Euclid-designed rock dumper (UK) Based on the B3UOT tractor and very similar to the US assembled model, this too shared the same fate as its American cousin. S-7 with Athey rock dumper (US) Another short-lived attempt to break into the small rock dumper market, the Athey rear dumper was extremely rugged and well built. Introduced in 1966, the sales just weren’t there and the type was withdrawn by 1968. S-7 with Hancock 12E2 elevating scraper (US) Following a couple of trial prototypes, the S-7 Hancock made it into production in 1965. Designed to capture some of Le-Tourneau-Westinghouse’s and John Deere’s market share, this time in the elevating scraper category, the S-7 Hancock was partially successful. With a capacity of 12 cubic yards, the machine was unusual in that it had a separate GM 2-71 engine mounted on the rear of the scraper solely to power the 17 flight elevator unit via a drive shaft and reduction gearbox. The last variation of the S-7 line came along in 1968 and was also another elevating scraper, the S-12E. 62 www.contractormag.co.nz
This was basically an S-7 Hancock on steroids and also featured a 12 cubic yard capacity bowl with the elevator powered by a separate GM 2-71 engine plus other features added as a result of experience with the S-7 Hancock. This was all just a bit much for the little S-7 to handle and the GM 2-71 engine on the back which only ran the elevator, provided no added tractive effort at all. All these factors made the S-12E quite sluggish in operation and very few were manufactured. Euclid/Terex eventually did produce an acceptable small elevating scraper, the S-11E, but it was mostly designed and manufactured by Clark!
The New Zealand connection Clyde Engineering, NZ distributor for Euclid (and later Terex), imported a total of 23 Euclid S-7s – 10 American 4UOTs, 10 UK B3UOTs and three UK B8UOTs spanning the years 1956 to 1972. Euclid S-7s have seen service all over New Zealand and most have had many owners. Particular mention should be made of Te Pohue Contractors and Beattie Bros, both from the Hawke’s Bay, which kept well maintained examples well into the 1970s. It is unusual to find a complete running S-7 these days, but they do exist.
3. Another British B3UOT S-7 working in the South Island near Mt Somers and fitted with a factory cab. Judging from the paintwork it is on its very first job and is getting some serious push power from an International TD-24. Unfortunately there is no information on who owns this particular example. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION 4. Dornbusch Bros owned two British built B3UOT S-7s and first put them to work on the construction of Palmerston North airport where this photo was taken. There is still shipping stencil data on the front of the tractor and fenders so they must have been rushed into service. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
5. One of three British built B8UOT S-7s imported rests in Clyde Engineering’s Lower Hutt yard just prior to its delivery to local contractor Street Bros. It has been modified with the addition of sideboards to the bowl. Street Bros had this machine for a number of years before trading it in on a TS-14. PHOTO: AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
3
4
Their scrapers however, have found a new lease of life as towed scoops. No S-7 Hancock or S-12E elevating scrapers were ever imported, the type just being a little too unusual for New Zealand earthmovers.
5
B R I E F S P EC I F I CAT I O N S Euclid S-7 Scraper model 4UOT-26SH (1958) Engine: General Motors 4-71, inline, 4-cylinder two cycle diesel rated at 143 flywheel horsepower at 2100 rpm
For the model collector
Transmission: Allison CT3340, 4-speed full powershift transmission
Very slim pickings I’m afraid as there has only ever been one model produced of the Euclid S-7, and unfortunately, not the scraper version. This was manufactured to 1:50 scale by German diecast producer Siku in the 1960s and represents an S-7 with an Athey rear rock dumper. Long out of production, they are not too hard to find on Ebay and fetch between $80 to $120 depending on condition. They aren’t too bad as a model but are certainly a product of their time. Be warned that they were never painted Euclid ‘Hi-Lite Green’ and come in a circus of colours so be prepared for a repaint if you really want an accurate example.
Top speed:
25 mph
Brakes:
Air operated shoe type on both axles
Steering:
Full hydraulic, 90° to each side
Turn circle: 28’ Tyres:
18x25, 16 ply, E3
Capacity:
7 cubic yards struck, 9 cubic yards heaped
Operation: Fully hydraulic via four interchangeable, single acting hydraulic rams Length:
29’ 10”
Width: 8’ Height: 8’ 4½” Op.weight:
13 tons empty, 23.7 tons loaded
JUNE 2016 63
CONTRACTOR INNOVATIONS
HDD training from Ditch Witch Ditch Witch New Zealand has a new series of online training modules designed to prepare drilling crews and underground construction team members for any challenging tasks ahead. The Ditch Witch New Zealand Certified Training modules are free for any New Zealand operator to complete and effectively pack decades of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) experience into six easy-to-follow online courses. See www.ditchwitch.com/training.
Bin the broom Karcher’s solution to keeping silica dust out of the air is its compact and powerful NT 35/1 TactTe dust extractor with its patented filter cleaning system designed specifically for commercial applications. With a constantly high air flow the new Karcher NT 35/1 TactTe is able to pick up greater amounts of fine dust than ever before in a continuous and uninterrupted way. Karcher New Zealand managing director, Mike Roberts says the extractor meets the requirements of the ‘bin the broom’ concept. “It is recommended that dust extractors and vacuums should now be used to extract construction dust from building site floors,” Roberts says. Worksafe NZ estimates that construction workers are 20 times more likely to die prematurely from breathing in harmful substances than from a workplace accident. (Source: Worksafe NZ Environmental Scan 16/3/15 + Silica dust in construction Fact Sheet April 2015).
For further information, www.karcher.co.nz.
Versatile Volvo When Fuel Installations Auckland needed a new excavator with good reach, power and stability for larger tank installations and other jobs on service station sites, the machine it chose was a Volvo ECR305C. The company needed a machine that could work around tight spaces and sites with weight restrictions, and be capable of handling multiple attachments, including breakers, drills, crushing units, buckets, rippers and, most importantly, a high tech Movax sheet piling attachment. The Volvo ECR305C is a short swing excavator with a short swing design for confined areas but with the ease of operation and safety of a ‘conventional’ excavator. The compact body swings only fractionally outside its own track width – less than 80mm (with 800mm shoes) enabling the machine to work extremely close to objects, like walls and road barriers. The 30 tonne machine features best-in-class lifting capacity, stability, digging force and control, as well as boasting better weight distribution and increased swing torque. Its hydraulic system features full electro hydraulic control. It is fitted with an optional blade, which gives the machine stability and lifting capacity, a Volvo spec’d extended dipper arm to give it more reach and an Everdigm quick hitch for ease of change of the multiple attachments it uses. 64 www.contractormag.co.nz
INNOVATIONS CONTRACTOR
AdvanceQuip expands products and services AdvanceQuip, a nationwide distributor of construction equipment with locations in Auckland, Christchurch and Gore, and with independent service centres around the country, is expanding its equipment range. Having achieved market penetration with its excavators, AdvanceQuip is now offering wheel loaders and other machinery. Its first grader is now working in the Otago region, while its first dozer is expected to be despatched from America shortly. “With our key products performing so strongly, both Terex and Case, we can only see further growth and good times for AdvanceQuip and their customers through 2016 and beyond,” says the company.
AdvanceQuip started a decade ago as a used truck and machinery dealer, especially with the compact tracked loader ASV PosiTrack, which it sells under the Terex brand. This led to wider access to machinery under the Terex banner including excavators, wheel loaders and off-highway dump trucks. In 2014, the company took on the local distributorship for CASE Construction machinery, adding considerably to the momentum of its activities. These days the stock range includes excavators up to 47 tonne, heavy wheel loaders up to 27 tonne, compact loaders, graders, dozers and skid-steers.
H&S app
Visit Boss at Mystery Creek During the last 12 months Boss Attachments says it has become a distributor for leading global brands that include MB crushing and screening attachments. ”Boss Attachments carries Australasia’s largest range of top quality, earthmoving buckets and demolition equipment which has been manufactured specifically to meet the harsh and varied conditions that contractors must deal with,” it says. “Other internationally recognised leading brands include OSA, Boss Buckets and Dymax . OSA has the world’s largest range of advanced demolition solutions while the Dymax pedigree is based on over a century’s manufacture and development of leading edge equipment for the land clearing and forestry sectors. “We’re planning to have a really good cross section of this range at Mystery Creek during National Fieldays in June. We’re on site number G32 with show specials by the bucket load,” says NZ director Paul Herbison. For further information visit: www.bossattachments.com.au
A web-based app from My Health and Safety has been developed to assist companies with practical implementation of the new Workplace Health & Safety Legislation (HSWA 2015). The app provides tools and templates to manage all aspects of health and safety from the updatable Risk/Hazard Register and live dashboard, to manuals, meeting tools, and new employee or contractor induction. It also encourages staff participation. Officers simply log on to add site information, record near hits, new hazards and so on. The Risk/ Hazard register and stats are instantly updated and managers notified of new risks, hazards and incidents. Businesses can also operate multiple sites with multiple hazards within the one system. For further information go to www.myhealthandsafety.co.nz
JUNE 2016 65
CONTRACTOR CIVIL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND
CCNZ Updates Welcome to New Members Partridge Contracting, Canterbury/West Coast Branch Nick Evans Contractors, Manawatu Branch McDonald Contracting & Construction, Nelson Branch
Please support companies that support CCNZ CCNZ would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the ongoing support of the following Major Associates who have renewed their CCNZ Major Associate membership status for the 2016/17 year: Youngman Richardson & Co CBL Insurance Hays Specialist Recruitment (NZ) AECOM Asmuss Hynds Pipe Systems Manage ACC Winstone Aggregates
Keeping you up to date CCNZ Email News If you work for a Civil Contractors New Zealand member and want to receive our fortnightly email newsletter then just contact Tricia Logan by email tricia@civilcontractors.co.nz or phone 0800 692 376.
Smart Contracting Conference Smart contractors will be getting along to our 2016 Conference “Smart Contracting” being held in Auckland in the first week of August. The conference has had a brand new format developed, working closely with Auckland Branch members, to provide excellent value for all contractors. We have a great selection of keynote speakers, a dynamic series of short sharp concurrent sessions, fun networking events and spectacular award celebrations. Registrations are open now and there are big early bird discounts. Take a look at the programme and REGISTER ONLINE NOW at www. ccnzconference.co.nz.
Get recognition with the CCNZ National Awards Celebrating excellence in the industry, the national awards will be presented at this year’s CCNZ Conference in Auckland. Entry forms and criteria are available at www.nzcontractors.co.nz/ National+Events or by calling 0800 692 376. Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards: Recognise excellence in the performance of members in the construction or management of assets. Entries close Monday 6 June at 10am. Z People Awards: Emerging Leader & Training Development. Entries close Friday 27 May at 5pm. Connexis Company Awards: Recognise those employers that believe in providing opportunities for their staff to gain skills and
knowledge through a nationally recognised qualification. Entries close Friday 27 May at 5pm.
Civil Trades needs contractors and contractors need Civil Trades Do you want to: • Retain and develop your key staff? • Attract new staff? • Reduce rework and improve quality and safety? • Promote work in your business as a trade rather than just a job? • Acknowledge and promote the expertise of your team? If the answer is yes to any of these then you need to get involved with Civil Trades. Visit the Civil Trades website www.civiltrades.co.nz or phone Connexis on 0800 437 486.
CCNZ leaders have input into NZTA review CCNZ recently provided input into a review of NZTA instigated by new CEO Fergus Gammie. The review is being undertaken by Ernst & Young and is focused on ensuring the agency is “positioned for success” and is set up to deliver on the ambitious work programme it has ahead.
New specification for Bituminous Binders NZTA has released the new performance-based specification for Bituminous Binders for use in asphalt mixes (NZTA M/1A). This sees the culmination of a significant piece of work carried out by the CCNZ Asphalt Committee and a wider Industry Working Group. The focus has now turned to updating the Roading New Zealand Code of Practice for the Quality Assurance of Bituminous Binders and a draft of this is currently available for comment. The updated/ reviewed document will be re-issued under the Civil Contractors New Zealand name. Further to this project, we are working with NZTA on developing training for its personnel and consultants on the new specification to assist in upskilling those who will be using this new tool. For further information, email alan@civilcontractors.co.nz or phone 0800 692 376.
Contractor views sought on Retentions MBIE is exploring whether it is necessary to make regulations relating to retention money under the Construction Contracts Amendment Act 2015. To help it consider what (if any) regulations should be made, it has asked Civil Contractors NZ and other key stakeholders for their views. In turn we have asked members via our email newsletter. By the time this magazine is published our submissions will have been made. For further information, contact Malcolm Abernethy on malcolm@ civilcontractors.co.nz or phone 027 249 2513.
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