EPW March 2017

S p ec ial Feat ur e F EATU RE ARTICLE E xc e l l e n c e Awa rd technical focus

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN PUBLIC WORKS

GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

PARTNERING DELIVERS SUCCESS

PREPARING COMMUNITIES FOR EXTREME STORM SURGE

Inspirational women paving the way for the next generation p.29

Findings from Andrew Ryan’s International Study Tour. p.8

Pickanjinnie North Road Upgrade Project. p.22

International best practice and lessons for Queensland. p.56

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS

ISSUE No.5

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Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

CONTENTS ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2017

» FEATURE ARTICLES

» Global Sustainable Practices and Innovation.... p8 » Government Partnership Success....................... p22 » International Women’s Day Feature ................... p29 » Delivering a Safe and Effective Heavy Vehicle Industry..................................................... p70

» TECHNICAL FOCUS

» Traffic Control Innovation Saving Lives............ p52 » Preparing for Extreme Storm Surge................... p56 » Infrastructure Implications of Native Title Compensation.......................................................... p66 » The Latest in Road Pavement Research............... p80

» IPWEAQ NEWS

» President’s Report................................................... p6 » CEO’s Report............................................................ p18 » CQ President’s Report............................................ p50 » SWQ President’s Report......................................... p64 » SEQ President’s Report.......................................... p73 » NQ President’s Report............................................ p82 » Professional Development Update...................... p54 » Working Groups Update......................................... p74

» QLDWATER NEWS:

» CEO’s Report............................................................ p44 » Future Proofing Kingaroy’s Water...................... p47 Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the first issue of Engineering for Public Works for 2017.

This issue explores the theme ‘Paving the Way’ and features a report on Andrew Ryan’s international study tour and the learnings for the Queensland public works sector and also where we can show leadership internationally.

The award-winning Pickanjinnie North Road upgrade project, featured on the cover, reminds us that the best outcomes are achieved through innovation and looking for alternative solutions. This is also evident in the achievements of a small regional council who set out to future-proof Kingaroy’s water supply and by a local manufacturer saving lives with their innovative new traffic signalling system.

In honour of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the important contribution of women to our communities and hear stories from inspirational women paving the way for more women to succeed in public works engineering.

This issue is our biggest to date with a variety of technical and feature articles.

Thank you to all of our contributors and to our Partners and Supporters, especially our newest Partners featured in this issue.

Carlie Sargent Editor

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Become a Member IPWEAQ is the peak body representing those working in the public works sector.

Join Now Membership of IPWEAQ is open to anyone actively engaged in the delivery of public works and services in Queensland including technical officers, draughtsmen and women, supervisors, fleet managers, project managers, councillors or consultants.

Benefits

Our Knowledge Centre is an essential resource for anyone involved in public works in Queensland

Members enjoy a strong sense of community through our proactive branch network.

Our quarterly e-journal is valued for its technical and industry-relevant content.

IPWEAQ members receive preferential rates for attendance at conferences, professional development, branch events, RPEQ assessments, publications, technical products.

Membership fees

(March 2017 to 30 June 2018)

IPWEAQ’s comprehensive professional development program is innovative and exceeds the needs of members and industry.

IPWEAQ technical products are widely-adopted and are leading-edge.

IPWEAQ conferences are must-attend events.

$410 plus GST

under 35 members

$245 plus GST

Use your post nominals MIPWEAQ (Member) FIPWEAQ (Fellow) An IPWEAQ excellence award is highly sought after.

IPWEAQ upholds professional standards as an RPEQ assessor.

IPWEAQ influences government and industry.

Apply online at www.ipweaq.com/membership Enquiries

Free copy

Carlie Sargent Director | Member Services +61 7 3632 6801

Join IPWEAQ in March with your membership paid to 30 June 2018 to receive a complimentary PDF copy of our Complete Streets: Guidelines for Urban Street Design valued at $400 plus GST.

carlie.sargent@ipweaq.com

   www.ipweaq.com

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president’s Report Christmas certainly seems like a long time ago as does my cruise to Vanuatu where I enjoyed snorkelling in the most amazing clear waters of their Coral Coast and zip lining through the tree tops in a beautiful rainforest.

Back down on terra firma in the town of Vila, it was difficult not to be distracted by the poor standard and condition of their roads and footpaths. After a while though, I came to admire the simplicity of it - the narrow patched roads with limited kerb and channelling meets the basic needs of its residents and nothing more is expected.

It reminded me that it is important to consider everything within context; each place in the world is unique and as such, we should never expect everything everywhere to be exactly the same.

This sounds so obvious in writing but in reality we tend to judge according to our own standards.

So I turned my thoughts to the Queensland Auditor Office’s (QAO) review of forecasting for the long-term sustainability of local government that was undertaken last year. This report considered asset management practices in Queensland’s councils and concluded that there is a lot that needs to improve. As a profession, we base our judgment on the state of continuous improvement and we can be quite critical of ourselves. As an asset manager, I know there is always something I would like to do better.

IPWEAQ will be working with the QAO, various state government

departments and local councils to help improve asset management practices taking into consideration the differences between each (and not expecting every practice to be the same). We will also be contributing the necessary tools including Practice Notes, the International Infrastructure Management Manual (IIMM) and of course, our highly regarded Standard Drawings that have been developed by members for members.

The year ahead offers so many opportunities for IPWEAQ, not just in the area of asset management but also in other areas of training and networking and we have a very full program of courses planned including a proposed Western Roads Symposium, several courses for road safety audits, bridge inspections, erosion and sediment control and Powers & Responsibilities to name just a few.

We are also looking to incorporate more webinars, podcasts and live streaming to service those members who are otherwise unable to attend in person.

IPWEAQ is your first, one-stop hub when it comes to your continuous development. And with our new Knowledge Centre, everything you will need will be in one central members-only portal.

It’s an exciting time and I am very much looking forward to my final President’s Report when I get to report on everything we have achieved this year.

Joe Bannan President

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John Derbyshire | FIPWEAQ IPWEAQ is very appreciative of the efforts of John Derbyshire who volunteered his valuable time and considerable expertise as an engineer and senior planner to undertake a detailed review of Complete Streets with reference to its predecessor, Queensland Streets.

During the 1980’s, members of the South East Queensland Local Government Engineers and Overseers Association (LGEOA) including John Derbyshire, volunteered for a project to standardise road design, stormwater drainage design and standard drawings for use by local governments throughout South East Queensland. The LGEOA had an informal link to the then Local Government Engineers Association of Queensland (LGEAQ) which is now IPWEAQ. John’s comprehensive review of Complete Streets resulted in a 45-page report which the IPWEAQ Board has adopted and will now progress its eleven recommendations.

Thank you John Derbyshire for your contribution to IPWEAQ and the public works sector!

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Thanks to our Partners and Supporters The annual IPWEAQ President’s Breakfast was held on Friday 10 February at the Allan Boarder Field in Brisbane and was attended by IPWEAQ Partners, Supporters, Councillors and members to acknowledge their contributions to IPWEAQ and the public works sector.

IPWEAQ President Joe Bannan with Guest Presenter Andrew Ryan, Director Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Council.

Hosted by IPWEAQ President Joe Bannan, the event featured a presentation by Andrew Ryan, Director Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Council and 2015 IPWEAQ Engineer of the Year on his 2016 International Study Tour which focused on ‘Global Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Public Works’.

Joe Bannan and IPWEAQ’s Director, Professional and Career Development, Craig Moss also provided updates on recent achievements and plans for the year ahead.

The presentations were streamed to members and can be viewed online. Read more about Andrew’s study tour findings on page 8 of this issue of Engineering for Public Works and in our new Knowledge Centre.

IPWEAQ is grateful for the ongoing support of our Principal Partner, Partners and Supporters. For more information about partnering with IPWEAQ contact Carlie Sargent 3632 6801 Carlie.Sargent@ipweaq.com or visit our website www.ipweaq.com

IPWEAQ President Joe Bannan and CEO Leigh Cunningham with Ipswich Mayor, Councillor Paul Pisasale.

IPWEAQ President Joe Bannan addressing guests at the President’s Breakfast.

Guests networking at the President’s Breakfast.

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Global Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Public Works: International Study Tour Findings

FEATURE ARTICLE

Andrew Ryan, Director Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Council STUDY TOUR OVERVIEW A group of four Australian local government and public works engineers including myself visited North America and Europe in August / September 2016. During the tour, we visited the cities of Los Angeles, then on to Minneapolis in the State of Minnesota for the American Public Works Association (APWA) Public Works Exhibition and Conference, then to New York and across to Madrid, Spain, and Amsterdam in The Netherlands before returning to Australia.

The theme of the study tour was “Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Public Works”.

Participants met with local government managers and public works practitioners to hear of their experiences, innovations and lessons learnt. We not only learnt from others, but also had the opportunity to share our Australian expertise. Chris Champion and myself provided joint presentations on the Australian approach to

asset management at the APWA Conference in the USA and then in the Netherlands at a meeting of the Stadswerk group (our IPWEA partner organisation) attended by a number of Dutch engineers.

 Sustainable growth & development - Challenges of growth; sustainable transport/ infrastructure; green space; master planning; development assessment

AREAS OF INTEREST The Study Tour group was made up of engineers with a range of engineering and executive management backgrounds, from different size communities – from urban cities to regional communities.

 Water cycle Management Management of stormwater quantity (flooding), quality (treatment systems), life cycle costs, maintenance

Particular areas of interest included sustainable practices and innovation in:  Smart Cities - Emerging use of technology; LED, street lighting, Wi-Fi, waste systems, data management; energy saving, 3D/photo imagery  Asset Management Practices - Strategic life-cycle modelling; service levels vs available funding; community engagement; maturity models  Systems & Mobile Technology New mobile solutions, customer defects, project management, costing, connected workforce, drones, crowdsourcing

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STUDY TOUR PARTICIPANTS The Study Tour participants are representative of a number of States across Australia and included:  Chris Champion (NSW) – Director International IPWEA, and study tour leader;  Andrew Ryan (Qld) – Director Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Council  Gleb Kolenbet (Qld) – Development Engineer, Redland City Council  Doug Bartlett (WA) – Coordinator Asset Management, City of Mandurah PLACES WE VISITED & HOST ORGANISATIONS We were incredibly fortunate to

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visit three countries and meet with many organisations and attend events and hosted visits to many council facilities and interesting projects and development areas along the way.

USA  Santa Monica (Los Angeles, California) We spent a morning being hosted by the Santa Monica County Council Works Director, Gil Borbon, and his leadership team. They presented on the impacts of drought and the approach they have been taking to water sustainability within their council, of some 90,000 people.

Of interest was the impacts of climate change on their regular water supply sources for the city of Los Angeles. LA gets most of its water from the snow melt from the high mountains some 300km or so to the north west of LA, and the lack of winter snows for three seasons has seen a severe drought impact the city. Hence, they have been active in large scale localised stormwater harvesting and treatment systems, together with effluent treatment and reuse into their potable water supply.

We were taken around some of their projects and the contrast with asset standards was marked.

While the City is committing to a major $350m new town hall that will aspire to be a living building (http://living-future.org/lbc), the asset standards varied greatly across the city, and one street back from the main thoroughfares, roads and pavements were in a state of failure. In discussing these issues, it was apparent that the city (like many other USA councils) did not have a systematic approach to asset management.

Santa Monica Footpath - California

M inneapolis (Minnesota) We attended the American Public Works Association (APWA) annual national conference, now rebadged as the Public Works Expo (PWX), for over four days and attended many different presentations and social events.

We also were able to explore the city of Minneapolis, a city of one million people, and its outer areas.

Given they can experience winters of up to minus thirty degrees Celsius, it’s no wonder that they have elevated skywalks connecting the city buildings to allow one to walk a couple of kilometres across the city centre without going to street level. The down side is a distinct lack of activity at street level, compared to many other cities of a similar size.

Minneapolis skywalks - Minnesota, USA

Myself and Chris Champion presented jointly on the Australian

approach to asset management.

Chris focussed on the overarching strategic approach to asset management and long term sustainability, as articulated through the various IPWEA / NAMS products, such as the IIMM, while I shared the journey that my council had been on, in putting the NAMS plans and strategies into action, and the outcomes that we have been able to achieve in doing so.  New York City (New York State) We spent an interesting day getting to see the sights of New York and experiencing firsthand the congestion, noise, energy and frenetic pace of a city of great contrasts, from gleaming sky scrapers, the dignified and impressive Grand Central Station to cracked streets and noisy, dirty subway trains.  City of Yonkers (New York State) We travelled up the Hudson River from New York by train to the City of Yonkers, where we spent a morning being hosted by the Director of Sustainability, Haliano Higbie and her colleague Chris the Director of Communications.

They showed us around their redeveloping city which is emerging from an older, run down area, to one that is starting to find its feet, with a new vision of a green and smart city. The projects and sites we visited included a major rooftop solar farm; an innovative solar light pole that also houses a mini wind turbine and in built battery; an ECO barge community display centre, that runs off grid; a new urban development project that is taking an abandoned factory and turning it into small to medium apartments. Their centre piece project was called the “daylighting” of the Saw Mill River, where they removed an old car

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park, and reclaimed a river out of buried culverts. This new river and urban park, frames the centre of town and has seen a boom in new development and regeneration of old buildings and a lift in city pride.

City debt swelling from one billion to seven billion euros. Since the GFC, the city has had to greatly pare back expenditure to reduce their debt levels. But the parklands are a wonderful community asset, with striking bridges and art works, amongst a tradition garden setting.

A typical Madrid town square – Madrid

Yonkers Saw Mill Creek Day Lighting Project – City of Yonkers, USA

The City is also actively pursuing smart technology (like many other American cities) and deploying public Wi-Fi, smart waste bins and other monitoring systems in the public realm as it seeks to leverage such investments to attract new residents and businesses.

SPAIN  Madrid We spent some time getting acquainted with the inland city of Madrid. It’s a hot city, of some four million people, and built for a climate that ranges from plus 40 degrees to minus 10 in winter. Typified by beautiful stone building and large open spaces and parks, it’s a city for the people, with highly effective public transport via a metro and train line serving the inner city. People in Madrid go out late and stay out late, and still take time for their daily siestas. Quite a contrast to the USA. The city was clean and well maintained a seemed at odds with the perception from afar that Spain is beset with high debt and high unemployment.

M adrid Rio Park & Calle 30 Traffic Control centre We spent a day with Samuel and Emilio at the Madrid Calle 30 traffic control centre, and then inspected the newly formed parklands, running alongside the Madrid Rio River, that resulted from taking above ground arterial roads, and creating a system of cut and fill tunnels, and then creating parklands on the reclaimed land above the tunnels. This is one of the main urban transformation projects in the city of Madrid and involved the remodelling of the roadway and land where the old M-30 motorway used to run, following the construction of over 47 km of tunnels.

The traffic control centre coordinates and synchronises the installations and human resources, and is a sophisticated and efficient operation, run through a public –private partner contract by an expert contractor (SICE) who specialise in smart city technology to assist more efficient use of the tunnels.

The Rio parklands were highly impressive, and probably should be at a total project cost of four billion euros. The tunnel / park project was constructed prior to the Global Financial Crisis (simply called “The Crisis” in Europe), and contributed to the total Madrid

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Madrid Rio Pedestrian Bridge – Madrid, Spain

 Toledo We visited the medieval city of Toledo, whisked there by a modern, clean, efficient fast train, covering 120km in under an hour.

Toledo typifies the ancient forms of city construction, where public space and places of worship were primary parts of the city layout and design, focussed around places for people and communion in harmony with commercial activities, and yet still has modern features, such as retractable bollards to manage narrow laneways that take modern vehicles through the city.

Toledo – traffic control bollards in a mediaeval laneway

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 Valladolid We spent an entire day with the Director of Public Works, Francisco Andre Peres Narito and Lucía Oroz Cortés, the Director of Water Sustainability and their team leaders, from the City of Valladolid.

Valladolid is a city of some 300,000 people, sitting up on a plateau some 200km south of Madrid.

The city is yet another example of beautiful older style stone and brick European buildings, integrating with newer modern buildings and services. Like much of Spain it has suffered from the GFC, but through a new Mayor and a determination are still focussed on growth and sustainable asset and service management. Our hosts were incredibly generous with their time, and introduced us to their Mayor Oscar Puente, and took us to their traffic Control Centre, the old water treatment plant, with some facilities over one hundred years old and still in operation, and undertook a walking tour through the old parks into the city centre.

Lime many European cities, their challenge is to try and attract businesses and stimulate population and economic growth, while preserving their heritage and older buildings, a trade off which is not always easy to achieve with limited new development fronts and many older areas constrained through older utilities of limited capacity. Impressively they presented their approach to town planning and urban design, with town plans going back centuries that are still relevant today.

THE NETHERLANDS  Haarlem We stayed in the city of Haarlem, some fifteen minutes by train from Amsterdam. Typified by leafy streets, bikeways taking priority

and intersected with canals and lovely old brick buildings, we were spoilt by the public transport options. In typical Dutch fashion, we were initially surprised to see Tesla electric cars in the taxi ranks and later learnt that Amsterdam has 25% of its taxi fleet as electric and by 2020 all taxis will be electric.

In a country that has 25% of its land mass below water level (and its airport 4.5m below sea level) they take climate change and sea level rise seriously, and have implemented ambitious renewable energy targets for their country.

We had no need to take a car anywhere within Holland the entire time we stay, but instead used busways, trams, trains or bicycles to move around with ease. In a country of only 17 million people, 350 km long by 250km wide and the most densified country on earth you can see how effective public transport works for the Dutch but they still have many examples and systems that we could apply in Australia in our denser city and regional areas as we plan and grow.  Haarlem – Province NoordHolland – Solar Road Project We visited the ultra-modern officers of the Noord Holland Province (similar to a state rods authority) and were hosted by Transport Manager, Hjalmar Boon.

The national government has set 25% energy reduction targets to all state departments and hence the Province are implementing a number of innovative energy reduction or energy generation projects. One of these is the innovative Solaroad project. We were given a presentation by Paul Rutte, the Manager Innovation with the Province, and Sten DE Wit from a private consultancy.

Together they outlined the drivers

of their innovative road (or bikeway) project.

We later visited the Solaroad and witnessed multiple bicycles and scooters whizzing along, oblivious to the fact that the section of bikeway was generating electricity as they rode across it.

Solar Road – The Netherlands

 Stadswerk Forum, Amsterdam - IPWEA Meets Asset Management World Wide The Netherlands public works engineering association, Stadswerk, hosted a joint forum with around 20 Dutch engineers in Amsterdam, who travelled from across the Netherlands to participate. The forum took a focus on international asset management practices and two Dutch engineers presented, along with Chris Champion and myself.

The discourse was very interesting to all, and it was pleasing to note that in Australia we have been putting into practice many of the more advanced strategic asset management practices, whereas a number of Dutch councils are still to progress beyond basic asset management. We ended the day with a cycle tour around the Amsterdam canals looking at how they manage the roads and canal walls that are in a continual state of settlement and then collapse, with a proactive program of canal wall, street and tree replacement.

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 Noordwijkerhout & Katwijk We visited the province of Noordwukerhout and had a fascinating presentation by eminent Dutch Architect, Thomas Rau. Thomas advocated for a different form of engaging products and services by taking an outcome based performance contracting approach, but with a requirement for materials preservation and recycling to be the key driver of the service.

He has entitled this approach as “Product as a Service” and advocates this as an advanced form of performance contracting, that ensures true innovation in design.

His presentation was thought provoking and challenging and a great insight into how far advanced some Europeans are in their thinking when it comes to design and sustainability.

Unlike many others though, he practiced his design philosophy by implementing this approach in several award winning large scale commercial buildings. A glimpse of the future no doubt.

Our host, Jeroen Rodenberg from Noordwijkerhout Province, provided a fascinating presentation on the Dutch approach to stabilising their coastal areas. With a 400-year history of working with and taming nature, he presented on a major project to the west of the province, where they constructed a new dual system, placed a car park under it, and extended the beach profile some 90m into the sea to create a buffer from major storm events and future sea level rise. Jeroen also took us on tour of the project, and we marvelled on both the scale and the seeming ease that they were able to achieve such intervention.

Katwijk Dunal Restoration & Reclamation Project- The Netherlands

A msterdam Smart City Cycle Tour What better way to finish a round the world study tour, than a guided tour behind the scenes of a major city, focussing on smart city innovations and sustainable design treatments and solutions.

We were guided by Cornelia Dinca, a local Urban Designer with a passion for sustainable and engaged communities, and she took us throughout the city by bike, exploring start-up companies, the Amsterdam Smart City Centre (similar to the mart Hub we have created in Caloundra in my home town), the MX3D steel printing warehouse, where they are planning to print the world’s first 3D footbridge in the near future. And then through a number of modern medium density new developments, that are built around ease of transport and communal living.

We saw electric cars charging, that residents can book through an on-line app, and many different cycle ways and differing forms of accommodation types, including a suite of containers converted to student accommodation. For a resource poor country, the Netherlands continues to use its people through education and innovation to create wealth, while still seemingly keeping a focus on a relaxed lifestyle.

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Amsterdam Smart City Cycle Tour – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

GLOBAL OBSERVATIONS THE EXPERIENCE I found the whole tour a wonderful experience. To have the opportunity to travel the globe in two and a half weeks with three other motivated and engaging colleagues from Australia was a privilege that is greatly appreciated. We not only got to travel to three different and unique countries, but were also able to go behind the scenes and talk with fellow engineering professionals in each place and share views, experiences, and world outlooks and learn from each other in doing so.

HIGHPOINTS We went from the laid-back beach ambience of Santa Monica, to the gentle mid-west pace of Minneapolis, to the frenetic nonstop New York. Then an overnight flight landed us in the hot, clean and busy centre of Madrid, where people go out to eat when we head to bed, and then on to Amsterdam with its culture, canals and engineering prowess on display in all facets of life, with mass bicycles and electric cars for taxis.

But above all the people we met were the real highlight and the hospitality we were shown by our hosts was unexpected and humbling. We went to some amazing places, saw some great

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sites and some innovative ways of doing business, but to be able to meet so many committed engineering professionals, who all speak the engineering language (though often in different dialects) was such a bonus.

COMPARING OUR APPROACH TO OTHER COUNTRIES POLITICS & CULTURES From traveling to different countries, and meeting fellow engineering professionals, it becomes abundantly apparent that engineers globally have very similar problems, outlooks and issues. That public works engineers are passionate people, embedded in and committed to their communities, and only want to do the best for their communities and countries they live in. We also saw how often politics and governance also a huge role in the effectiveness of fellow locally government organisations in the other countries.

We are fortunate in Australia that the principals of the Westminster system of separation of powers between the elected officials and the public service are still largely intact – this allows professionals to give advice without fear or favour to our elected officials and gives them the freedom to make judgements based on sound advice and (sometimes) a longer-term view. We saw evidence that where these lines are blurred (particular with many USA councils where the Mayor is also the CEO, Fire Chief and Police Commissioner in one) the community assets are poorly maintained and resources tend to be directed to one off projects or populist issues rather than to wellplanned assets and services.

INSIGHTS INTO BEST PRACTICE IN THE PUBLIC WORKS REALM

I was able to gain insights into many different technologies and treatments that people use and apply in different countries.

It’s obvious that the debate on climate change impacts in the Europe is over, as well as in some parts of the USA, and the focus is on climate change adaptation and management, as well as on focussing on making public assets accessible and attractive for the community to enjoy.

We saw many innovative projects where engineers have developed solutions to reclaim rivers, reduce energy and water use, re-create park lands from road systems, and integrate biological solutions into traditional hard engineering practices. As one of the Dutch engineers put it to me, Holland has been using engineering techniques for four centuries to work with nature and reclaim land from the sea, and they will continue to do so in the face of sea level rise and increased storm activity. It struck me that in Australia many of our regulatory agencies still treat modified environments as if they are natural, whereas the Dutch seem to recognise that once environments have been modified, even if for the wrong reasons in the past, then sometimes, more assertive interventions are then needed to try and stabilise the new environment, and that purely natural approaches will not always work.

Many of the learnings I also picked up along the way were not just the big picture issues, but the smaller scale approaches that people take, such as the tree management practices that they use in Santa Monica and Amsterdam, and the use of real time information systems to manage and monitor traffic flows in city centres.

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE US PUBLIC WORKS CONFERENCE (PWX) The USA is a highly-varied country with different standards and practices applying across different states. Some lead the way in sustainability and design, while other states are very slow to react to changing technologies and practices. Similarly, within the conference itself, some of the presentations were first class while others didn’t match up to the standards we would expect in our local conferences in Australia.

There were also many new or clever products on display at the associated expo, with a strong emphasis on mobile technology apps and software as well as environmental solutions. One of the tools that grabbed my attention was the green road rating tool, that is now being picked up in NZ and I am keen to trial within my own council.

A number of excellent presentations stood out that showcased best practice in public works.  Use Of Technology In Everyday Works A number of presenters showcased ways in which they were using new technology to increase efficiencies or enhance engineering practice.

Drones are becoming more common for bridge inspections and defects logging in many counties. Many councils are also progressing the use of mobile technology to connect with their field staff and communities, similar to many Australian councils.  Vehicle Communication Systems & Real Autonomy Three different presenters provided insight into the rapid advancement in vehicle

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communications systems. The USA Department of Transport have invested $600m in securing bandwidth for the new software and communication systems that are in trial right now in around 2000 vehicles. They predict that in around five years’ time, all of the 20 million vehicles sold in the USA will be equipped with a mandated standardised in-vehicle software communication system, that will allow cars to become data sources and communicate with each other and fixed infrastructure, and within ten years the majority of vehicles on the road will have such systems in operation.

Current “smart vehicles” only look out, but the real changes will come with a fully integrated transport platform where all road vehicles are communicating and managing speed and complex movements for maximum efficiency. This will then enhance driver safety and create the infrastructure to allow true vehicle autonomy. This will then lead to a raft of changes that we are not yet foreseeing in the way we design road and transport systems, cities and towns, acquire vehicles (or not), manage parking spaces, right down to how houses will be designed when full car ownership may not be a given.

Coupled with this, many service industries (long distance trucking, taxis, bus driving) will see a depletion of drivers and the social changes and impacts will need to be managed with care.  Complete Streets & Urban Design The progression of the “complete streets” approach to town and city design is gaining momentum in the USA, and is focused on creating towns and cities that place people and lifestyle over traffic and capacity in the design

of roads and street systems. They have a raft of well-developed standards and guides that assist in this progressing and the fields of conventional traffic engineering are becoming reintegrated with urban design in many cities. They use the term “context sensitive design” to illustrate the fact that one size does not always suit all, and engineers should do more than simply following the standards road design guides when designing or enhancing street networks.  Smart City Technology While there is still a sense of buzz word around the smart city title, many US cities are active in progressing the installation of digital monitoring and control systems in the public realm. The USA Federal Government has offered $40m incentives upon application, for cities to sign up and get active, and in their first round, had over 78 cities apply.

The City of Chicago and Boulder, Colorado seem to be leading the pack, with strong investments in creating digital connectivity throughout their city areas.

THE MOST INNOVATIVE PRACTICES We were fortunate to be able to gain such insights into innovation, and the Netherlands is a hub of innovation. The Dutch engineers have worked for centuries on working with their environment and this ethos is embedded it appears in their approach to the future challenges, and their government is prepared to set stretch targets and fund innovation and trust that their engineers and scientists will derive solutions.  The Solaroad It’s hard to go past the Solaroad

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project in the Netherlands that we were fortunate to see. We were hosted by the engineers in the Dutch province who have been the innovators behind the concept.

Right now they have laid a prototype bikeway section of some 70m of high strength solar panels embedded in pre cast concrete panels. Their vision is to be able to use future road construction projects as opportunities to generate power and ultimately create conductive systems that may then power electric vehicles as they pass along the road way. Its early days but they are seeking to pioneer and develop this technology to a commercially viable stage.  A Material Bill of Rights We also had a profoundly challenging presentation by a Dutch architect, Thomas Rau, who is advocating a new way of considering sustainability. His view is that we accept the world has finite material resources, and yet still treat waste as a by-product and do not value the inherent finite resource base, or base materials. He gave us a thought provoking hour of his time, and is advocating that the UN needs to consider a “materials bill of rights” to create a global change to design and the management and valuing of resources. In some ways, our asset management practices are recognising this issue, but his philosophy takes it to a level of seeking to reuse and preserve materials rather than dig up and dispose as is our most prevalent practices.

By way of example, he stated that when lighting a building he wants to buy light, not a light bulb, while ensuring that the earths finite resources are not squandered by meeting his needs. Hence, he

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specified full material recovery at product end, and contracts for the services over a longer life period, to encourage the light supplier to manufacture a long life product, hence breaking the built in obsolesce cycle. More to come on this I don’t doubt, as we see population growth over the next decades continue globally while resources are fixed. ď ? A 3D printed footbridge?

To be able to go into the warehouse and talk to the team of young mechanical engineers who are well advanced in their ambitions to print a 3D steel footbridge was a privilege. The technology involves a series of robotic spot welders, printing one weld at a time, in a 3D matrix array of steel bars that will all be interlinked. Once complete the footbridge will be erected across a narrow canal. While this is small scale it shows the potential of the a very disruptive technology and a glimpse into how this will start to transform traditional construction mythologies as the systems get more sophisticated LEARNINGS & TAKE AWAYS FOR SUNSHINE COAST & AUSTRALIA SMART CITY TECHNOLOGY AND SMART TRANSPORT Smart city solutions that involve the digitisation and integration of smart technology into everyday public works assets and services is growing globally, with many countries and cities seeking to roll out public Wi-Fi, digital information monitoring systems (e.g. waste bin sensors, traffic flows, car park vacancies), to provide better services to their communities. Further the progress of in-vehicle car management software systems as a mandated product in all new vehicles is

well underway and the future of transport is forecast to change rapidly over the next decade and re-shape our public transport systems and means of getting around, as well as the way the engineering profession manages our transport assets and systems, with the USA is leading the way with this technology.

The motivations in the USA are about safety and to allow vehicles to communicate with each other in the lead up to autonomous vehicles, but they are also up front that the Federal government in the USA needs to be implementing systems that will allow for future revenue raising, as they are forecasting huge drops in petrol tax revenues due to the progression of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Hence mobility is now the buzz word it seems, and we can expect changes and challenges to some of our traditional ways of dealing with cars, parking and people movement in our urbanised areas.

URBAN DESIGN, PLACE MAKING & PERSONAL MOBILITY ARE CRITICALLY LINKED The places we visited and the insights we gained confirmed how important it is when designing new urban developments, or retrofitting brownfield sites, that good urban design (or place making) is a critical component in creating liveable communities. The fragmentation of the engineering profession into speciality fields invariably can lead to an over focus on one disciplines outcomes taking precedence, and the design for personal vehicle movements over the last thirty years has created much of our new cities sprawls. Engineers are increasingly aware of this issue, and we saw examples where cities have taken

the opportunity to reclaim space from vehicles and return it to the people.

The Madrid Rio Park in Madrid was the starkest example of this, where a full four lane motorway was taken underground and a huge parkland area established, at considerable cost. The outcome though is an active space, that the people are using, that has seen property prices escalate and new investment. Similarly the daylighting project in the City of Yonkers has also returned a car park to open space, that now sees people regularly meet, hold events and interact, and has seen an increase in local investments.

Minneapolis and Santa Monica both have well developed modern light rail systems that have linked disparate communities and seen a change in personal movement and new residential building developments along the routes.

And the Netherlands demonstrates what can be achieved by thirty years of focussing on providing cycling links and priorities for public transport, albeit in a very densely populated (and flat!) country. Not every lesson learnt applies to our cities, but we need to be open to new ideas.

Further the emergence of vehicles on demand (see Uber) and the future of autonomous vehicles, will have a huge impact on city designs and the amount of land we allocate for vehicles and for parking. The emphasis will shift to the provision of mobility choice, underpinned by well-developed integrated transport solutions, taking a multi modal approach. Exciting times to be a transport engineer, with a shift from the traditional modelling and planning approach to a technology enabled approach.

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The key point is that such outcomes do not happened by accident and engineers need to play a stronger role in my view in working with planners, urban designers and other engineering staff in seeking to provide integrated transport based developments, and in taking a more assertive role in supporting the Hierarchy of mobility options that favour better lifestyle outcomes.

Australian engineers and the IPWEA have been effective over the last 20 or so years in continuing to raise the practice of asset management as both a professional discipline and an essential part of any organisations future planning and annual financing. Through this many Australian states have legislated to ensure asset management plans and long term financial plans are part of our annual budget cycle.

Finally, great spaces make great places, and city designers over past centuries have realised this, with examples through Spain, and the Netherlands, as well as in New York, where large spaces have been set aside for people to gather and congregate. The City of Vallodalid were able to share their planning scheme from the 17th century that provided a city layout, open spaces and a development pattern that still works today. This is a struggle in Australia as much of our land is allocated privately and new developments provide capacity under planning schemes, but one wonders if these spaces will stand the passage of time and population growth into the future, as the European cities have done.

By contrast we saw little evidence that USA councils have advanced down this path, and even our European colleagues have only progressed to basic asset management plan levels.

AUSTRALIA LEADS THE WAY IN ASSET MANAGEMENT I was greatly surprised to learn how far ahead we are in Australia with our approach to Asset management. From all we saw and certainly from personal feedback to our group, Australia continues to lead the way in our approach to asset management planning and financing, and the products and guides produced by the IPWEA / NAMS are highly regarded. We have much we can share with other countries still if they are willing to listen and take our learnings on board.

I would also suggest that despite our vast differences, Australian public works engineers are united in the way we approach issues, and committed to work together across councils and state boundaries, evidenced by the increasing numbers of national standards that we develop and adopt for the good of the entire community.

SUMMARY LEARNINGS TO PUT INTO PRACTICE How to summarise the takeaways I can see putting into practice from a highly engaged and whirlwind two-and-a-half-week trip around the globe, meeting interesting people and witnessing the diversity and unity of global engineering? Here are my key learnings:  The future for transport planners and traffic engineers will get blurry in the next five to ten years with a lot of change coming through in vehicle communication systems and the progression towards autonomy.  Mobility is increasingly

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becoming the focus of transport systems design, over the more conventional segregation of modes, which is being driven by the disruptive technologies (such as Uber) and the integration of urban design and smart technology with mobility planning.  Many cities are jockeying to lead in the smart city arena – a committed local government is best placed to facilitate and / or deliver this technology in collaboration with the private sector as we manage the control the public realm that people interact with daily – not the Telco’s, not the state governments.  Our asset management practices in Australia are best practice and we need to ensure that we keep this focus, as not only do we maintain the asset quality but also ensure our councils are financially sustainable and strong.  Great urban design doesn’t happen by accident – it takes commitment and effort and involves art works, dedicated open space, integrated transport (mobility) systems, and above all, designing for the people first. Where this doesn’t happen, cities and towns cease to function as healthy places and atrophy sets in.  Open spaces need to be set up for our urbanised areas to cater for future population and be allowed to “breathe” – we need to avoid the temptation to clutter and fill and allow our parks to be spaces for gathering and simply being. In Australia we have a tendency to over embellish and build in our parks and spaces, where, European

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cities leave them open and allow flexible use and a diverse variety of activities to then occur.

From a purely Sunshine Coast Council perspective, our game changing projects and innovation aspirations are right up there with other major cities projects. These include an international runway airport upgrade; a new CBD development in Maroochydore; an underground waste vacuum system in our CBD; a dedicated 15 MW solar farm; a future light rail system, and a commitment to deliver on our Smart City Plan, which can all be judged as being global in scale and aspiration, and many of the takeaways will apply to how we design our places on the Sunshine Coast for current and future generations.

Andrew Ryan is the Director, Infrastructure Services, Sunshine Coast Council.

In 2015, Andrew was awarded IPWEAQ’s Engineer of the Year award at a gala awards ceremony held in Mackay.

In 2016, Andrew was the recipient of an International Study Tour scholarship visiting the USA, Spain and the Netherlands.

Andrew’s inaugural presentation on his study tour learnings and findings was delivered at the 2017 President’s Breakfast. The event was streamed live and the recording and PowerPoint is now available in IPWEAQ’s new Knowledge Centre.

Professional Development Opportunities Supervisors Training 2 day Course 14 - 15 March | Emerald Supervisors Training 8 day Course 26 - 27 April and 24-25 May | Rockhampton/Yeppoon Road Safety Audits 4 - 5 April | Brisbane Spray Seal Field Procedures 23 March | Yeppoon

Rio Parklands – Madrid, Spain

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to sincerely thank the IPWEAQ Foundation for awarding me the study tour grant. The whole experience was a great career development opportunity.

I would also like to thank IPWEA national for continuing to support this initiative and in particular to Chris Champion for not only been a great host and travel companion but also for the high calibre of tour that he was able to arrange.

I would like to thank my Council for allowing me the time to attend and finally to my three travel companions, Chris, Gleb and Doug for being great colleagues and who became friends during our time together.

Bridge Inspections 26 - 28 April | Brisbane

Applications for the 2017 IPWEA International Study Tour close on 30 April 2017.

Erosion & Sediment Control Level 1 14 June, Brisbane

IPWEAQ members may apply for a scholarship at www.ipweaq.com/ international-study-tour.

Erosion & Sediment Control Level 2 22 March and 13 June | Brisbane

Nominations for the 2017 IPWEAQ Excellence Awards open soon. Find out more at www.ipweaq.com/awards.

Erosion & Sediment Control Level 3 29 - 30 March and 7-8 June | Brisbane www.ipweaq.com/courses For more information contact: Craig Moss Director, Professional and Career Development Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com 3632 6805

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CEO’s Report 2016 was a busy year and 2017 is shaping up to be much the same. It’s hard to believe we are already into March.

On 10 February we celebrated the valued partnerships we have with those who provide products and services for our sector (IPWEAQ Partners & council Supporters) at the annual President’s Breakfast (see photos on our website). This year’s breakfast was held at The Pavilion, Alan Border Field with a keynote presentation from Andrew Ryan, Director Infrastructure, Sunshine Coast Council and 2015 IPWEAQ Engineer of the Year.

Andrew, together with Gleb Kolenbet of Redland City Council, was a recipient of the 2016 International Study Tour scholarship to the USA, Spain and the Netherlands.

Andrew’s presentation was based on his learnings and observations from the international study tour.

The event was streamed live and is now available for viewing online and will be available together with the PowerPoint presentation in the new IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre.

In the year ahead, we will be recording all presentations at all branch conferences with keynote presentations at the state and branch conferences live-streamed for members unable to attend in person. Additionally, a number of courses will be offered as webinars.

A key role of our branch committees is to identify initiatives

and services that will add value to our members. A special thank you to Craig Murrell and the CQ Branch committee who submitted the suggestion of an online portal to house our state and branch conference proceedings.

As a result, we will soon launch the new IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre which will be an essential resource for anyone involved in public works in Queensland. The Knowledge Centre will be fully searchable by title, speaker/author, subject, keyword, event or date.

Resources available in the Knowledge Centre include:  Podcasts from the 2016 state conference in Brisbane including all eight keynote presentations and all presentations from all 12 streams (accessible only to paid conference delegates and subscribers). Plus all future state conferences including Townsville (24-26 October 2017).  Podcasts of branch conferences held in 2017 and later (including Dalby, Yeppoon and Logan)  Papers and/or PowerPoint presentations delivered at past branch and state conferences.  Articles published in our journal, Engineering for Public Works.  Articles published in other states and internationally that have relevance to Queensland practitioners. These will be sourced by our Information Resources Manager.  IPWEAQ technical publications including Standard Drawings and Complete Streets

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(accessible only to subscribers)  Media reports on issues affecting our sector.  Podcasts of interviews of delegates taken at state and branch conferences with tagging facilities for members to add to their profile.  Photos of delegates taken at state and branch conferences with tagging facilities for members to add to their profile.  Videos taken at various IPWEAQ events, workshops and courses.

If you were unable to attend the successful 2016 IPWEAQ state conference in Brisbane, you can now subscribe to the podcasts.

Coming up in the next few months, we have conferences in Yeppoon and Logan, the launch of the 2017 edition of the Queensland Urban Drainage Manual (QUDM), initiation of the biennial election of the IPWEAQ Board and multiple courses in our revamped Professional Development program including the Western Roads Symposium.

I look forward to seeing you in Yeppoon commencing with a welcome BBQ at the Emu Park Centenary of ANZAC Commemorative Project.

We invite all members in all branches to attend all branch conferences as they offer an opportunity to expand your network outside your region.

Leigh Cunningham CEO

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Welcome to New Members

• Glen Allen • Hossein Asadi • Peter Boettcher • Craig Bottcher • Shane Botting • Matthew Burdett • Mark Bustalinio • Gregory Buxton • Michael Buxton • Rangi Campbell • Ming-Hung Chen • Bevan Clayton • Ron Cleghorn • Ari Craven • Justin Crick • Allison Cuschieri • Timothy Dack

• Danielle Danielsson • Jeff Davey • Noel Davidson • David Di Tullio • Matthew Dennis • Wayne Eather • Sean Edwards • Adam Evans • Robert Evans • Jason Favier • Gavin Fields • David Guinane • Bijay Gyawali • Mark Holopainen • Mark Judd • Jessica Kahl • Scott Kay

• Robert Kent • Eric Kraak • Glen Langfeldt • Richard Lewis • Jason Litzow • Weena Lokuge • Ricardo Marino • Elizabeth Martin • Allan McMaster • Keith Metcalfe • Marc Mill • Wayne Mills • David Munson • Roger Naidoo • Pieter Neethling • Leroy Palmer • Jay Parton

• Dawn Pedersen • Cameron Playford • Dominic Powell • Aiyathurai Rameswaran • Nam Ranatunga • Mike Salmon • Gihan Saparamadu • Kaylene Scott • Greg Shepherd • Eric Swart • Graham Sweetlove • Mitchell Wilson • Barry Wolhuter • Evan Woods

Membership is open to anyone actively engaged in the delivery of public works and services in Queensland.

Join now www.ipweaq.com/membership Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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meet the team CARLIE SARGENT | Director, Member Services Carlie.Sargent@ipweaq.com

Carlie manages the IPWEAQ Excellence Awards, Member Services and the RPEQ Assessment Scheme. Carlie has held a number of roles in professional associations, most recently with CPA Australia as the Queensland Director and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager and was previously the Manager of the Institute of Management Consultants.

ROSS GUPPY | Director, Technical Products Ross.Guppy@ipweaq.com

Ross has over 30 years’ experience in the road and transport infrastructure sector, including 28 years with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR). During Ross’s time with TMR, he held various specialised engineering and senior executive roles, and was accountable for managing the Technical Documents Program.

CRAIG MOSS | Director, Professional and Career Development Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com

Craig has worked in the civil infrastructure industry since 1985, including senior roles in the government and private sectors. He combines 19 years’ practice as a technical professional with 12 years’ experience as a learning and development specialist to assist in the enhancement of practical knowledge and skills that benefit the individual and the employer.

AMANDA MIKELEIT | Events Manager Amanda.Mikeleit@ipweaq.com

Amanda has managed corporate events in the professional services and insurance sectors for more than eight years. Amanda is responsible for the delivery of all IPWEAQ branch and state conferences and events and exhibition and sponsorship opportunities.

JEANETTE SAEZ | Director, Finance and Administration Jeanette.Saez@ipweaq.com

Jeannette has over 26 years bookkeeping/finance experience in both the private & government sectors.

In 2000 she launched her own finance and administration consultancy which services a range of clients including IPWEAQ, Marling Group and Muir Marine Qld to name a few.

MARK LAMONT | Information Resource Manager Mark.Lamont@ipweaq.com

Mark Lamont has worked as a researcher/tutor in academia for the past decade. While completing his own doctoral thesis, he worked as a tutor/lecturer in the school of humanities at Griffith University and the University of Southern Queensland and is currently undertaking a Masters qualification in Information Science at Queensland University of Technology.

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G ov ern ment par t n e rs h i p d e l i ve rs m ore than ju s t roa d s a f e t y a nd transp o r t i m p rove m e n t s

FEATURE ARTICLE

A $9 million upgrade to Pickanjinnie North Road – an important access road for rural properties and recently established liquefied natural gas sites – was successfully delivered through an innovative partnership between Maranoa Regional Council and RoadTek (the civil works branch of Transport and Main Roads).

The upgrade – which involved road widening, gravel overlay and drainage upgrades – provides a better transport experience and a significant improvement to road safety, but that is only part of the story. The other major success has been in demonstrating the benefits of a partnering approach, using resources from both Maranoa Regional Council and RoadTek for the benefit of both organisations, the project sponsor (Santos GLNG) and the community. In recognition of the partnership’s success, the project took out the top accolade for design and construction of a public works project between $5 million and $10 million at the IPWEAQ Excellence Awards 2016.

RoadTek’s Cally Jackson explains how the partnership exceeded the expectations of both parties and delivered significant savings and transport and road safety improvements to the community:

Maranoa Regional Council and Roadtek representatives accepting their IPWEAQ Excellence Award

Why did we partner?

Council made the decision to deliver the Pickanjinnie North Road Upgrade Project (Pickanjinnie Project) in collaboration with RoadTek in the hope it would provide more flexibility to implement innovative solutions and generate cost savings. Council also expected that a greater degree of autonomy would mean there would be an even firmer grasp on time, cost and quality of work.

At a strategic level, the partnership was seen as a perfect opportunity to increase capability within

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both organisations and to bring together all of the right resources from across the region to deliver the project. This collaboration enabled Council, as principal contractor, to successfully deliver a sizeable construction project to specification and well within all of the required parameters.

How was the partnership created?

The Pickanjinnie Project was the first project to be delivered under a three-year partnership agreement between Council and RoadTek, with the parties

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Formation Widening

banding together to deliver a combined works program through a collaborative and resource sharing approach, using project management services, labour, systems and construction plant resources from both organisations.

The agreement was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which states that both organisations commit to:  mutual respect and cooperation with an emphasis on partnership and recognition of each other’s roles and responsibilities  cross utilisation of project management services and labour and plant resources to define, develop and deliver the program of work, to maximise utilisation of resources maintained within the region  efficiency gains in program delivery through creating a competitive environment in infrastructure provision  flexible, outcome-oriented approaches that allow for innovation  promotion of resource sharing and technical knowledge transfer.

Base Gravel Haulage and Placement

How did it work in practice?

Partnership initiatives are often talked about but rarely accomplished – this being a notable exception. The initiative has challenged both parties to share their programs of work and widen their consideration of how their labour and plant resources can be used most effectively and efficiently.

The governance framework for the MOU includes a program steering committee and project working groups. The steering committee involves senior members from both organisations and performs the strategic management role for the program, dealing with program and project scope, financial matters, key risks and issues, prioritisations of works and integration with other program/project commitments of both parties.

The MOU project working groups oversee and report on all aspects of their assigned project, ensuring the project is delivered in line with project and program objectives, time frames and scope, quality and financial deliverables.

For the Pickanjinnie Project, the initiative allowed council to act as

contract administrator and work as a team with RoadTek as partnered principal contractors.

A more detailed look at the roles of each party is provided below.

Maranoa Regional Council:  Council performed the roles of both principal contractor (in partnership with RoadTek) and asset owner. This saw Council fully accountable for all facets of the project, in all capacities.  The arrangement required ongoing intensive engagement between various departments across council. The lead department for the project was Infrastructure Contracts, who undertook the role of contract administrator/superintendent during construction and overarching project manager (“client side”) from concept through to finalisation.  The Strategic Project Planning and Asset Management Department was integral during the preconstruction phase and took a lead role in the design review process. The Roads, Drainage and Parks Department provided resources

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Project Team with GM During Roma Roadshow

(plant, systems and labour) and constructed the project in the capacity of partnered principal contractor.  Council’s Communications Department kept the community and media well informed about the project’s progress throughout the work. The team also worked with the region’s elected Councillors to derive best-forproject outcomes in instances where project decisions had the potential to impact the community or create any form of political contention.

RoadTek  Council supplied a resource to the project team that would serve a dual purpose (“two-hat role”) for the life of the project.

This individual performed the duties of both ‘site engineer’ (“construction hat”) as well as ‘superintendent’s representative’ (“administrator hat”). This facilitated continuous valuable engagement between Council and RoadTek and at the site interface.

R oadTek senior representatives (Operations Manager and Project Manager) and Council senior representatives (Director Infrastructure Services, Infrastructure Contracts Manager, and Roads, Drainage & Parks Manager) formed the Project Leadership Team, in order to: p rovide strategic direction to the project team a djudicate disputes/issues not able to be resolved on site  f acilitate and encourage continued collaboration between Council and RoadTek during the life of the project. T he project manager from RoadTek was fully embedded, both functionally and operationally, into Council for the life of the project. In addition to his workspace on the project site, a workspace was also made available at Maranoa’s Infrastructure Depot.

This ‘physical and organisational embedment’ promoted firstrate communication between Maranoa Regional Council

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and RoadTek, streamlined stakeholder engagement, and promoted resource integration across the organisations.  Construction crews working on all fronts of the project were combination crews, comprised of employees from both Maranoa Regional Council and RoadTek. This approach was chosen to mitigate the risk of the “silo effect”. It proved to work very well and generated considerable benefits for both organisations in terms of knowledge sharing. It also appeared to boost morale on site and create a happy and productive workplace.

Was it successful?

The partnership approach delivered significant savings in both time and cost while also providing employees from both organisations with upskilling opportunities. Some of the outcomes made possible include:  The ability to draw from both Council’s and RoadTek’s systems provided extra flexibility, allowing best-for-project outcomes to be achieved. For example, using local suppliers was always a high priority, but RoadTek’s standing offer arrangements (such as wet hire) were able to be drawn upon where necessary to expedite project delivery.  A single project team administered and managed the project for both council and RoadTek, which reduced indirect job costs significantly.  The combined Council/RoadTek construction crew established a working quarry at a Maranoa Regional Council gravel pit, which enabled them to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of

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aspects of the project were able to be sectioned off (such as driveway upgrades) for different employees to supervise, which fast-tracked their acquisition of supervisory competencies.

None of these outcomes would have been possible had a more traditional contractual relationship been in place.

Final Linemarking & Seal

material in-house. This saved in excess of $1 million just in material costs. It also generated significant time savings as the working quarry was only 20 kilometres from site and the nearest established alternative was a significant distance away.  A large number of RoadTek construction plant was in the area for use on the project (graders, prime movers, road trains and so on). Typically, plant such as this can sit idle when not needed for the project, causing significant downtime costs. However, because of the relationship, the equipment was able to be used in many other locations throughout the region, maximising plant productivity for RoadTek while improving the quality of other local roads in the region.

E mployees from both Council and RoadTek received upskilling opportunities. For example, a Council grader operator had previously only worked on rural backroads but this arrangement allowed him to gain substantial experience on a large-scale project, while receiving support and mentoring from more experienced operators from RoadTek working within the same crew. S imilarly, several team members completing their Certificate 4 in Civil Supervision were able to satisfy numerous competencies on this one project. This was made possible by rotating them around various aspects of the site (such as concreting or drainage) to give them exposure to different work types. Additionally, smaller

Any learnings?

The Pickanjinnie Project has generated several learnings about how to best structure and manage a partnership approach between different tiers of government for construction projects. It has served as an excellent test case, demonstrating that such an approach can yield impressive benefits for both organisations as well as the project sponsor and the community. Learnings on how to further improve the partnership approach include:  establish and integrate policies and procedures early  develop and implement clear communications lines early  ensure allowances for period rate reviews  gain an early understanding of procurement thresholds for each organisation and establish clear plans for implementation.

Council and RoadTek are now working in partnership to deliver another project – the Fairview Road Upgrade – and look forward to the partnership’s continued success.

For more information on the success of this partnership, please contact Cameron Castles, Infrastructure Services Director, Maranoa Regional Council on 1300 007 662 or cameron.castles@ maranoa.qld.gov.au.

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The Pickanjinnie Project involved road widening, gravel overlay and drainage upgrades along approx 15.4km of the Pickanjinnie North Road, located approx 35km east from Roma off the Warrego Highway. It included:  undertaking roadworks with multiple treatment types, predominantly consisting of widening, removing, replacing, mechanical mixing, granular overlays and cement treated stabilisation  sealing more than 125,000 square metres of bitumen  establishing a mobile crushing plant operation at a Maranoa Regional Council gravel pit, which extracted, crushed and hauled an estimated 100,000 tonnes of material d elivering improved drainage using a

combination of reinforced concrete box culverts and reinforced concrete pipes with various treatments including extensions, full remove and replace, precast and cast insitu components, and reinforced concrete margins and batters  providing consistent employment for about 26 Council and RoadTek employees over the project duration with personnel on site (including subcontractors) peaking in excess of 50 individuals during critical periods.

The project took 184 calendar days to complete, including 40 days of approved extensions of time due to extensive wet weather events as well as scope amendments and variations. Upon completion, the project delivered an eight-metrewide road, which provides a better transport experience and a significant improvement to road safety.

Welcome to our new Partner, SuperSealing!

SuperSealing is a market leader in the Road Maintenance & Construction industry and specialises in Crack Sealing, Civil Works, Line Marking and Traffic Management with over 120 employees throughout Australia and New Zealand.

SuperSealing has established long term relationships with Councils, Civil Contractors and leading Road Maintenance Organisations since 2003 with a reputation built on reliability, quality of work, value for money and high levels of service.

SuperSealing aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of constructing and maintaining roads and services by utilising high quality products, systems, services and solutions that are based on client’s needs; provide safe work environments; optimise traffic flows through worksites; are environmentally sensitive; and save lives.

IPWEAQ is proud of its long association with SuperSealing and is very pleased to welcome them as a Partner!

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Find out more at www.supersealing.com.au and contact Kevin Williams, General Manager North Eastern Region on 0419 521 237 or Anthony Hill, QLD Operations Manager on 0418 486 207.

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INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

LOWER ORDER ROAD DESIGN GUIDELINES

The Lower Order Road Design Guidelines (LORDG) specify minimum standards for the design and construction of lower order road assets and provide practitioners with a riskbased approach to capital improvements. As the lower order road network accounts for over 70% local and state controlled networks throughout Queensland, this approach allows stakeholders to maximise the return on funds invested.

One-day training courses are available for key stakeholders to achieve a common understanding of the risk management strategies and how they apply at each stage of the design and construction process from concept through to completion.

Price for a PDF copy (plus GST)

$100 for members

$400 for nonmembers

Purchase at

www.ipweaq.com/lordg

  

www.ipweaq.com

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IPWEAQ STATE CONFERENCE Townsville Convention and Exhibition Centre 24 – 26 October 2017

Sustainability through Inspired Leadership and Community Engagement EARLY BIRD OFFER Members only early bird registrations open now • Member $1,200 (standard $1,500) *valid to 30 April 2017

JOIN NOW



Register 5 or more delegates and receive additional 5% off each registration Fully refundable cancellations available up to one month prior to the event Registrations are also transferable.

www.ipweaq.com/townsville

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Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities available please contact Amanda Mikeleit on 3632 6802 or amanda.mikeleit@ipweaq.com

IPWEAQ 2017

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To celebrate International Women’s Day, IPWEAQ acknowledges and thanks all women in public works engineering who contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve our lives and our communities. In this special feature, we introduce the women in public works inspiring women and girls to #BeBoldForChange.

James Cook University had recently opened, offering a boost in Townsville’s bid for recognition but it was our status as a garrison city for which we were best known.

Cr Jenny Hill, Mayor of the City of Townsville I was very proud to be elected as Townsville’s first female mayor for the first time in 2012 with a vision to see Townsville recognised not only as the capital of North Queensland, but as the leading city of northern Australia.

Moving to Townsville in the early 1980s, I could not have imagined myself in the position as Mayor of a burgeoning city of almost 200,000.

But I never doubted it was possible.

When my husband and I first moved to Townsville in 1982, we found a promising city yet to find its place in modern Australia.

The region had obvious lifestyle drawcards – enviable weather and a tropical lifestyle. Our port, a cornerstone of the city’s growth since settlement in the late 1800s was also posting small yet steady annual growth.

In fact, the army was the reason my husband and I moved. His posting to the then 2/4 RAR Battalion brought us out of Melbourne to Townsville. Not only did we stay in Townsville, but so did many of his army mates from that era.

It used to take me an hour and a half to get to work every morning in Melbourne but now, with a science degree and various employers – less than 20 minutes from my front door.

I joined the Army Reserve in 1982, Royal Corps of Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) in order to train in vehicle repair, but by 1986 I undertook training as an officer. The Army Reserve pushed me to do things I would never have done otherwise.

I was live firing M60’s, driving four-wheel drives out bush, and learning bush skills.

The majority of my senior instructors were ex Vietnam Veterans who taught me how to attack the enemy, set up defensive positions, “strategic retreats”, and many other skills, always pushing us to a new level.

In the early 90’s, I undertook further study and completed a Masters of Public Health and

Tropical Medicine, by course, working through James Cook University. While completing subjects such as Immunology, Biostatics, and Epidemiology, I also completed subjects in Health Management, Economics and Accounting.

Science taught me attention to detail – one mistake could cost someone dearly. It also gave me the discipline of long hours and an understanding of service to the community.

By this time, I was well entrenched in Townsville and ran for the ALP in the seat of Burdekin, which takes in parts of southern Townsville, in 1992. At that time, politics wasn’t on my radar but I was certainly politically aware from an early age, particularly in the 1970s when Gough Whitlam became a hero in our family by calling a halt to conscription.

My parents were immigrants from Malta who arrived in Australia as part of the post war migration in the mid-fifties. They were strongly opposed to my eldest brother’s possible conscription for Vietnam.

I will always remember how keen my parents were to vote in the 1972 election and the realisation of the profound impact political policy and leadership can have on the lives of so many.

The seat was a safe seat for the sitting Member and Government Minister Mark Stoneman. I wasn’t

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expected to do that well but I pulled it back to about 2 per cent.

When you are not expected to win, you can have fun campaigning.

And in between all of this we became parents twice, and my husband had taken a job that sent him all over the North to work, he was drive in, drive out!

In 1997 I was first elected to the former Townsville City Council. It had been a decade of great change for our city with major infrastructure injecting unprecedented confidence in the North Queensland region, prompting record investment and growth.

Projects including the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre in 1993, prompting the establishment of a national basketball side and a stadium for the North Queensland Cowboys, built in 1995 from the bones of a trotting track, had further defined our city’s future.

Townsville is, and has always been, a city shaped from the collaborative efforts of local champions, working in close partnership across government and industry and proved how transformative such local leadership could be.

It contributed directly to Townsville’s prosperity and to our capacity to generate jobs and wealth and it changed the everyday quality of life enjoyed by Townsville’s residents and families.

The redevelopment of The Strand in 1999 is case in point. The $35 million redevelopment, including jetty, recreational parks and gardens, pathways, restaurants,

cafes and pools was jointly funded with all three levels of government and has been credited as Townsville’s premier example of public infrastructure.

As a member of the steering committee for this project, I am proud to say The Strand has become an icon for our city and also proved what could be achieved when public and private enterprise combine, creating both economic and social capital, shaping the sustainability of Townsville’s development and rewarding of our lifestyle.

Our credentials as a strategic centre for defence, trade and government administration were growing as was our population.

Also on the up were interests in manufacturing and minerals processing, housing and construction, transport, sustainable and renewable energy, and education and research.

Major events such as V8 Supercars and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music highlighted the diversity of our people and the type of events they support. Strand Ephemera would showcase the visual arts along the waterfront, and the development of Jezzine Barracks would showcase our Indigenous and Military heritage.

The secret was out. More and more people were discovering Townsville with its great parks, beaches, services and modern infrastructure you’d expect in a major city.

Our diverse economy with interests in defence, education, government, heavy industry, and business and

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commercial operations set us up as a city of opportunity.

Likewise, the city’s increasing national sporting and cultural profile was also playing a leading role in the city’s development and modern identity.

In the past few years, our focus has been on the revival of the city centre with a goal to radically boost the number of people who choose to live and work in our CBD. Development has included a mix of commercial and residential with great effect but we still have much to go.

The Waterfront development, which will see the redevelopment of 97.2 hectares of mostly vacant land into a variety of open spaces, entertainment areas and commercial and residential developments similar in feel to Brisbane’s Southbank is one project that will help relaunch and redefine our CBD. To include a new 25,000-seat stadium that will get underway this year, The Waterfront is a cataclysmic project that will echo the ongoing benefits of The Strand redevelopment almost 20 years ago.

If public infrastructure is a legacy of a council then the cooperation of public and private enterprise is at its heart.

Successful public infrastructure brings about community pride and identity, creating experiences and opportunities that may not have previously existed.

In Townsville’s case, it has contributed directly to Townsville’s prosperity and to our capacity to generate jobs and wealth.

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It has changed the everyday quality of life enjoyed by Townsville’s residents and families.

Being elected Mayor of Townsville for a second consecutive term last year was a great honour and I’m determined to work hard on behalf of the community to secure the city’s future.

The importance of recognising women in engineering

In closing, I look forward to sharing the best of Townsville with members of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Queensland in October when Townsville hosts the annual State Conference.

Townsville City Council is proud to support this very important gathering.

Call for papers IPWEAQ 2017 State Conference Townsville, 24-26 October 2017

SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH INSPIRED LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Submit your abstract by 5 May 2017

Seren McKenzie IPWEAQ Vice President #BeBoldForChange. That’s the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. I must admit, I wasn’t sure how to be #BeBoldForChange, so I had to do some research on the IWD website to understand the theme. And I was surprised by the figures quoted – did you know, the World Economic Forum predicts the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2186?

It’s a long time away from now but when you think about it, it’s not really that surprising taken into a global context.

Then I took a look at the numbers of women in engineering in Australia something a bit closer to home and more relevant to us in the public works engineering sector.

A number of sources confirmed that women account for less

than 13% of the engineering workforce. This did surprise me as I thought we had a lot of younger females coming into the sector.

A colleague of mine had moved out of local government into consulting for a period and upon her recent return to a council position, once again found herself being the only woman at various meetings she attended. While I certainly do understand this being the only female manager at my council (and often, only one or one of a few females at engineering workshops or training), I do enjoy a great deal of support from my colleagues and I’m not therefore treated any differently to my male counterparts.

The number of university graduates in the engineering field remains low at about 17% nationally. Our universities are beginning to recognise this and are working hard to encourage females into engineering courses.

The University of Queensland reported at the end of 2016 that their recent graduation class included a record high of 26% women. The University of NSW has also introduced a program featuring female engineers at work in an attempt to help change the way women perceive engineering.

And therein lays the problem.

The perception of what engineers do means that people expect an engineer to be male. Sorry guys, but that is the common perception that female engineers

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must live with. For example, last year a resident rang Council wanting to speak to an engineer about an issue. When the officer told the resident I had been on site and he would transfer the call to me, the resident’s response was to reaffirm that he wanted to speak to an engineer, and since I was a woman, I couldn’t be an engineer.

We had a laugh about it; that’s all we can do. Another request from a resident was to meet with a male engineer. Unfortunately we didn’t have any male engineers available that day, so a couple of female engineers went to meet with him. This is still typical for female engineers and the only way to change that is to entice more females into the industry and that is a role for IPWEAQ going forward.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a strong believer in getting the right person for the job. That means the right skills and technical knowledge, irrespective of gender.

However, the workplace obviously needs to be a comfortable and inviting place for women as well. The number of women entering the sector may be slowly increasing (a 2013 report states 50% of women in engineering were under age 30) but the numbers drop off, with the same report stating that only 15% of women in engineering are still working in the sector over age 40!

It seems my time here is limited!

That is an extremely low number of women still in engineering as their career progresses and the reasons for this are unclear. The question was raised during our inaugural Great Debate last year ‘women

make better engineers than men’ with a suggestion that women don’t stay in engineering roles preferring instead more ‘socially’ focussed careers or lifestyle choices. It is also suggested that the engineering culture might be the cause. Personally, I haven’t had any issues with the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with in local government and have received a great deal of support from most colleagues and through my association with IPWEAQ. However, if this is the perception of young female engineers entering the workforce (and students and graduates), it is critical that we are able to show them that we are a progressive welcoming group of professionals who recognise the importance of having women in engineering.

It’s important we encourage colleagues, male and female, to celebrate their successes, to nominate each other for awards and to ensure we provide and promote a culture that welcomes all engineers. IPWEAQ has numerous engineering awards each year, for projects and people.

One of those is the Woman in Engineering award and although I sometimes question why we need to ‘pick out’ a female in the field, I remember the gender imbalance and the statistics ie only 2% of female engineers over age 40 in the sector, and I understand why we need to acknowledge and reward women who have excelled in engineering in public works. According to UQ, young female engineering students are looking for strong female role models when setting out on their

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engineering careers. A part of this is achieved through celebrating the success of women through means such as engineering awards, as well as women staying in the engineering and progressing to senior positions.

We all have a role to play in ensuring our sector is a welcoming place for all. Diversity brings new ideas, innovation and improvement and will only make us stronger and that makes the communities we serve stronger.

Let’s all #BeBoldForChange.

IPWEAQ’s inaugural Great Debate was held at the IPWEAQ 2016 state conference

‘women make better engineers than men’ LISTEN TO THE PODCAST! Live polling declared the debate was won by the team for the affirmative i.e. women do make better engineers than men.

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2016 Woman in Engineering

Angela Fry, Manager – Toowoomba & South West Region, GHD When my name was announced as the winner of the IPWEAQ Woman in Engineering excellence award for 2016, I was both surprised and I must admit, a little offended. I did not know I’d been nominated and it was humbling to acknowledge that my two mentors from the Toowoomba Regional Council had nominated me. As for being offended? It was an award specifically for females and I’ve always been a strong believer that male and female engineers should be treated the same, so why do we need our own award? As I said in my award acceptance: “the best way to be a great female engineer, is to just be a great engineer”.

But a few months on, I am happy to admit that I was wrong to be even slightly offended. The recognition and feedback I have received is incredible. I now realise winning this award is about being

a role model to the young females who are starting their career in this awesome industry.

I studied engineering because I loved maths and accounting seemed dull. I tried very hard to ‘be one of the boys’. I cut my hair, never painted my nails and mostly wore ‘engineering-blue’ work shirts. Fortunately for me, I was blessed to work with a team who saw straight through this and I was soon able to be myself.

Because that’s the ‘thing’! I’ve had a wonderful engineering career because of who I am, not just because I loved maths and had the technical skills. I believe I am an excellent communicator but also have the ability to multitask. And the technical side of my brain (the grey matter) is well balanced with the white matter providing me with strong emotional intelligence including the ability to really understand the issue at hand, not just the resultant problems.

Engineering is no longer about finding the technical solution to society’s infrastructure needs; the technical solution needs to be overlayed with a balance of social, political, environmental and economic outcomes.

On the night of the IPWEAQ Excellence Awards, within five minutes of winning my award, I was approached by a brave young female engineer, Jessica Kahl who asked to have her photo taken with me … which was a bit surreal.

Jessica is the inaugural IPWEAQ Ambassador and founder of the Dream Big Project, with a vision of promoting and raising awareness of engineering as a career for

young people, particularly females.

Jessica pointed out to me, using the conference awards dinner as an example, how severely females are still under-represented in our sector. Having been in the industry for 20 years, I think it’s both good and bad to say that I had lost conscious awareness of this. I am just ‘one of the boys’ these days and it rarely occurs to me that I’m often the only female in a room full of males. But for young girls starting out, it can be very daunting. Perhaps not everyone gets to start their career in an inclusive team like I did.

And having awards for females in engineering is a really positive way to show these young girls that they have made a great career choice.

As an engineer I have helped my community in so many ways, big and small. From helping farmers whose rural driveways undergo regular nuisance flooding, to building multi-million-dollar catalytic infrastructure projects in the CBD. I’ve helped deliver diverse, interesting and always challenging projects that I’m very proud of. And I’m even prouder to say that I also managed to balance my career with my personal life.

I have two wonderful sons, now aged 12 and 10. My employers and colleagues have always recognised the importance of balancing work and family – and that’s important for everyone, not just females. As a graduate, I did struggle to see a career path as an engineer after I’d had children but I’ve learnt that it’s not only possible – it’s actually a great industry to be a working mum as the engineering industry

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now recognises and values the importance of career diversity. We can vary our working roles and responsibilities to balance our family lives and for me this has included taking time away from work when my boys were babies.

Life for me is a massive daily juggle. I am regularly standing on the side of a sporting field waving to my sporty sons while on the phone sorting out problems with projects or negotiating with clients.

And I often work later at night so I can be at the school for concerts

during the day, or do after-school pick-ups. But I love every moment (well most of it anyway!). I honestly believe I am a much better mum when I am working in this job I’ve always loved. I haven’t convinced either of my boys to follow in my footsteps as engineers but I’m confident I am teaching the next generation of males that ‘girls can do anything’. And hopefully, by the time they are fully grown, there will be complete acceptance that men and women equally make great engineers.

So thank you to my two amazing mentors who nominated me for the 2016 IPWEAQ Woman in Engineering Excellence Award.

And thank you to IPWEAQ for recognising that this is still an important and necessary award in our industry. And lastly, good luck to all our engineers starting their careers. Be brave and resilient but most importantly, be yourself – that is your most valuable quality and that’s what will make you a wonderful engineer.

Angela with IPWEAQ Ambassador, Jessica Kahl.

Mike Brady, General Manager, Infrastructure Services Group, Toowoomba Regional Council, Angela Fry and Councillor Carol Taylor, Toowoomba Regional Council

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far. It made me think about where I came from, where I have been and what I have achieved. I have had many light bulb moments along the way but it was the simplest thing that I learnt about myself that completely changed my way of thinking.

Celisa Faulkner, YIPWEAQ Chair I want to share a little bit about me as a young engineer and a mum. It is something that I am proud of and hope that I am a positive influence on others in my role as the Chair of YIPWEAQ. “Normal” – Conforming to a standard, usual, typical or expected.

This is what I thought of myself until late last year when I really started to reflect on my journey so

I was born in 1987, 1 of 16.3 million people in Australia.

I grew up in a loving, sport crazy, academically-determined family and could not resist a challenge. I went to school at North Bundaberg State High and soon realised that if there was a problem, I was in the midst of it looking for the solution. My heart was set on engineering so in 2005 I went to CQUniversity to study for a Bachelor of Engineering (Coop) and Diploma of Professional Practice.

At the end of 2006 I was fortunate (not that I knew how much at the time) to receive a scholarship with the Calliope Shire Council and commenced work while studying. I had some incredible opportunities and some really stinky ones (and I mean literally stinky!) This is where my passion for mentoring comes from as I am forever grateful to the mentors I have had over the

years and continue to have. In July 2009, I graduated with honours and became 1 of 323,000 people with engineering qualifications.

Then the real world began…

My view of the ‘real world’ and myself at this point was: young, passionate, need to work hard (but not too hard), career driven, get ‘stuff’, knowledgeable, learn anything and everything, invincible, going places, grown up.

I graduated with full time employment at Gladstone Regional Council (post amalgamation). I was then 1 of 255,000 employed engineers although the female ratio was extremely low. On a positive note though, this is improving – in 2006, only 10.6% of engineers were female compared to 11.8% in 2011.

I married my high school sweetheart in September 2009 and this made me 1 of 125,000 married employed engineers. As a recent graduate, I never missed an opportunity with training, new jobs, site visits, on the shovel, you name it I was there. I was moved from water, sewer, roads, design, then to infrastructure planning and it was great!

YOUNG IPWEAQ PROGRAM

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

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However my view of the ‘real world’ was challenged and I quickly started to realise (light bulb moment #1) that:  I was knowledgeable only about university ‘stuff’  I had to work harder than I ever thought I would have  I was not as invincible as I thought – lots of engineer jokes came my way which was character building!  I still had a lot of growing up to do  ‘Stuff’ costs a lot of money In spite of all that, I was doing well. It seems that engineers have a drive and need to succeed which is possibly why 83.2% of graduate engineers (average over 2009-2014) prefer full time work comparted to 63.5% of all graduates in Australia.

I developed a real passion for strategic infrastructure planning.

I was energised, challenged and fascinated by computer models of water and sewer networks. I found my feet as a graduate engineer and I was kicking goals. Like most, I was ambitious and I wanted more including to supervise our small Infrastructure Planning team so I worked as hard as I could to

impress those above me.

And then came baby #1, Miss Isla, born July 2011. This made me 1 of 77,750 married employed engineers with kid(s). Isla was a beautiful surprise but at the time I thought, “kids won’t change me”, “I am still a career women” and “this mum stuff will be easy and it will be good to have a break from work”. O.M.G. - how wrong I was!

I was approved for 12 months maternity leave however I craved mental stimulation and found it difficult to keep up to date in the engineering world with a very needy baby. Then I was offered my dream position of Senior Engineer of the Infrastructure Planning Team and returned to work early negotiating part-time hours.

My view of the ‘real world’ had not changed much - my career was still a high priority however I now had a child to raise too. Easy right?

I returned to work in May 2012, in the midst of Gladstone’s biggest boom seen to date. There were LNG plants everywhere, a new coal terminal and extensions to major industries in the region.

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Development – commercial and residential was happening EVERYWHERE! My team were ensuring the water, sewer, traffic, stormwater strategies were being implemented and that required infrastructure was being placed in the ground. Models had to be rerun to reflect the rapid changes occurring every day and new strategies were being developed where development was so different to what was planned. It was HECTIC!

My work/life balance was very ordinary. I was classed as part-time but continuously worked full-time hours to try and keep up with the demands of the role. I had some momentous internal challenges to deal with also:  I had to update myself with the engineering industry.  My new position meant a lot of new skills had to be learnt.  I was part-time but working fulltime or longer hours.  I had to learn to juggle being an engineer and a mum.  My passion started to fade.  My family started to suffer.  My work/life balance was nonexistent.

Then came my Light Bulb Moment #2. Reality Check!  I had my priorities wrong.

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 I had my balance wrong.  I had my career pegged out wrong.

So in July 2013 I stepped back from being a senior engineer to an engineering position. This was a huge decision and one that left many people wondering about my sanity. But it was right for me at that time and I was finally able to put my family first and relegate work to #2. A huge weight was lifted and whilst I was still acting as Senior Engineer in most regards, I knew my limitations no matter how guilty I felt. Over the next year, I witnessed a restructure and position change and was suddenly thrown into learning all about development assessment which was daunting and challenging but a wonderful opportunity.

It wasn’t long before Baby #2, Mr Will entered the world and again I was on maternity leave struggling with not being mentally stimulated.

However, this time I stayed in touch with the engineering world which made it a lot easier. I negotiated new part-time work hours to suit my family and returned to work early, again in February 2015. I was a fish out of water in my new development role but I was starting to kick some goals and the passion returned, finally!  I was balanced but full speed ahead.  I had my priorities right.  I had my balance right.  I had my career pegged out right … for now.  I am a mum who is an engineer!

- Light Bulb Moment #3

And I am 1 of 9,200 female married employed engineers with kids that’s 3% of engineers in Australia.

At this point, my view of the ‘real world’ and myself had definitely changed: I am youngish, passionate, need to work hard, career is important but not everything, I only get necessary ‘stuff’, I am somewhat knowledgeable, learn anything and everything, not invincible, going places, growing up slowly.

I was comfortable however that I still had a sense of guilt that I was letting my work colleagues down and not contributing enough as work was no longer my #1 priority.

I asked myself, “Is this normal?” and “Am I normal”. I certainly didn’t think I was conforming to a standard or what was expected but it made more sense to me when I looked at the antonyms of ‘normal’ – different, extraordinary, rare, unusual, exceptional, extreme, eccentric or unconventional.

Then I started to wonder if anyone is really ‘normal’ - I don’t think so.

I may not be extraordinary but I am certainly different and at times unconventional and that is perfectly OK! It is OK to not be normal. It is OK to take a step back in your career. It is OK to have a break. It is OK to be part-time; that doesn’t make me less of an engineer or less of a professional. But most importantly, it is OK to put your family first!

and those recent graduates or soon to be graduates. My message is not just for mums or even just for women – it is for anyone struggling with their work/life balance. Please take a moment to really think about your priorities, reflect on what opportunities change can offer you but most importantly, don’t be afraid to live!

Cheers Celisa Faulkner

Congratulations IPWEAQ Ambassador, Jessica Kahl!

We are very proud of our Ambassador, Jessica Kahl who successfully launched a series of Dream Big projects in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Mackay to encourage female high school students to consider a career in engineering. Jessica’s report is published on page 38 of this issue of Engineering for Public Works

My guilt is gone (mostly) however my passion is stronger than ever.

I hope by sharing my journey that it helps those girls in high school considering a career as an engineer Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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Dream Big Project Tour

us at the end of the event for opening their eyes to new opportunities for their career. It was incredibly rewarding to create moments which lit up their eyes with passion and ambition.

Female experiences and perspectives inject fresh and new ideas into workplaces and often complement the male leadership style. The contribution of equal genders naturally allows workplaces to make better decisions.

Jessica Kahl, IPWEAQ Ambassador A total of 130 girls participated in the 2017 Dream Big Project Tour throughout Queensland to inspire female school students to consider a career in engineering. The Dream Big Events were ran at the CQUniversity Rockhampton Gladstone, Bundaberg and Mackay Campuses by Jessica Kahl and Abby Caolan. The events featured presentations from female engineers and activities such as structure building, open channel flow, LED circuits and a Future City Build Workshop with Mayor Margaret Strelow and Greg Williamson.

Thank you to all of our Guest Speakers, Staff, volunteers and amazing supporters throughout our journey. Team work makes the dreams work; and there are so many students with new ambitions in engineering because of you!

Not all superheroes wear capes; but this week our engineers did!

Keep dreaming big!

The Dream Big Project is an initiative of IPWEAQ’s

We have gained significant insights into our future generation’s aspirations and how they want to be approached about an engineering career path. Having strong role models who explain their journey and activities which are practically engaging creating lasting impressions on students.

Some girls personally thanked Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

Ambassador, Jessica Kahl. It is designed to provide female students in Years 10 to 12 with an opportunity to develop their understanding of what it is to be an engineer and the rewarding job prospects on offer.

IPWEAQ is proud to be associated with the Dream Big Project which has - for two consecutive years been awarded the CQ University Opal Award for Engaged Service Learning and Excellence and received a High Commendation from Engineers Australia in their 2015 Gender Diversity Awards.

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WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN PUBLIC WORKS ENGINEERING

Natasha Murray Senior Transport Engineer Infrastructure Services, Cairns Regional Council Of the 613 IPWEAQ members, only 49 are women – less than 8%. And there are similarly less than 8% of women registered as RPEQs in Queensland.

Many organisations have acknowledged this imbalance and have implemented programs to encourage an increased take-up of engineering as a career for women.

And there is an early indication that these programs are achieving positive results. The University of Queensland reported a record number of female graduates from engineering degrees in 2016 26% compared to 21% in 2012.

The national average has also increased from 15% to 17% during this period. There is plenty of room for further initiatives to help this along and IPWEAQ is taking a

leading role. I am very pleased to have been invited to join a team of female engineering professionals to take this message to high schools across the state.

Engineering is not all about theory and analysis; there is a major social aspect to it especially in the public works sector. There are stereotypes that men are more theoretical and analytical while women are more socially conscience and caring in nature. The common goal for all of us in this sector is to meet the developing needs of our communities – in the roads we manage, the water and sewerage infrastructure we provide and the community facilities we build.

Everything we do is aimed at improving the quality of life in our communities and this will be the focus for us to attract Generation Z females into engineering in public works.

But there is a lack of detailed information available to students as to what public works engineering is all about and IPWEAQ is developing a new resources pack for roll-out to high schools with subsequent presentations at career days etc.

Our very own IPWEAQ Ambassador, Jessica Kahl has done great work in this space with her award-winning Dream Big project which is proudly supported by the CQ University, IPWEAQ and a number of private engineering firms. This program delivered workshops in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg and Mackay providing opportunities for female high school students to learn

more about engineering as a career with practical engineering exercises. These workshops also deconstructed the stereotype of engineers being men in hard hats.

We are also looking for female professional engineers to mentor high school students through the career decision making process and their early university years.

The IPWEAQ campaign will be launched mid-year to lead into tertiary admission processes.

I encourage our 49 female members to get involved with this initiative to ensure its success state-wide. Please contact our CEO, Leigh Cunningham at Leigh.

Cunningham@ipweaq.com to join us in changing the face of the public works sector in Queensland.

IPWEAQ Conference Grand Slam 2016-17 Members who have registered for all five IPWEAQ conferences in the 2016-17 program (Lucinda, Brisbane, Dalby, Yeppoon and Logan) receive a complimentary registration to the Logan conference in May and are in the running for the inaugural Grand Slam award!

See the contenders for the 2016-17 IPWEAQ Conference Grand Slam Award!

Find out more at www.ipweaq. com/conference-grand-slam

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Gender Equity – It’s not Myth, Its Maths

Sarah Buckler, General Manager – Advocate, Local Government Association of Queensland According to the World Economic Forum, at its current trajectory the global gender equity gap will be closed in 170 years.

As the mother of boy-girl twins, who strives every day to give both children equal access to all that the world has to offer, International Women’s Day is a timely reminder to check in and see what hope I have at meeting this challenge.

Interestingly, statistics would predict, that despite my daughter being more likely to be higher educated, during her life she will earn, on average, 18.8 per cent less than her brother, do twice as much unpaid work as he will, and by the time she retires have only half as much accumulated superannuation.

While this may not be what happens, it is clear to me we all

still have work to do to bend this curve.

For its part, local government is changing. After all, diversity is the very fabric of grassroots democracy. The 2016 Council elections saw the number of female mayors increase from 12 to 16 and the proportion of female councillors move to just under a third. The best result ever in terms of overall representation in the sector.

Greater gender diversity makes smart political sense. Governments should seek to reflect the communities they serve, and access to a wider range of ideas, life experiences and viewpoints can only make for more accurate representation and informed decision making.

In 2015, the Premier made Queensland political history when she swore in the first Cabinet with a 57 per cent majority of women, a trend soon followed by the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister.

Gender equity also makes good economic sense. Boardrooms across the globe are beginning to understand this and embrace it within their work structures and practices. The ANZ Bank Equal Futures Campaign is a good example of this.

But when the starting salary of female graduates is 4 per cent less than men, women in Australia on average earn $295 per week less, and you have a better chance of being a CEO of an ASX200 listed company if your name is Peter than if you are a woman, it is worth thinking more holistically about the system.

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We need to build a collective understanding of why removing barriers is so important. And that the barriers are not just contained in the workplace, they are in our kindergartens, around our kitchen tables and on our screens.

It is also not a battle between the sexes, we are all set to gain.

We need to shift thinking and ignite action in a system that is constraining our potential.

We need to target all societal drivers, from the factors influencing individuals making education and career choices, through to societal expectations on the roles of men and women as carers and breadwinners, and the impact of unconscious bias and the glass ceiling effect on our workforce structure and culture.

For industries like local government – and other traditionally male fields like the construction and infrastructure industries – this translates into a need for us all to promote equity of opportunity in ways that improve female employability.

And the world is stepping up.

We are seeing leaders and global companies step up. Governments are stepping in, and education and awareness is shifting attitudes and long held beliefs.

Researchers from Columbia Business Schools mapped The Daughter Effect in Denmark, and the improved position of women in organisations once the CEO welcomed a daughter into the family. CEOs from Australian companies such as Telstra, Microsoft Australia, Commonwealth Bank and Griffith University have signed up to be

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Pay Equity Ambassadors as part of the In Your Hands Initiative.

Statistics show that there’s big money to be saved in adopting this kind of workplace support.

It’s estimated there’s around $1.4 billion to be saved per year through flexible working arrangements. Companies with women as senior executives in some estimates have shown a 47 per cent premium on average return on equity.

As the world is currently in transition to a fourth industrial revolution, diversity will be critical to adapt to a highly-connected world with constantly changing expectations.

It is paramount we unlock this potential and opportunities, not only because women are one half of the world’s population but because ensuring the healthy development and appropriate use of the world’s talent pool will have a significant outcome on our ability to effectively function in a contemporary society.

Happy International Women’s Day. Sarah Buckler was previously the Manager of Economic and Public Policy for the LGAQ 15 years ago and then worked in senior roles within the Queensland Government before returning to the LGAQ in 2016 to take up the role as General Manager – Advocate, Local Government Association of Queensland.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics with first-class honours.

Connecting with councils and engineers a focus for BPEQ in 2017

Kylie Mercer, BPEQ Registrar Ask someone what councils are about and you might hear the oft-repeated phrase ‘rates, rubbish and roads’. While simplistic, the phrase does reference the critical work councils perform, through their engineers, to design, plan and deliver vital infrastructure.

Along with roads, other examples of public works engineering include bridges, transport planning, water supply, sewage, dams, electrical grids, public facilities, urban planning, building inspections, disaster management and recovery and asset management plans.

Look at the corporate structure of many Queensland councils and you will find an infrastructure committee, a director of engineering services, works and planning services or similar,

further underscoring the role of engineering at the local government level.

Given the importance of the tasks performed by engineers, BPEQ has made it a priority to engage with Queensland councils and engineers, and consultant engineering firms that may contract with councils.

This month, BPEQ staff visited Mackay, Mount Isa, Richmond, Rockhampton and Yeppoon to hold seminars on the Professional Engineers Act 2002 and RPEQ system with council engineers and other stakeholders. An added benefit is that RPEQs can count the seminar time toward their continuing professional development (CPD).

The main areas of conversation during these seminars include ‘what is a professional engineering service’, the five elements of direct supervision and RPEQ certification. While the seminars are targeted at unregistered persons, engineers who have been registered for several years have indicated to BPEQ the great value in having attended.

BPEQ plans to have met with all Queensland councils and their engineers by the end of 2017.

The following dates are proposed for BPEQ’s remaining registration roadshows:  Gympie, Maryborough and Sunshine Coast – April 2017  Cairns and surrounds – May 2017

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 Longreach and surrounds – June 2017  Beaudesert, Esk and Gatton – September 2017  Bundaberg and Gladstone – October 2017  Ingham and surrounds – October 2017 In 2016, BPEQ staff travelled to Ayr, Barcaldine, Charleville, Emerald, Roma, Toowoomba and Townsville.

The seminars provide important information to engineers about their responsibilities but also helps inform BPEQ about the issues on the ground – such as unregistered practice and access to CPD opportunities.

On the topic of CPD, and with International Women’s Day approaching, it is relevant to mention BPEQ’s Back in the Workforce bursary. The Back in the Workforce bursary is open to female RPEQs, non-practising professional engineers and former RPEQs based in Queensland. The bursary will assist successful applicants to attend continuing professional development courses and maintain or regain their RPEQ status.

Bursary applicants can claim up to $500 to cover the costs of continuing professional development.

Applicants can download and complete the application form on the BPEQ website and submit it to BPEQ along with their CV and a cover letter up to two pages, detailing proposed course and cost, and how the proposed course will assist them.

BPEQ is firmly committed to increasing female participation in engineering and boosting the number of female RPEQs. From 2015 to 2016, there was a 30 per cent rise in the number of female RPEQs. This growth was a result of BPEQ’s partnerships with organisations focused on women in engineering and its engagement with women in the sector.

Many female RPEQs have indicated that with better support measures, more women will be attracted to the profession and be able to stay in their jobs. It is hoped that the Back in the Workforce bursary will have this effect.

BPEQ will continue to engage with engineers through the registration roadshows, the Back in the Workforce bursary and other initiatives to ensure Queensland engineers continue to practice at the highest standards.

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To celebrate International Women’s Day, in conjunction with BPEQ, IPWEAQ invites all female RPEQs to join in the month of March and receive one complimentary year of membership.

JOIN NOW! 

DEVELOPMENT Bridge Inspections Levels 1 & 2 Wednesday 26 - Friday 28 April 2017 Brisbane Levels 1 & 2 • IPWEAQ members $1,800 plus GST • non-members $2,100 plus GST OR Level 1 only • IPWEAQ members $1,000 plus GST • non-members $1,200 plus GST

REGISTER NOW!

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qldwater ceo’s report 2017 shapes as an interesting year with a possible state election and a current government keen to get runs on the board, stimulating employment and infrastructure investment. qldwater has already been consulted on assessment activities for “Managing the Infrastructure Pipeline,” policy positions for the Department of Energy and Water Supply, and various regulatory changes. Water Security remains a focus for government and we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time reminding those with the purse strings about the important role local government plays in capital investment to improve environmental health through efficient sewerage management services, and drinking water quality.

The government’s broad approach to infrastructure management has been confusing at times and we hope to see more clarity and coordination with a targeted and strategic approach to grant funding in particular. DEWS expects to produce a new water sector strategy following broad consultation in the early part of the year, and progress on some long standing initiatives.

Our member engagement program has evolved to hopefully make event attendance more achievable. Aside from the growing

list of QWRAP activities, and tour around Central Queensland in May, we have regional events linked to two IPWEAQ branch conferences (Dalby 2-3 March and Yeppoon 23-25 March) and the AWA Northern Queensland Conference (July). The conference programs are shaping up well and you can expect to see some fairly significant changes to our innovation forum in September (including the state-wide Ixom Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test. The opportunity to compete with like-minded W&S professionals through WaSP Wars is back, bigger and better. Contact us any time if you are interested in hosting a future regional event – it might take us a little while but I think this year we will have caught up with all current requests.

Our Technical Reference Group meets four times during the year with the first on 17 February. Here are a few highlights of work in progress and planned through this group:  An automated metering/ digital utilities workshop on 16 February. First suggested by TRG, this is an opportunity for members and vendors to share wisdom on approaches and explore ways to address perceived risks and impediments to the implementation of these inevitable technologies and get

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best benefit from the wealth of data they bring. We have been surprised by the interest and enthusiasm with the program filled in a week following the original announcement, and at the time of writing, over 60 registrations with 8 vendors and 17 qldwater members represented.  A web site refresh mid-year focussing on the popular Resource Library and addressing some mobile device functionality.  New publications including guidance on plant shutdown procedures, 3rd party (telco) installations on reservoirs, along with more position/ advocacy papers, including Operator Certification.  An as yet unnamed charitable program to offer some professional development and other support to small and remote councils. We hope to announce some funding to kick start it soon, with the first activity likely to be to offer some fully funded scholarships to attend our Innovation Forum in September and hopefully other activities during that week.

After a great break, we have all returned energised and raring to go, and look forward to catching up with everybody soon. Contact me any time at dcameron@

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qldwater.com.au or 0407 761 991 if you have ideas to improve our services, or issues you think we can help with.

Dave Cameron qldwater - The Queensland Water Directorate T: (07) 3632 6854 M: 0407 761 991 W: www.qldwater.com.au qldwater works to strengthen the Water Industry, through leadership, support and representation for its Queensland members.

We provide technical input into policy development, guidelines, and coordination to respond to the needs of a changing industry.

qldwater Events 22 March Yeppoon | Mini-Conference 25 May System leakage solutions workshop 19 July Mackay | Mini-Conference 6-7 September Innovation Forum | Brisbane www.qldwater.com.au/events

3meter AS LARGE AS

DIAMETER

21 - 23 Robson Street Clontarf QLD 4019 Australia

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meet the team ROB FEARON | Director, Innovation Partnerships rfearon@qldwater.com.au Rob commenced with qldwater in 2006 as CEO and is currently the Director, Innovation Partnerships. Rob’s current major project focus is the Queensland Water Regional Alliances Program and he has also recently undertaken significant work on the industry led Code of Practice for Pumping Stations and Networks. Rob has over eighteen years of experience in water industry roles across Local, State and Commonwealth Governments.

MICHELLE HILL | Manager, Skills and Strategy mhill@qldwater.com.au Michelle commenced with qldwater in 2010 and is responsible for managing the Queensland Water Skills Partnership program and industry capacity building projects as well as other strategic projects that emerge. Prior to her role at qldwater Michelle held a number of roles in Business Systems, Training and Industrial Relations in the non-profit sector.

DAVID SCHELTINGA | Manager, SWIM dscheltinga@qldwater.com.au David commenced with qldwater in 2011 and is responsible for managing the State-wide Water Information Management (SWIM) program. David has worked on indicators and assessment frameworks at local, State and national levels for over 15 years and has vast experience with running training sessions and workshops. He currently works remotely from Hervey Bay.

DESIRÉ GRALTON | Manager, Communications dgralton@qldwater.com.au Desiré has over fifteen years’ experience in Public Relations and Communications with a particular focus on community engagement and corporate publications. Desiré commenced with qldwater in 2011 and works part-time managing qldwater’s website, communications such as newsletters and promotional materials and assisting with event planning and other projects.

HEATHER GOLD | Project Assistant hgold@qldwater.com.au Heather manages qldwater Member Services and stakeholder engagement. She also coordinates conferences and manages events and industry communications including website management. Heather comes from a background in hotel management and project management in real estate and has been with the Queensland Water Directorate since 2006.

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Future Proofing Kingaroy

WATER ARTICLE generations and the Industry South Burnett Regional Council’s Manager Water and Waste Water, Nerida Airs, explains how this small regional council’s commitment to innovation and excellence delivered multiple benefits for the community.

South Burnett Regional Council had known for many years that Kingaroy’s old trickling filter sewage treatment plant was long overdue for replacement and upgrade and that the local environment was crying out for a break from the constant abuse of receiving poor quality effluent.

What they didn’t know was the journey that they would take would result in the delivery of Australia’s first NEREDA® Granular activated sludge wastewater treatment plant. What started out as a straight forward design and construct project to deliver a simple, robust and cost effective plant ended up being a major milestone for the Council, the community and the industry, delivering great outcomes on many fronts including:  Australian first – Nereda® Technology saving Capital and O&M costs  Effluent standards being surpassed with reduced energy consumption,  Recycled water being made safe and significant expansion to include sporting fields  Legacy project for future

The Journey This project started about four years before the first sod was turned. The first stage involved a vigorous options identification stage which explored all of the technologies available at the time, leading to 17 different options to consider. These initial 17 options were analysed and reduced to six with a further detailed assessment undertaken via a multi-criteria assessment process using both cost items including Capital, Operating and Whole of Life and another 10 non-cost items.

Whilst Council had undertaken an exhaustive process of technology evaluation to select a preferred option – being an Oxidation Ditch with Aerobic Digestion it was also known that newer technologies were available and may provide Council with better long term options. It was therefore decided to call for Expressions of Interest for D&C tenders which included the opportunity to submit an alternative in addition to a conforming tender. This allowed Council to further consider the best options whilst ensuring it maintained influence over the

process solution.

The major innovation for the project was the selection of the Nereda® process and in an Australian first, a granular activated sludge process has been implemented in a full scale municipal wastewater treatment plant. Aquatec Maxcon Pty Ltd (AQM) as the Australian Licensee was selected to deliver this ground-breaking project.

The Nereda® process The Nereda® process trains bacteria to clump into granular structures that simultaneously perform the full bioreactor function, developing anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic compartments within each granule, to facilitate simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and biological phosphorus removal.

The “within granule” zoned treatment process removes the need for the various treatment structures and recycles used to form the zones within the bioreactor tank and clarifiers, making construction faster, less complex and more cost-effective.

A standard bioreactor supports a sludge concentration of 2,500–4,500 milligrams per litre.

Nereda® supports these bacteria at around 8,000 milligrams per litre, reducing required tank numbers and volumes and enabling physically smaller plants to treat the same EP. This reduces the CapEx cost for construction of

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a smaller plant.

Nereda® granules are denser than traditional flocculent solids and so settle faster - a rate in excess of ten metres per hour as opposed to one metre per hour typical of current bioreactor/ clarifier technology. This enables settlement within the bioreactor itself, eliminating the need for secondary clarifiers and RAS stations, further shrinking the plant, piping and structures, further reducing CapEx costs.

Nereda® tanks are deeper than standard bioreactors, but much smaller in diameter. This is because Nereda® replaces the traditional process where sewage enters at one end of the tank and treated effluent exits at the other, with a vertical flow path. Using an optimised combined “fill and draw” process, influent is channelled into the bottom of the reactor where it reacts with and is adsorbed by the concentrated biomass granules.

At the same time, clarified, treated effluent is discharged from the top of the reactor over simple fixed level weirs. Aeration is used to enable biological oxidation prior to settling.

Western view of bioreactors

In a world-first, the Kingaroy WWTP was fitted with removable diffused air aeration grids, enabling the plant to be kept online while diffuser maintenance is conducted.

This also avoids the need to drain the tank during this activity. This was an Aquatec Maxcon innovation developed and applied to meet local industry needs.

This is also the first Nereda® Plant worldwide with Aerobic Digestion biosolids management which is quite common in Australia but not overseas.

Community benefits One of the great benefits of this project is the Class A Recycled Water facility that was also installed. The plant has been commissioned since November last year and has been supplying the local golf course as well as sporting fields. Normally during this time of the year the sporting fields would be a brown, dusty eyesore, whereas they are now lush and green with local committee members now planning to run large carnivals throughout the year. This creates many flow on benefits to the community.

The new plant carries a much smaller footprint than tradition technologies

Aerial view of the ‘old plant’ and the new plant

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The other obvious winner from this project is the receiving environment with the Stuart River now receiving much better quality effluent. This will start to benefit the community again as improvements should be seen in the quality of water in Gordonbrook Dam, downstream of the plant.

The project received IPWEAQ’s 2016 Excellence Award for water projects over $10 million in recognition of its innovative approach to improving water quality for discharge and reuse. Judge’s noted that aside from the significant immediate and future community benefits detailed, the project supported many local contractors and saved council an anticipated $1 million in capital on alternative solutions, as well as a further $0.9 million per annum in operating costs.

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

IPWEAQ EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2017 CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC WORKS The Excellence Awards recognise best practice and innovation in public works projects and the people that deliver them.

Award nominations due 5.00pm Friday 28 July 2017 Submit your nomination at www.ipweaq.com/awards

EXCELLENCE AWARDS CEREMONY AND GALA DINNER Wednesday 25 October 2017 The Ville Resort Townsville

People Awards: • Queensland Engineer of the Year • Woman in Engineering • Young Engineer • Technical Officer • Works Supervisor

Project Awards

• Design and/or construction of public works projects • Innovation in public works • Road Safety • Asset Management • Design and/or construction of water, waste water, sewerage and drought management projects • Innovation in water, waste water, sewerage and drought management

For more information contact Carlie Sargent  3632 6801  carlie.sargent@ipweaq.com

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CQ Branch President’s Report The 2017 CQ Branch conference to be held in Yeppoon, 23-25 March is just a couple of weeks away so if you have not as yet registered, please do so as soon as possible. Our branch conferences are not just a source of CPD hours, they’re critical opportunities for our members to network and discuss issues and solutions with peers.

The theme for this year’s conference hosted by Livingstone Shire Council, is ‘services, resources, lifestyle’.

The conference starts Thursday 23 March 2017 with a technical tour and a welcome BBQ at the Emu Park Centenary of ANZAC Commemorative project.

We have a full program on Friday 24 March offering up to five hours of CPD (including the technical tour). There are however no CPD hours available on Saturday 25 March when delegates can register for the traditional morning of golf or the ‘first time offered’ pistol shooting!

Another first for a CQ Branch

conference will be the recording of all technical papers which will be uploaded to the new IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre. The podcasts will be accompanied by the presenter’s PowerPoint presentation. The Knowledge Centre is accessible only to IPWEAQ members so please be sure to maintain your membership to access this vital new resource.

Those of you who attended our CQ Branch Technical Forum at Hastings Deering last October will no doubt recall a presentation from Celisa Faulkner who offered us a perspective on what it is like for women in engineering trying to balance family with career aspirations. We’re pleased to have Celisa’s presentation from the Forum in the International Women’s Day (IWD) feature in this issue of Engineering for Public Works.

And also in the IWD feature is another member of our branch, and IPWEAQ Ambassador, Jessica Kahl who has just delivered four Dream Big events in Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay and Bundaberg

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aimed at encouraging high school girls into engineering. See the photos of the events on our website and Jessica’s report on page X of the journal.

Members interested in joining the CQ Branch committee can complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) form on the website.

Branch committees comprise up to five members including the Branch President with portfolios available for each member. We are looking for enthusiastic, energetic members with new ideas on how best to service members in Central Queensland. In the event we receive more EOIs than positions available, the CQ Branch Committee will fill a vacancy by matching an applicant with a particular portfolio and/or other branch initiative to be progressed.

We are also able to co-opt other members from time to time for a particular project.

We look forward to seeing you all in Yeppoon, 23-25 March 2017!

Craig Murrell CQ Branch President

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Public Works Technical Subscription (SUBSCRIBERS ARE RECOGNISED AS ‘SUPPORTERS’ OF IPWEAQ)

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.  Full access to Standard Drawings which can be shared with constituents (value $800 per individual user)  Your employees will receive a 10% discount on their annual IPWEAQ membership subscription (value $30 per employee)  Complimentary subscription to Complete Streets: Guidelines for Urban Street Design (value $400)

 One Council delegate to attend the state conference (value $1500-$1800) plus one branch conference (value $200-$250) each year  Discounted rates to purchase IPWEAQ technical products including ADAC, LORDG and QUDM (up to 15% discount)  Free job advertisements in ‘Connect’ our fortnightly e-news service

 Your logo on the IPWEAQ website linked to your website  Your logo in every issue of our quarterly e-journal ‘Engineering for Public Works’ and the opportunity to publish articles  Opportunity to include notices in ‘Connect’ our fortnightly e-news service

$4,000 (plus GST)

 Phone 07 3632 6801  carlie.sargent@ipweaq.com www.ipweaq.com

IPWEAQ Public Works Technical Subscription

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eSTOP: Innovation in Traffic Control Saving Lives

TECHNICAL FOCUS

Traffic Controllers have long been recognised as having to carry out their duties in a challenging and high-risk environment. A report by the Workplace Rights Ombudsman in 2009 noted they were prone to sun exposure, dehydration, respiratory problems and injuries from projectiles and passing vehicles. The most obvious hazards were being hit by passing traffic and mobile plant and machinery.

In 2014, a coroner’s inquest questioned why Australia still puts people on the road to manage roadworks, when other nations around the world no longer do so. In response, the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) began a search for solutions to separate Traffic Controllers from potential harm.

Australian manufacturer Arrow Emergency Systems has provided a lightweight and clever solution - the eSTOP, an electronic Single Traffic Operator Portable system.

In this article, Arrow Emergency Systems Managing Director Ken Ea introduces the product which has recently been approved by TMR for use on all state government and commercial worksites and is providing tangible safety improvements for frontline traffic

control workers.

The challenge of human behaviour In December 2014, TMR outsourced the hosting of an Innovation Hub. A number of manufacturers and research organisations were invited to participate. ArrowES weighed in on the search for a simple, cost effective solution that would help to remove Traffic Control workers from the line of fire – the side of the road – and allow them to control traffic from safer vantage points.

The problem is a very human one; it is fundamentally difficult to control human behaviour such as speeding, substance abuse, fatigue and other behavioural factors that impact safe driving and lead to casualties on Australian roads. Despite signage and the boundaries of the law, drivers often fail to slow down at worksites, leading to injuries and deaths.

ArrowES reasoned that rather than trying to change these behaviours, the answer was simply to remove the traffic controllers from harm’s way. And so the eSTOP was conceptualised.

“We wanted to offer a solution that could provide immediate impact,” Ken explains. “Something

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tangible, with results that can be quantifiable.”

On the road to safer worksites The initial design for eSTOP was simple, yet showed promise.

It incorporated a two-aspect lantern – Red and Green – and a simple remote that was hardwired to control a “stop/go” button.

From there, the concept evolved to incorporate more smarts and safety features, whilst adhering to the original scope of simplicity and cost effectiveness.

The three main components of the current eSTOP system include two signal units, each unit hosting an identical three aspect lantern (Red, Yellow, Green). The third component is a set of wireless Hand Remote Control, with a range of up to 400 metres and the option to increase this distance if required. The modular units can be operated either in pairs to control two-way traffic, or as a single unit in instances where there is no clear line of sight (traditional radio communication between 2 traffic controllers, whilst standing in a safe distance/location).

Once the Hand Remote Control is paired to an eSTOP lantern, fail-safe mechanisms prevent two green lanterns to be on at the same time when paired. In addition, the system is encrypted,

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to ensure that other devices cannot take control over the system / unauthorised access to control the system.

The eSTOP systems are ergonomically optimised, with a lightweight, three-piece assembly.

Designed to meet with OH&S guidelines for lifting by a single operator, it can be transported by existing traffic control vehicles, helping to avoid additional transportation costs.

Each eSTOP system includes an eSTOP lantern, a Hand Remote Control, a battery and tripod legs. The legs can be adjusted to support the unit on uneven surfaces. The height of the legs can also be adjusted to allow for visibility clearance. A battery powers the lanterns for up to 15 hours and the lantern unit has been load tested for wind speeds up to 100km per hour.

Promising feedback from assessment trials Trials of the system were conducted in partnership with Downer and Evolution Traffic Control. These trials demonstrated a 93% reduction in the number of near misses on roadwork sites when comparing eSTOP to the traditional Stop/Slow baton.

The most promising feedback came from the frontline workers themselves. They were impressed and enthusiastic about the benefits.

During the trials, Traffic Controllers no longer had to jump out of the way of motorists. The eSTOP lanterns provide great visibility and could be seen from a long distance, even in poor weather conditions, such as rain or fog.

While Traffic Controllers tend to be invisible to motorists, drivers don’t

miss the eSTOP lanterns.

Another surprising benefit was the effect that the system can have on morale. When a Traffic Controller is roadside with a Stop/Slow bat, they often suffer confrontation and abuse from irritated motorists.

When directed by an eSTOP lantern to stop, motorists just do it. It is also a natural response from motorists when seeing a traffic lantern.

After the trials, Traffic Controllers reported that the system was easy to set up and use. They felt much safer being able to locate themselves off the road and operate the devices from a safe distance.

The future of safe work sites While portable traffic signals such as the eSTOP system do not eliminate the need for accredited Traffic Controllers at a work site, they do provide an effective method for removing workers from the direct line of fire when dealing with motorists roadside, or heavy vehicles in worksites.

In November 2016, eSTOP received approval from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, meaning it can be used on all Queensland government and commercial worksites.

TMR are invested in road safety.

Their vision for the future of safe work sites is that Stop/Slow bats will rarely be used by Traffic Controllers. In January 2017, the Department communicated their intention to make the use of portable traffic systems a requirement on all worksites.

From March 2017 their recommendation will be for portable traffic signals like eSTOP to be used in lieu of Stop/Slow bats, with a view of making this a

mandatory requirement by the end of the year.

The eSTOP system is a great solution for any organisation or company putting their workers roadside or at work sites that contain the risks associated with moving vehicles.

eSTOP system enables Traffic Controllers to operate effectively from safer vantage points.

eSTOP can be transported by existing traffic control vehicles, helping to avoid additional transportation costs.

Arrow Emergency Systems (ArrowES) is an Australian manufacturer and supplier of safety equipment for highrisk traffic control situations and works closely with state and local authorities around Australia, with research and development capabilities and a passion for quality and safety. For more information about eSTOP, or other safety equipment for high-risk traffic control situations, contact Arrow Emergency Systems on +617 38813302 or visit their website : www.arrowes.com.au.

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Managing Public Works Infrastructure

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In May 2016, the Auditor General’s office released its report on the financial audit results from Queensland local government for the 2014-15 financial year. This report identified a number of significant risks and issues that are common across the sector.

Central to the findings from this report were the identified deficiencies in the way councils managed their infrastructure assets. The report found that many councils “systemically lacked good quality data and a clear financial strategy to set the parameters needed to produce accurate forecasts” with the financial forecasting tool provided by the Queensland Treasury Corporation. It said many councils had acknowledged they were poor at planning for the long term and “consequently had low confidence in their own forecasts”.

These findings accompanied by a notable decline in compliance is a clear indication of a knowledge and skills gap for those involved in managing public works infrastructure. The key areas that can be identified as needing immediate attention are:

 Leadership;  Planning; and  Operations Councils are responsible for managing the entire lifecycle of their infrastructure assets with the objective of providing the required level of service in the most cost effective manner. This includes delivering the services that the community requires now and into the future. Organisational leaders are required to provide accountability to this process by promoting principles and policies for good asset management throughout all stages of the asset lifecycle.

While the Auditor General’s report has called attention to the challenges the public works sector faces, we are in a fortunate position to have a solid structure and framework for asset management planning through the National Asset Management Strategy (NAMS). The resources and support currently provided through NAMS is readily available to assist those involved in asset management planning.

IPWEAQ is currently focusing on

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practitioners involved with the operational aspects of managing the public works infrastructure.

We are looking to roll out a program to provide a practical understanding of the requirements for the collection, storage and management of asset related data within the strategic framework of an Asset Management Plan.

All staff involved in condition assessments, data management and reporting will benefit from this program. The program will complement the NAMS initiatives and address the data quality concerns identified in the auditor general’s report.

For more information on this or any professional development initiatives, please contact: Craig Moss Director, Professional & Career Development Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com 3632 6805

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INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Professional Development Offering in-house and customised training in the following areas:

Technical Programs

Non-Technical Program

Popular courses

 Construction & Maintenance  Road Safety  Environment Management  Asset Management  Planning & Design  Fleet & Plant Management  Traffic & Transport Management  Stormwater & Flood Management

 Construction Law  Leadership & Management  Project Management  Business Services  Contract Management  Stakeholder Engagement  Risk Management

 Road Safety Audit  Bridge Inspections Levels 1 & 2  Supervisor Workshop Series  Erosion & Sediment Control  Managing the Risks on Lower Order Roads  Native Title & Cultural Heritage Compliance  The Leadership Toolkit Series

  

07 3632 6800

info@ipweaq.com

www.ipweaq.com

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Preparing and Adapting Communities to Extreme Storm Surge

TECHNICAL FOCUS

Dwayne Honor, Churchill Fellow Dwayne Honor is the Manager Design, Bundaberg Regional Council and an IPWEAQ Board member. He was at the forefront of disaster relief efforts after floodwaters broke the banks of Bundaberg’s Burnett River in January 2013 and later created a public flood gauge mapping tool for which he received an IPWEAQ Award for Innovation.

In 2016 Dwayne was awarded a Churchill Fellowship by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to travel to the Philippines and USA to research lessons learnt from extreme storm surge and investigate best practice internationally.

This report reveals his findings and the methods that prepare and adapt communities to the risk of extreme storm surge, focussing on the impacts of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the Philippines and Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in the United States of America.

Key findings included:  Successful storm surge adaptation and disaster recovery requires good

leadership and governance to avoid human suffering;  Community resilience is built from interconnected networks, shared ownership of problems, access to resources and the depth of relationships formed between people;  Programs that build community resilience are founded in principles of Community Driven Development and empowerment of individuals;  Good urban design is an essential component to creating infrastructure that builds community resilience and social cohesion, as opposed to building resilient infrastructure;  Diversity of thought is required to solve complex problems and drive community based adaptation. The change agents are consistently Social Science, Anthropology, Philanthropy, Political Science, Urban Planning and Architecture;  Community resilience is the first line of defence in preparing and responding to extreme storm surge.

1 Introduction

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The true risk of “storm surge” is not widely understood by coastal communities in Queensland. Aside from recent Tropical Cyclones such as Yasi , many people are unlikely to have experienced the catastrophic damage that storm surge can bring to a community.

What is a Storm Surge?

A storm surge is a rise above the normal water level along a shoreline as a result of strong onshore winds and/or reduced atmospheric pressure. Storm surges accompany a tropical cyclone as it comes ashore. They may also be formed by intense low pressure systems in nontropical areas (QRA, 2011). The combination of storm surge and normal (astronomical) tide is known as a “storm tide” as shown in Figure 1.

Around the world, extreme weather events have led to catastrophic damage to coastal infrastructure and significant loss of life, particularly in Asia Pacific as demonstrated in Figure 2 below. In almost all instances, the most vulnerable people living in our communities are disproportionately affected and rarely prepared for these events.

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was quite a war zone, unbelievable, everything was torn down” (Mayor Pel Tecson, Tanauan City)

Figure 1 – Pictorial representation of Storm Surge and Storm Tide | Source: (QRA, 2011)

Figure 2 - World’s worst natural disasters occur in Asia and the Pacific, 2005-2015 (UNESCAP, 2015, p. 6)

In 1899 cyclone activity in far north Queensland brought major storm surge (>10m) to Bathurst Bay and 307 lives were reportedly lost. Unfortunately, it is often only through tragic circumstance that people learn the true meaning of intolerable risk. This is something that we should all aspire to change.

2 Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) Typhoon Yolanda, internationally known as Haiyan, was one of the strongest storms ever recorded, with wind speeds of more than 300 kilometres per hour (km/h) and storm surges of over four meters. The typhoon made its first landfall in the Philippines on 8 November 2013 and crossed the central part of the country, severely affecting more than 170 cities and municipalities in 14

provinces across six regions found within a 100-kilometer (km) storm track (NEDA, 2014, p. 7) as shown in Figure 3.

“It was unprecedented…people didn’t understand what storm surge was, either did the authorities. We didn’t understand threat and risk, we had a storm surge map in town based on old data, indicated storm surge would be in a few metres. But what exactly happened in Haiyan was different, was unprecedented and off the charts, about 380km/hr winds here in Tanauan. The water came in essentially submerging the entire heavily populated settlement.

It went inland almost 2 km, and led to massive damage to life and property. We lost 1384 lives, so much damage to infrastructure and livelihood ….and it was traumatic…it

2.1 Kalahi CIDSS – National Community-Driven Development Program The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services National Community Driven Development Program (KC-NCDDP or KALAHI) is one of the primary poverty alleviation programs of the Philippine Government being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The program was realigned as a recovery program following Yolanda to integrate large scale disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for the future.

There was clear evidence in the Philippines that this program was building community resilience to future shocks while building trust between the community and government at all levels.

2.1.1 Program Overview  Applies the principles of Community Driven Development (CDD) by engaging people through a Community Empowerment Activity Cycle (CEAC).  Empowers communities to achieve improved access to services and to participate in more inclusive local planning, budgeting, and implementation.  Communities volunteer their time to actively plan, prioritise and deliver projects to suit their collective needs.  Funding is provided direct to communities, not through local government.

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It provides the process in which communities can put CDD principles into practice. Through its four-stages, communities learn about their development needs and identify solutions (in the form of projects) in order to enhance their access to quality basic social services and to accelerate their development through participation in inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation.

2.1.3 Cost Versus Investment – The Economic Paradigm Undertaking significant community based engagement for programs such as KALAHI takes considerable resources. Instead of trying to describe these efforts as a “cost”, the DSWD makes the following important case.

Figure 3 - Municipalities within the 100km storm track of Typhoon Yolanda | Source: DSWD

 Links communities and Local Governments to national agencies and central decisionmaking.  Upskills communities in good governance and the institution of local government.  Expeditious transfer of larger resources to targeted communities and transparent use of funds to support targeted pro-poor projects.

The KALAHI program uses the Community Empowerment Activity Cycle (CEAC) as its platform for engaging communities. It is a facilitated process of community analysis, planning, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation (refer to Figure 4 below).

2.1.2 Community Empowerment Activity Cycle

The economic reasons behind the social investment are framed as below:  It’s a way of bringing development forward that’s more inclusive and prevents corruption;  Its faster; KC-NCDDP delivery timeframes from proposal to project completion are shorter;  Significant reductions in construction cost can be achieved;

 Supports post-disaster response and development of Yolandaaffected areas.  After the 4-year program, communities are left upskilled and empowered building their resilience to future shocks.

“These aren’t costs; they are investments in human development”

 Builds trust in local government due to improved social interactions. The activities that fuel decision making binds the government closer to the people.

Figure 4 - The Community Empowerment Activity Cycle used in KALAHI-CIDSSNCDDP | Source: DSWD

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The true benefits of any investment are not realised until a future point. Many businesses

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would agree that the single most important investment ever made is in the people. Not investing in the people, the business suffers. The same can be said for community resilience.

If governments aren’t investing now in building their communities’ resilience, then how can they be expected to better prepare or swiftly recover when future disasters strike?

3 Hurricane Sandy (New York) New York City (NYC) has a population of just over 8,550,000 people and is located on the east coast of the United States. On October 29, 2012 multiple weather systems – including Hurricane Sandy – collided over the most densely populated region in the nation, with devastating and tragic results.

At least 159 people in the United States were killed as either a direct or indirect result of Sandy.

More than 650,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and hundreds of thousands of businesses were damaged or forced to close at least temporarily.

The power of nature was set loose on our nation’s largest city and some of our smallest coastal towns, with results that would have previously seemed unimaginable.

Lives were lost, millions of homes were upended, families were made homeless in a single night, and entire communities were in shock at the scale of the loss.

(HUD, 2013, p. 13) A massive storm surge was generated leading to major impacts across Manhattan as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 - Hurricane Sandy Inundation Map of New York | Source: (NYC, 2013)

In the United States, 72 direct deaths were noted, making Hurricane Sandy the deadliest U.S. cyclone outside of the southern states since Agnes (1972). The storm surge was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths, with 41 of the 72 fatalities (57%) attributable specifically to that hazard (NHC, 2013, p. 14).

Below is summary of the Hurricane Sandy numbers as described by the Federal Governments Rebuilding Strategy (HUD, 2013, p. 22). $ 65 BILLION in damages and economic loss; A t least 159 FATALITIES caused

by Hurricane Sandy (direct and indirect) 8 .5 MILLION customers left

without power  650,000 HOMES damaged or destroyed  Size at landfall - 1.8 MILLION SQUARE MILES 3.1 NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) Program This innovative program was described as a participatory approach to building community resilience. The approach was established to support recovery of 124 communities severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee. Federal funds are used to support the planning and implementation of communitydeveloped projects. This unique approach to large scale community recovery has a focus on resilience:

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Unlike traditional top-down approaches to disaster recovery, the NYRCR Program directly engages local residents and business owners in a democratic, bottom-up approach to rebuilding communities in a resilient manner.

Across New York State, more than 650 New Yorkers have represented their communities by serving on planning committees. More than 650 planning committee meetings and 250 larger scale public engagement events have been held, during which community members worked with the state’s team to develop community reconstruction plans that identify opportunities to make their communities physically, economically, and socially more resilient. The NYRCR Program’s outreach has included communities that are traditionally underrepresented, such as immigrant populations and students.

The NYRCR Program is now working with local partners to implement recovery and resiliency projects proposed in the NYRCR Plans. In most cases, projects will be implemented by local governments and qualified nonprofit organizations, with support and technical assistance provided

by GOSR (GOSR, 2016).

Between $3m - $25m funding was provided to 45 communities based on damage assessments.

A community based planning process was undertaken over an 8-month period. Community leaders were identified (29 in Staten Island as an example) from the civil associations, business and non-profit to lead the reconstruction strategy.

Government was a stakeholder but did not lead the community program. Each planning

committee worked on local impacts and a vision statement that helped them develop projects to build community resilience. A multidisciplinary team including engineers and landscape architects assisted the development and assessment of projects. Many of the projects spoke to community resilience versus infrastructure.

Key Observation: The NYRCR Plan is an innovative “bottom up” approach to building community resilience as part of the Hurricane Sandy Recovery. New York State (through GOSR) facilitated and resourced the planning process; each community was represented by a citizen advisory group with implementation being undertaken by non-profit organisations and local governments. The model delivers greater value to communities during recovery compared to traditional top down reconstruction.

A detailed case study on NYRCR entitled “A Managed Participatory Approach to Community Resiliency” (McDonnell, et al., 2016, pp. 30-31) describes the resilience benefits.

Introducing the ManagedParticipatory approach and the findings of this paper are steps towards highlighting the significance of community resiliency both as a policy consideration and as a culture.

Resilient communities, physically and socially, are products of focused policy processes, and policymakers need to be constantly reminded to take resiliency into consideration as a cross-sectional policy guideline.

Besides emphasizing the importance of aiming policy

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decisions towards resiliency, the state’s experience also presents a new model for leading disaster resiliency operations…The Managed-Participatory approach… provides successful evidence for state-level leadership and budgeting.

Stronger resiliency plans are more cost-effective, because they end up proposing a greater number of implementable projects, which in turn leads to more efficient use of public funds and staff time…

The model, therefore, can be the foundation for replicable longterm resiliency policy and inform governments at the federal, state, and local levels.

The case study also highlights the following program challenges (McDonnell, et al., 2016, pp. 31-32).  Optimizing Community Representation and Diversity in the Planning Process; and  Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Planning Practices.

Ultimately the New York Rising program was established to increase community “value” in the recovery effort for Hurricane Sandy. Strong emphasis was placed on:

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4 Conclusions This Churchill Fellowship was a journey across the Philippines and United States to document community based preparation and adaptation to extreme storm surge. The lessons from Typhoon Yolanda, Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina provide opportunities for improving the safety of Australian communities today and into the future.

Ultimately, there was stark contrast in how the Philippines have addressed their storm surge recovery when compared to the developed world. The depth of research and social innovation invested in empowering communities provides many positive lessons for Australia.

Integrating the principles of community driven development to reconstruction is clearly building community resilience. The family unit is a source of great wealth in the Philippines and when these families are united at a community level, their ability to respond, adapt and recover is amplified.

Resilience has nothing to do with a person’s endurance, it is instead a measure of their ability

to recharge and bounce back from adversity. From a community perspective, resilience is built from interconnected networks, access to resources and the depth of relationships between people.

These networks bring aid to the sick, strength to the weak, food to the hungry and hope to the lost. The stronger the network, the stronger the resilience and by investing in human and social development the Philippines have woven a strong fabric of social cohesion that parallels others before self.

In the United States, the largescale impact of storm surge has notably heightened their maturity in response. Disaster affected regions have learnt that the further people stand from a problem, the further their communities are from solutions. Community based reconstruction programs such as New York Rising have been innovatively applied to bridge this divide, bringing communities together on mass, empowering them with a voice to co-design solutions and binding their efforts in trust and shared ownership.

Communities can leverage their

resilience to better respond to storm surge threats. However, responsiveness is directly related to social cohesion and this is being challenged in modern society where people can go about their lives without ever knowing their neighbours. Others can have 500 friends on Facebook yet have no one to support them in times of need? With these challenges, how can modern society adapt to building resilience in our communities?

The answer to these questions starts with investing in social capital, the core foundation from which resiliency can be built.

People need a strong sense of place, where neighbours are connected and relationships can be forged into stronger communities. Adaptation to storm surge relies on these foundations to build community resilience. To achieve this, a shift in thinking is required as shown below in Figure 6. In Australia, a percentage of disaster risk reduction investment needs to be shifted towards adaptation to lower consequence, rather than continuing to focus on mitigation that lowers probability.

Figure 6 - Balancing the Equation - The case for Adaptation!

The challenge with mitigation is that it typically produces infrastructure solutions for what are essentially environmental problems. While mitigation is a necessary part of reducing risk, holistic solutions that address

resilience and increase value can’t be achieved without balancing the equation. As an example, mitigating storm surge by building a sea wall can be implemented without any improvement to the underlying vulnerability of people.

In these instances, there is a loss of community “value” that can lead to tragic loss of life from exposure to other hazards, such as a Tsunami overtopping the sea wall. If the purpose of risk reduction programs is assisting communities, then why

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wouldn’t the process start with investing in the people first?

[Accessed 2 October 2016].

Community resilience is the first line of defence in preparing and responding to extreme storm surge. From this foundation, communities can be empowered with the strength to face adversity and determination to advance.

Risk reduction measures must start with an investment in people.

NEDA, 2014. National Economic and Development Authority - Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan.

[Online] Available at: http://yolanda. neda.gov.ph/wp-content/ uploads/2015/11/Yolanda-CRRP. pdf [Accessed 29 June 2016].

For further information on this Churchill Fellowship, please feel free to download the final report published on the Churchill Trust website or engage with Dwayne on Twitter @Dwayne_Honor

NHC, 2013. National Hurricane Centre - Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Sandy. [Online] Available at: http://www.nhc.noaa. gov/data/tcr/AL182012_Sandy.pdf [Accessed 2 October 2016].

5 References GOSR, 2016. Governors Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) - NY Rising Community Reconstruction Plans. [Online] Available at: http://stormrecovery. ny.gov/nyrcr/final-plans [Accessed 2 October 2016].

NYC, 2013. NYC Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency - A Stronger, More Resilient New York.

[Online] Available at: http://www.nyc.gov/ html/sirr/html/report/report.shtml [Accessed 2 October 2016].

HUD, 2013. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy. [Online] Available at: http://portal.hud. gov/hudportal/documents/ huddoc?id=HSRebuildingStrategy. pdf [Accessed 6 August 2016].

McDonnell, S. et al., 2016. GOSR - The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government - State University of New York - A Managed Participatory Approach to Community Resiliency - A Case Study of New York State’s Response to Extreme Weather Events. [Online] Available at: http://stormrecovery. ny.gov/sites/default/files/crp/ community/documents/2016-06Managed-Participatory_Approach. pdf

QRA, 2011. Queensland Reconstruction Authority Planning for a stronger, more resilient North Queensland - Part 1. [Online] Available at: http:// qldreconstruction.org.au/ publications-guides/resiliencerebuilding-guidelines/rebuildingin-storm-tide-prone-areas [Accessed 2 October 2016].

The World Bank, 2011.

Queensland: Recovery and Reconstruction in the Aftermath of the 2010/2011 Flood Events and Cyclone Yasi, Washington DC: The World Bank.

UNESCAP, 2015. United Nations ESCAP - Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.unescap. org/resources/asia-pacificdisaster-report-2015 [Accessed 4 September 2016].

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IPWEAQ wishes all engineers a very happy Global Day of the Engineer on 5 April 2017!

Global Day brings together the international community to celebrate the accomplishments of engineers.

You can Take the Pledge to celebrate and share how engineers Dream Big and get involved on Global Day: Gather your employees and colleagues for a coffee or morning tea on Global Engineers Day Share a story on social media of what or who inspires you as an engineer and nominate them for the IPWEAQ 2017 Engineer of the Year Award Post pictures of your colleagues celebrating the day to Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter using the hashtag #GlobalEngineer

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ASSET DESIGN AS CONSTRUCTED Incorrect, missing or redundant data can cost significant time delays and money. ADAC is a strategic solution through quality data capture and management for government and utilities.

ADAC is available for councils at no cost however we encourage you to join the ADAC consortium to help influence the ongoing development, governance and expansion of ADAC. Consortium members receive access to documents, tools and materials developed to support ADAC with an opportunity also to shape its future direction and compatibility with BIM.

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We have a panel of skilled providers to assist your council with the implementation of ADAC.

Enquiries Ross Guppy Director | Technical Products 07 3632 6804 Ross.Guppy@ipweaq.com

www.ipweaq.com    Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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S W q b r a nc h p r e s i d e nt ’s R e p ort The SWQ Branch kicked off the 2017 IPWEAQ conference program with ‘crossroads to resources’ held in the country town of Dalby, 2-3 March 2017.

Thank you to our host council, Western Downs Regional Council (WDRC).

The conference was opened

by Mayor Paul McVeigh who welcomed 127 delegates and exhibitors and it was pleasing to see a high number of our younger upcoming engineers and Technical Officers in attendance and presenting papers. Our branch conferences play a vital role in their professional and career development.

Papers were presented on regional projects, and potential excellence award winners including the Toowoomba City Hall Auditorium and Annex project (Ashlee Adams, YIPWEAQ Deputy Chair) and the Kingaroy Wastewater Treatment

Upgrade (Nerida Airs).

Aaron Meehan delivered a pivotal paper on change management and how to ‘future fit’ an organisation.

At some stage, all councils, corporations and associations like IPWEAQ, come to a critical crossroad when widespread change is essential in order to secure a sustainable future.

Digital disruption is dramatically changing the organisational landscape at an ever accelerating pace and we learned from Randall Makin of RedEye WFM that companies that are able to capitalise on disruptive technologies and digital transformation are extracting value while others fall behind.

The team from McCullough Robertson delivered papers on innovation in contract tendering (Ren Nieman) and proposed changes to how projects are administered (Matt Bradbury).

Geoff Bartholomew of Lions Systems provided delegates with a history of IPWEAQ’s ADAC (Asset Design As Constructed) schemer and its application and benefits to councils. Councils across Australia are able to join the ADAC consortium to participate in the future development of the schemer. Please contact Ross Guppy, IPWEAQ’s Director, Technical Products to learn more about ADAC and how to become involved.

Another speaker from the host council, Leigh Cook presented a paper on managing infrastructure needs during rapid economic change with particular emphasis on resource sector impacts.

IPWEAQ has recently developed a working relationship with a cooperative agreement pending with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR). The NHVR is responsible for the administration

Our members enjoy a

strong sense of community through our proactive branch network.

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND BRANCH

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of Performance Based Standards (PBS) with Kerry Plater delivering a presentation on these Standards at the Dalby conference.

Product updates were presented

by IPWEAQ Partners: Wagners (Joe Ash) on innovative fibre composite solutions for pedestrian bridges and EME2 pavement and mix design (Dr Laszlo Petho, Fulton Hogan).

The conference dinner was another highlight for delegates with renowned Queensland magician, Matt Hollywood Holland unwillingly assisted by Graham Cook followed by local musicians.

A number of delegates braved the heat for a traditional round of IPWEAQ golf Friday lunchtime following the conference close.

A huge thank you as always to IPWEAQ’s valued corporate Partners who made the journey with us to Dalby and a thank you also to our conference sponsors: Brandon & Associates, GenEng Solutions Pty Ltd, McCullough Robertson Lawyers, Shepherd Services, King & Company Solicitors, PBS and Instrada. Our Partners and sponsors bring an immeasurable value to our events showcasing the latest products, knowledge and technology which helps our members deliver best practice projects for our communities.

Thank you to all who attended and a special thank you to our entertaining hosts from Western Downs, Graham Cook, Aaron Meehan and Tobias Burwood, as you can see from the photos, they put on a good show.

Stephen Hegedus SWQ Branch President

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New Developments in Native Title Compensation – Implications for Infrastructure Providers

LEGAL FOCUS

Since the commencement of the Native Title Act 1993 (cth) on 1 January 1994, infrastructure providers have mostly focused on two aspects of Native Title Law – Native Title Claims and so-called “Future Acts”.

Oliver Gilkerson, Legal Practice Director, Gilkerson Legal explains that in 2017, focus is likely to sharpen on another, albeit connected, aspect. It concerns Native Title compensation.

Native Title Claims and Future Acts Native title claims involve the legal process through which the Federal Court decides whether native title exists over an entire claim area.

Infrastructure providers can join as parties to the claim process to ensure the recognition and protection of their interests in the claim outcome.

Where a claim results in the Federal Court recognising native title within the outer boundaries of the claim area, it makes a native title determination to that effect.

When infrastructure providers are a party to the claim they can ensure the determination recognises that previously constructed public works have extinguished native title over

the site of the works. In other circumstances, the determination can provide for ongoing coexistence between the interests of infrastructure providers and the native title.

Also, before and after a native title claim is finalised, infrastructure providers involved in new land dealings, statutory approvals and construction and maintenance activities, may need to take measures to ensure their activities comply with the Native Title Act 1993. If it cannot be shown that native title has already been extinguished over a proposed site, these kinds of activities may affect native title and hence constitute so-called future acts.

A valid future act is one done in accordance with compliance provisions in the Native Title Act 1993. That might mean the activities are covered by an Indigenous land use agreement (“ILUA”) or, in some circumstances, the activity might be covered by other statutory provisions. Many of those other provisions give native title parties procedural rights, such as a right to be notified before the activity is done and a right to comment on it.

Future acts which are not covered by an ILUA or any of the other

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legislative provisions are invalid future acts.

The extent to which an infrastructure provider is able to ensure compliance, largely depends on their knowledge of the statutory requirements relating to future acts and the systems they have in place to meet the requirements. For some, native title compliance has not been a high priority; perhaps because the potential consequences of noncompliance have not yet hit home.

The emerging issue of native title compensation means that may need to change.

Native Title Compensation On 24 August 2016, Justice Mansfield in the Federal Court for the first time made judicial decisions about the legal details on how native title compensation should be quantified.

The liability to pay compensation has long been established through statutory provisions in the Native Title Act 1993 and, for invalid future acts, through the common law. Subject to appeal outcomes, the decision of Justice Mansfield provides judicial guidance about how to assess the amount, or quantum, of compensation. This will ultimately lead to more and more compensation claims being made.

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Islanders from their lands occurred largely without compensation and that successive governments have failed to reach a lasting and equitable agreement with Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders concerning the use of their lands. It is also unexceptional to observe that, if acts have extinguished native title and are to be validated or allowed, justice requires that compensation on just terms be provided for the holders of native title whose rights have been extinguished.”

Right to Compensation It’s not just cases where native title was extinguished in the past, where the right to compensation arises. Past and future activities which impair native title, without extinguishing it completely, are also compensable.

His decision is called Griffith v Northern Territory (No.3) [2016] FCA 900 or the Timber Creek Case after the small town in the Northern Territory where native title holders had identified their entitlement to compensation for activities done by others over a number of separate lots.

An appeal to the Full Federal Court on some aspects of the decision is currently under way. From there an appeal to the High Court is likely. The appeal process will play out in 2017. Once a High Court decision is made, the die will be cast for calculating native title compensation throughout the country.

Justice Mansfield observed that justice requires compensation entitlements to be addressed. He noted that the preamble to the Native Title Act 1993: “recognises that the dispossession of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait

Activities that extinguish or impair native title include different types of tenure grants, mining tenements, legislative and regulatory measures and the construction of public works and other infrastructure the effect of which is to inhibit or otherwise affect the existence, exercise or enjoyment of native title rights by native title holders.

Although the Timber Creek case did not deal with any activities done prior to the commencement of Racial Discrimination Act 1975, it’s generally considered that most compensation entitlements only arise for activities done after the 31 October 1975 commencement of that legislation.

Beyond that, the Native Title Act 1993 creates a complex categorisation of activities done in the past that are deemed to have extinguished or impaired native title and for which a statutory

entitlement to compensation is established. In broad terms, for most categories of compensable acts done before the Native Title Act 1993 was amended on 23 December 1996, the liability for compensation will be attributable to either the Commonwealth or the applicable State or Territory government. The same applies to valid future acts.

Implications for Infrastructure Providers Native title compensation law does however involve some important implications for infrastructure providers other than the Commonwealth, States and Territories:  Legal liability for compensation for invalid future acts attaches to the person doing the act irrespective of their government status. Infrastructure providers will be directly liable in these circumstances. In the Timber Creek case, the court awarded damages on the basis that invalid future acts constitute a common law trespass on the rights of native title holders.

Once a native title claim is successfully finalised, it’s likely that native title holders will start to audit activities that have taken place within the outer boundaries of their determination area. Where compensation liability is identified for past acts, valid future acts and invalid future acts, native title holders will start to formulate compensation claims against the persons to which the liability attaches.

Suddenly the need to ensure acts are done as valid future acts (where the liability attaches to government), becomes much more important.

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 At a policy level, infrastructure providers also need to watch how the so-called “flow through” provisions in the Native Title Act 1993 play out. For some types of valid future acts, it’s possible for Commonwealth, State and Territories to make legislation that passes the liability which they otherwise bear onto the person that does, or benefits from, the valid future act.

Hence the liability may end up “flowing through” from government to infrastructure providers themselves.  Sometimes infrastructure providers compulsorily acquire native title as a means of addressing native title compliance alternative to an ILUA. In those cases, the infrastructure provider for whose benefit the compulsory acquisition was done, bears the compensation liability.

The liability may be audited and pursued against the infrastructure provider after there has been a successful native title determination.

Similar quantification principles to those in the Timber Creek case will apply.  Local governments and other public sector entities in Queensland have benefited from a State government policy that provides a discount on the freehold purchase price where the entity has itself addressed native title through compulsory acquisition. Discounts of up to 50% have been allowed to offset the actual or contingent native title compensation liability the entity incurs. If the quantification principles decided in the Timber Creek case are

substantially upheld on appeal, the purchase price discount of up to 50% will likely fall well short of the actual native title compensation liability that the entity itself ends up having to pay.

Methodology for quantifying compensation Some aspects of the compensation methodology decided by Justice Mansfield were widely expected.

Others have generated more surprise. The overall structure of the compensation awarded in the case broadly followed the quantification methodology under the Northern Territory’s compulsory acquisition compensation guidelines. Hence compensation was awarded under each of three heads of loss as follows: (a) E conomic loss – The amount of compensation under this head of loss was assessed as a percentage of the full freehold value of the lot over which native title had been extinguished or substantially impaired. The value was assessed through professional valuation evidence as at the date the compensable act was done. Some of the compensable acts involved past grants of exclusive possession land tenures that had completely extinguished native title. Other compensable acts involved the construction of public works in ways that were non-compliant and hence rendered them invalid future acts.

Because the native title determination at Timber Creek recognised non-exclusive possession native title, Justice Mansfield discounted the full freehold value by 20%. Hence

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the economic loss component in this case was 80% of the freehold value of the land. Where exclusive possession native title is affected in a similar way, subject to any other relevant considerations, the economic loss component might well be 100% of freehold value. (b) I nterest – Interest was calculated on the economic loss amount for each compensable act from the day the act was done to the day of the decision. Because most of the compensable acts occurred many years ago, the total interest component was about three times the amount of the economic loss on which the interest was calculated.

Justice Mansfield left the door open to the possibility of a compound rate of interest being applied in some circumstances. (c) N on-economic loss – In the language of compulsory acquisition law, this component is also referred to as “solatium”. In something of a surprise to many observers, Justice Mansfield selected a methodology involving a judicially assessed award made on a global basis – that is, covering all of the lots where compensable acts had occurred, rather than the lot by lot assessment used for assessing economic loss. The quantum of the award was intuitively assessed by the judge based on the evidence led by the native title holders about emotional hurt, cultural heritage site impacts and diminution in the area of native title left for the native title holders to enjoy. Evidence about the affects of the construction of public works

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and the associated emotional impacts on the native title holders, was analysed carefully by the judge.

As the Timber Creek decision has been appealed, analysis of the longer term implications for infrastructure providers has so far been limited. Irrespective of any ultimate High Court decision, the case sounds a number of warning bells.

Perhaps the most important is that infrastructure providers should be scrupulous in their

efforts to ensure their activities constitute valid future acts – hence minimising the potential financial impact on themselves when the day of compensation reckoning does finally arrive.

Gilkerson Legal is a leading Queensland law firm specialising in the land law applicable to infrastructure projects, including native title and other Indigenous land laws. Doyles Guide to the Legal Profession in Australia has just ranked the firm’s practice director, Oliver Gilkerson, in its

Leading Native Title Lawyer Rankings – Australia 2017.

To discuss how IPWEAQ can help you gain an up-to-date, practical understanding of Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Native Title compliance requirements, contact Craig Moss Director, Professional & Career Development Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com 3632 6805

IPWEAQ partners with LGIAsuper For more than 50 years LGIAsuper has helped Queensland local government employees grow their super.

Soon, they’ll be welcoming members from outside local government. We are pleased to announce our partnership with LGIAsuper and look forward to sharing in a future with growth.

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1800 444 396 | lgiasuper.com.au Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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Delivering a safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle industry

FEATURE ARTICLE

Sal Petroccitto, Chief Executive of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) Since taking up his position in May 2014, Sal has led significant transformational change across the NHVR, working to ensure the Regulator has the right operational focus and capability to fulfil its remit under the Heavy Vehicle National Law. IPWEAQ recently entered into a cooperative agreement with the NHVR to provide education and improved engagement with IPWEAQ members on road network access and management for heavy vehicles.

In this Q&A, Sal discusses the NHVR’s priorities and the benefits expected from the cooperative agreement: 1. S ince taking on the role of CEO, NHVR in 2014, what has been your priority?

Our vision at the NHVR and my priority since I started here is to deliver a safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle industry serving the needs of Australia.

I want to create a regulatory

environment that doesn’t burden industry but provides a platform for businesses to get their trucks on the road in the safest and most efficient manner. We are passionate about reducing regulatory red tape to improve productivity and individual responsibility.

We have achieved a great deal in recent years. In May of last year, we released our 10-year blueprint Strategic Directions 2016 outlining our major regulatory challenges and the actions we will take to address them. This 10-year vision is underpinned by three key national strategies for Safety, Compliance and Assurance, and Productivity.

These strategies were launched in August 2016 under the Setting the Agenda document.

We have also released the new Customer Portal, which is making permit lodgement so much easier for industry.

2. What is the major challenge facing a national regulator?

And is there a prevalent issue that requires ongoing attention?

As the national regulator, we face new challenges and opportunities

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on a regular basis. One of the main ones would be effectively harmonising state, territory and federal regulations under one banner.

The heavy vehicle industry is a complex sector with many moving parts and varying requirements.

Our job at the NHVR is to meet these needs as best we can, however you can imagine how this can be quite difficult at times.

3. A ustralia-wide, are there a lot of variances between councils and regions as to understanding your role and objectives?

When the Regulator was first set up, it was definitely a learning curve for not only councils but for states and territories to work together as a unified sector.

He have a National Harmonisation program to deal with many of the issues that exist between states.

Last year we worked with industry sectors to develop national notices for special purpose vehicles, PBS truck and dog, oversize and over mass vehicles.

Together, these notices will remove more than 30,000 consents per year from the road managers

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and NHVR systems, while still maintaining a high standard of safety for all road users.

We are now working to develop the next set of national notices.

These are a National Class 2 B-double Authorisation Notice, a National Class 2 Road Train Authorisation Notice, a National Higher Mass Limits Declaration and a National Class 1 Agricultural Vehicle and Combination Notice.

There is more work to do to improve harmonisation, but I’m pleased that we’ve been able to make some progress.

4. W hat are the benefits of preapprovals to the industry and the economy generally and what has been the level of take-up of the pre-approvals process? What benefits have councils seen as a result of pre-approved consent for various routes?

The NHVR works with more than 400 road managers to coordinate heavy vehicle access to state and local roads. There are 1313 preapprovals in place across 297 councils at 30 December, 2016 to reduce the need for permits and provide certainty for industry.

This is a 16 per cent increase over the previous six months. Preapprovals eliminate the need for individual road manager consents for agreed routes allowing councils to get low-risk applications on their way, so they can focus resources on more complex applications.

As I said earlier, we’ve worked with industry sectors to develop national notices for Special Purpose Vehicles, such as crane and concrete pumps, PBS Truck & Dog and Oversize and Over Mass vehicles.

Together these notices will remove more than 30,000 consents per year from the State, Local

and NHVR systems while still maintaining a high standard of safety for all road users. This is a win for national consistency and we will continue this harmonisation work with councils and states in the years to come.

5. W hat are you hoping to achieve from an NHVRIPWEAQ cooperative agreement?

The NHVR is conscious of the vital role local government engineers play in the access process of permit applications for local infrastructure and amenities.

Together, the NHVR and the IPWEAQ would work to promote increased education around safety and solution-driven outcomes for local businesses. This would allow greater productivity for local communities by allowing access to PBS Heavy Vehicles in the safest and quickest times to get freight to where it needs to go.

Road Pavement Defects - visual condition assessment & maintenance options, Brisbane 4-5 April This two-day course run by the Centre for Pavement Engineering Education in conjunction with IPWEA is ideal for supervisors, road pavement inspectors and works managers. It is also suitable for engineers and engineering technologists involved in roads and pavements construction & maintenance and for project & asset managers, working for local government, or state/federal agencies, consultants and contractors.

Click here for course information and registration

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

COMING SOON

IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre The new IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre is an essential resource for anyone involved in public works in Queensland.

The Centre is fully searchable by title, speaker/author, subject, keyword, event or date. Resources available in the Knowledge Centre include: 1. Podcasts of state and branch conferences (accessible only to paid conference delegates or conference proceedings subscribers). The podcasts are accompanied by the presenters’ PowerPoint presentation

so you can follow the presentation while listening to the podcast.

2. Podcasts with accompanying video of all other IPWEAQ events 3. Papers submitted for state and branch conferences 4. Articles published in our quarterly e-journal, Engineering for Public Works 5. Articles of relevance to Queensland practitioners sourced by our Information Resources Manager from other states/territories and internationally.

6. IPWEAQ technical publications including Standard Drawings

(accessible only to subscribers) 7. Podcasts of interviews of delegates taken at state and branch conferences 8. Photos of delegates taken at state and branch conferences The Knowledge Centre is only accessible to IPWEAQ members.

Conference podcasts/videos are only accessible to paid conference delegates. Technical publications are only accessible to subscribers of our technical products.

Join IPWEAQ today to access this vital resource for the public works sector in Queensland.

   Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

www.ipweaq.com

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SEQ Branch President’s Report The SEQ Branch recently held its first meeting and Technical Tour for 2017 at the new $14 million 14 hectare Humes factory in Ipswich. Members enjoyed learning about the man behind the company - Walter Humes who revolutionised centrifugal pipes manufacturing processes back in early 1900s. See photos of the factory tour on our website.

As mentioned in my previous report, a review is currently underway for Complete Streets however we have since expanded that review to include its predecessor publication, Queensland Streets in response to your feedback. If you would like to be involved in this review, please contact myself or Ross Guppy.

CPD hours are available for your contribution to professional and technical working groups.

CPD hours are also available for the preparation and presentation of technical papers at our various branch and state conferences.

The Call for Papers is now open

for the SEQ Branch conference in Logan, 9-10 May 2017 and I invite you to submit an abstract before 7 April. The theme for the Logan conference is ‘building on smart solutions’. If your abstract is accepted, you will be asked to submit a supporting article and PowerPoint presentation which will be uploaded to the new IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre.

Members will be able to search by author’s name to find all articles and presentations made by you at IPWEAQ events plus articles you may have had published in our journal. This is beneficial to your professional profile.

I am currently on the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) End User Refer-ence Group (EURG) representing IPWEAQ as a Queensland End User in the development of CoastAdapt. This is a tool/framework that provides coastal managers with support and knowledge for actions to adapt to climate change and sea-level rise.

Please take the time to view at coastadapt.com.au

Registrations for the Logan conference are also now open.

Contenders for the inaugural IPWEAQ Grand Slam award (delegates who have attended the Lucinda, Brisbane, Dalby and Yeppoon conferences) will receive a complimentary registration to the Logan conference and we will be presenting the inaugural winner with their award.

As many of you may know, I recently retired from my role at Redland City Council after 6 years with the council. I look forward in the short-term to devoting more time to IPWEAQ and various other professional and community projects. For those of you attending the CQ Branch conference in Yeppoon, 23-25 March, I look forward to seeing you there and I will be happy to receive and consider your suggestions for the Complete Streets and Queensland Streets reviews.

Murray Erbs SEQ BRANCH PRESIDENT

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IPWEAQ Technical Working Groups Update Ross Guppy, IPWEAQ Director, Technical Products Standard Drawings The Standards Drawings Working Group last met 7 February 2017 with our next meeting scheduled for 6 April. At the last meeting, the Group finalised a number of drawing updates and released two new drawings covering Indented Bus Bay Options.

The group also discussed amendments to the pram ramp drawings for DDA compliance.

Some changes had been initiated on the drawings to minimise the issue of flat spots created on ramps and to endeavour to have 1:8 slope on both sides of the ramp.

The group felt there was a need to educate our certifiers on the ‘safe’ use of standard drawings and take a political approach on getting a commitment to use standards in more of the State to ultimately save money. As a result, I am keen to hear if any councils would see value in a Standard Drawings roadshow.

Following a discussion on the use of deflection bars at Bikeway entrances and the need for them to be fit for the location, it was agreed to develop additional

standard drawings treatments.

Peter Crutch reported on the trial of a bicycle friendly fencing used for restricted/confined locations. City of Gold Coast has been successfully trialling this fencing for three years.

It was also noted that Austroads is adopting similar fine mesh fencing.

It was agreed to adopt as an IPWEAQ standard drawing.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank two of our long-standing committee members: firstly Mr Peter Crutch who has been on the Standard Drawings Working Group for as long as anyone can remember (since 1988). Peter is retiring and his technical knowledge, passion, drive and support for working together to develop standards will be sorely missed. I would also like to acknowledge Mr Paul PasZek who recently stepped down from chairing our meetings after holding this role for many years. Paul will stay involved for a while to offer his support and counselling as he transitions into retirement. On behalf of all of us at IPWEAQ, thank you both very much.

QUDM The QUDM steering committee has held its last meeting and Grant Witheridge has completed all the technical updates and

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

amendments. The manual is now with IPWEAQ for editing. I would like to thank all of those involved in the review and in particular Mr Frank Scheele of South Burnett Regional Council for his dedicated efforts in reviewing all documents.

ADAC ADAC continues to gain interest from across industry with a number of presentations with the surveying community through the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM). These events continue to generate a lot of interest from the surveying industry and they are happy to work with IPWEAQ to further the broad acceptance of ADAC. A number of information sessions were delivered in North East NSW including an in-house day at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

Sessions were held at Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour councils.

In addition, Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SRC) along with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects hosted an industry information session late last year aimed specifically at the landscaping industry. Topics included: why it is important to Council, how ADAC improves asset

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management, how ADAC fits into the development process and how to produce your own ADAC documentation.

Bob Andrews has recently advised that he is unable to continue in the local IPWEA co-ordination role in South Australia however, the ADAC R&D project is continuing on in its path. The main player here is Light Regional Council and they presented findings at the Spatial Information day held in Adelaide.

The following table highlights the time savings to date.

ADAC FME = 16.4 seconds Excel input + VBA = 15 minutes Manual input of missing assets = 3 hours Upload to Conquest = 10 minutes

Manual Conquest + MapInfo Input = 10 hours

Runtimes: Savings = Approx. 6 hours 30 minutes for 33 allotments A total of four working group meetings have been held since August 2016. These meetings have concentrated on three main areas; 1) a review of all change requests 2) finalisation of the bridge schema 3) and removal of any remaining Queensland specific terminology.

Our next Technical reference group meeting is scheduled for 7th April and it is envisaged that changes will be finalised at this meeting with an updated release of ADAC by June 2017.

DNRM is undertaking a Cadastral and Geodetic Systems Review Project and has developed an

Industry Surveying Focus group which IPWEAQ is represented on. DNRM is keen to understand how to take advantage of ADAC and determine how it can be positioned within the development lifecycle and can any stage of the process be a trigger to a preplan cadastre, as possibly being desirable in the future. They are also interested in finding out how to better utilise the data generated through ADAC to improve the accuracy of the cadastre.

The discussion on BIM is still progressing slowly and I attended a BIM meeting organised by McCullough Robertson to discuss the full results from their recent Building Information Modelling (BIM) survey. McCullough Robertson Partner Ren Niemann and Senior Associate Goran Gelic, in association with JukesTodd, are researching how the procurement sector is using BIM and what processes need to be put in place to ensure that your contracts consider the risks of BIM. The team from 12D Solutions are promoting ADAC as BIM for Infrastructure and have added a number of improvements to their product directly as a result of the attribute data created from ADAC. In essence BIM is about providing better information, and tends to focus on a large number of attributes for buildings. ADAC has taken a more moderate approach and only collects some of the data that may be available and has concentrated on the information that is useful to asset managers within the civil infrastructure sector.

Given enough resources and time it could be expanded to cover any asset class to any detail required.

Traffic Management Industry Alliance Group

IPWEAQ continues to be involved in the Traffic Management Industry Alliance Group chaired by TMR. As an industry body our main role in this group is to represent members and to provide a conduit for information sharing. As a result, there are frequent items in IPWEAQ’s fortnightly e-news service for members, Connect. If you are not yet a member you can join online at www.ipweaq.com.

We also post discussions on the broader road safety issues at our LinkedIn IPWEAQ Technical Group so please join us there.

At the 16 February meeting TMR advised of recent developments around Portable Traffic Control Devices. It should be noted that four devices have been approved for use:  Portaboom - a remotely controlled boom barrier (approved nationally via the ARRB Transport Infrastructure Product Evaluation Scheme)  eSTOP – a lightweight Type 1 Portable Traffic Signal System (PTSS) approved in Queensland under MRTS254 see article on page 52  AEI/ExcelTech Barrow – a lightweight barrow mounted Type 2 PTSS approved in Queensland under MRTS254  AEI/ExcelTech Trailer – a trailer mounted Type 2 PTSS approved in Queensland under MRTS254 From 1 July 2017, it is recommended but not mandatory, that portable traffic control devices be used in lieu of traffic controllers using STOP/SLOW bats in all TMR roadworks at which the approach speed (prior to the works occurring) is 80 km/h or faster and in other circumstances assessed

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to be high risk. It is proposed that this recommendation will become a mandatory requirement by 1 January 2018.

local government boundaries etc.

Some discussion topics covered to date include:

Ross Guppy is the IPWEAQ Director, Technical Products.

Computer Aid Design (CAD) Standards working Group This is a relatively new working group and we are looking to make the use of CAD as efficient as possible and to have a system that is uniform across councils.

So drawings produced from each technician all look the same with uniform layering and styles etc.

 Current industry customisation inconsistences.

Contact Ross on 3632 6804 or Ross.Guppy@ipweaq.com to discuss your technical requirements and suggestions for consideration by the working groups.

As design models and drawings are also prepared by external consultants there will also be advantages when working across

 Names file work shop.  Impact / issues to existing 12d macro’s, chain’s etc.  Integration and application with other software.  Strategic direction.  Process for aligning with survey customisation pack.

9 March 2017.

Regular updates about working group initiatives are posted on the IPWEAQ website at www.ipweaq.com/technical.

The next meeting is scheduled for

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PUBLICATIONS Asset Design As Constructed

Lower Order Road Design Guide

ADAC is a strategic solution for quality data capture and management for government and utilities.

This guide offers a riskbased approach to lower road capital improvement.

Complete Streets

Standard Drawings

A community focused how-to for contemporary urban street design.

Supervisor’s Handbook For supervisors and staff working on local government projects in the field.

Standard Drawings for General, Drainage and Water Quality, Parks, Roads, Homeowner.

Queensland Urban Drainage Manual For engineers and stormwater designers in the planning, design and management of urban stormwater drainage systems.

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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The Local Buy Promise - to support Queensland Councils in reducing the risk, time and costs associated with their internal procurement requirements.

Each year Queensland local government entities spend approximately $12 billion on operating and capital expenditure and manage over $108 billion in total assets. For the past fifteen years, Local Buy has harnessed the collective purchasing power of Queensland Councils to deliver value for money for its members. Local Buy’s core focus is to support Queensland Councils to reduce the risk, time and costs associated with internal procurement processes.

Owned by the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), Local Buy has established more than 40 prequalified supplier arrangements which allows Councils access to a range of goods and services through a quotation, rather than a tender process. Through aggregated spend, local government entities have less demand, costs and requirement for internal resources to manage individual and inhouse arrangements.

These arrangements provide suppliers an opportunity to engage with local government by direct quotation meaning reduction in money and time responding to individual tenders, access to a larger sales volume and a better understanding of market requirements.

for the provision of their goods and/or services.

In a bid to streamline communication, suppliers must also offer a dedicated account manager, to oversee ongoing compliance and risk management audits and quarterly contract management reporting meetings and reports.

Suppliers are responsible for actively managing their relationships with local government and for regular promotion of their goods and services.

Local Buy support its suppliers with marketing collateral, training, regular meetings and promote the contracts on an ongoing basis.

Suppliers do pay an annual administration free once appointed to a Local Buy arrangement and in some cases a rebate for work conducted with a local government entity depending on the arrangement. Any profit made by Local Buy is returned to the LGAQ and Queensland Councils.

If you would like to learn more about the solutions Local Buy offer, please contact the team at 07 3000 2280 or by email enquiry@ localbuy.net.au.

For suppliers to become prequalified under a Local Buy arrangement, they need to comply with the terms and conditions of their contract and in some cases offer a best price guarantee

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Partner Benefits STATE CONFERENCE

One booth and priority allocation of location including two full registrations (value $4,000) Chair a session in a stream (value $1,000)

BRANCH CONFERENCES/EVENTS

Opportunity to exhibit at up to four regional events (either IPWEAQ branch conferences, professional development courses or workshops) including two full registrations per event (value $4,000)

plus Y our logo on the IPWEAQ website, linked to your website. C ontribute a half-page advertorial for one of our quarterly issues of Engineering for Public Works. Y our logo displayed in each quarterly issue of IPWEAQ’s e-journal.  1 0% discount on all sponsorship opportunities at state and branch conferences. U se of our IPWEAQ Partner logo for your website, marketing collateral etc. Y our logo on our conference registration online site and our conference App linked to your website.

D iscounted rates to purchase IPWEAQ technical products including Standard Drawings, Complete Streets, QUDM etc. Y our employees will receive a 10% discount on their IPWEAQ membership. If they don’t wish to become a member, they are still eligible to attend all our events and courses at member rates. W e invite you to share your digital content on all IPWEAQ social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

 Double booth and priority allocation at our state conference  Guaranteed trade display at all branch conferences  Chair a stream at the state conference OR a plenary session  One quarter page advertisement in each issue of our e-journal, Engineering for Public Works  One table for 10 people at our excellence awards gala ceremony and dinner (25 October 2017)

*Due to the size of some regional venues, it may not be possible to accommodate a trade display for all Partners at each event.

If we are unable to provide a trade display for you at a branch conference, we will ensure you have a presence at the conference eg as sponsor of a paper or session.

Priority will be given to Principal Partners then Partners before non-Partner exhibitors.

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 Your logo in a primary position on all marketing collateral and featured more prominently than other Partners

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Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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Renewed Drive for Road Pavement Research

TECHNICAL FOCUS

Pavements research is driving a return for road agencies at a current ratio well in excess of 10:1. In addition, this research is ensuring a more sustainable Australia by continually exploring new and innovative construction materials and methods. The renewed focus on research and development is primarily being delivered by three national programs i.e. Austroads, the Queensland based National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACoE) and the Western Australia Research and Innovation Program (WARRIP).

The Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) is proud to be the major contributor leading, coordinating and delivering this research on behalf of its federal, state and local government transport and roads agency members. While Austroads continues to drive overall national pavements priorities, NACoE and WARRIP focus on prioritising research relevant to their local needs, that also have a national benefit.

In this technical focus, Joe Grobler, Team Leader, Pavements and Asset Management – Queensland, ARRB and Michael Moffatt, National Technical Leader, Pavement Technology, ARRB summarise the key areas of research of the respective programs:

Asphalt Enrobés à Module Élevé Class 2 (EME2) A French technology known as EME2, was researched under Australian conditions and is now being implemented nationally.

This technology was developed internationally in the early 1990s and is used throughout Europe on heavily trafficked roads, with outstanding success.

Compared to conventional asphalt, EME2 is characterised by a higher stiffness, higher durability, superior resistance to permanent deformation and excellent fatigue resistance. It is expected the use of this product will see a 20-30% reduction in asphalt thickness.

Cost-effective design of heavyduty asphalt pavements Recent research work conducted

by ARRB for Austroads and NACoE has led to the development of a new approach to the structural design of asphalt pavements.

The method will be published later this year by Austroads, which will lead to a significant reduction of thickness compared to traditionally designed heavyduty asphalt pavements. NACoE work has fast tracked Queensland implementation and a new technical guide note for the design of asphalt pavements is ready for publication.

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

In addition, complementary NACoE research is currently examining the healing properties of asphalt at elevated temperatures. It is anticipated that this will lead to further savings in asphalt thickness.

Thin Asphalt Surfacing An evaluation protocol for assessing thin asphalt surfacings was developed for use in the national Transport Infrastructure Product Evaluation Scheme (TIPES), managed by ARRB. This evaluation protocol will allow innovative international thin asphalt surfacings to be assessed and introduced to Australia. In turn, these products can provide cost and safety benefits to road owners throughout Australia.

Sustainability Crumb rubber from Scrap Tyres Both NACoE and WARRIP are exploring the increased use of crumb rubber from scrap tyres in open-graded asphalt.

Complementing this work, ARRB is also undertaking research and economic analyses for Tyre Stewardship Australia, Sustainability Victoria and VicRoads into cost-competitive use of scrap rubber in selected structural asphalt layers. The use of crumb rubber in asphalt and sprayed seals has been proven to provide improved performance

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and has obvious environmental benefits.

Spinifex nanofibers NACoE is supporting the University of Queensland to explore the potential use of spinifex nanofibers from sugarcane as a renewable alternative means of modifying binder in bituminous materials. If proven successful this technology could provide social and economic benefits to rural Queensland.

Cemented materials Based on an extensive research program, a new performance related means of characterising cemented materials has been developed by ARRB for Austroads.

In contrast to the current recipebased approaches, the new method allow s the incorporation of a new cemented material in the structural design process based on key measurable properties of the material. To date the approach was used to include a cemented blend of quarry rubble and crushed bricks as a subbase in a major new construction project.

Granular materials The development and validation of a large-scale laboratory wheel tracker test for granular materials has just been concluded for Austroads. This performance related test has already been used to assist a state road agency in selecting the most sustainable material for a large project, and saved over $20 million in haulage costs.

Foamed bitumen stabilisation A combination of field trials, laboratory development, fullscale accelerated load testing and harmonisation of practices across Australia is being used to improve both the mix design and structural design of foamed bitumen stabilised pavements.

Well established in Queensland, foamed bitumen stabilisation is gaining traction in other states as state and local road agencies seek the cost-effective and environmental benefits of using this technique to rehabilitate their existing pavements.

What’s next Challenges remain to be solved in pavements research. Key areas for ongoing consideration include:  Smart roads: • c onnected to tomorrow’s vehicle fleets (autonomous/ connected vehicles).

•u stainable roads, potentially producing energy and better use of available and renewable or recycled resources.  Capacity: •P avements that can carry the freight task of tomorrow.

•B etter understanding our current assets and their ability to be “sweated” under current funding arrangements.  Safety: •P avements that contribute to a safe travel experience.

To support this, the Australian Roads Research Board and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads are establishing a national pavement research centre based in Brisbane, Pinkenba. This facility will house the only two accelerated pavement testing devices nationally, co-located with a leading research laboratory. The facility, once commissioned, will also support industry and university collaboration to foster innovation and enable the pavements experts of tomorrow.

The research programs mentioned in this article only capture some of the innovative research being

undertaken throughout Australia.

There are a number of other road authorities (including local governments), universities and industry associations that continue to undertake significant pavement research. Contractors and materials suppliers are undertaking their own in-house development, and are also collaborating within industry groups such as the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA) and the Australian stabilisation industry association AustStab. These groups are also actively collaborating within the Austroads, NACoE and WARRIP research programs.

Further information on the Austroads and NACOE programs can be found at:  www.austroads.com.au  http://nacoe.com.au Further information on WARRIP is available by contacting The Department of Main Roads, Western Australia or the Australian Roads Research Board (www.arrb.com.au).

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NQ B r a nc h P r e s i d e nt ’s R e p or t It’s hard to believe we are already into March and it won’t be long therefore before we are hosting the 2017 IPWEAQ state conference in Townsville. The last state conference held in our branch was in Cairns in 2013.

Councillor Jenny Hill, Townsville’s first female mayor, featured in the International Women’s Day (IWD) feature of this issue of our journal, is expected to open the conference on Wednesday 25 October 2017. And early-bird pre-program registrations are now open so please register early.

Cancellations are available up to a month prior to the event and registrations are also transferrable if for some reason you are not able to attend as planned.

For those members who weren’t able to attend the successful state conference in Brisbane in November 2016, the podcasts of that event are now available by subscription (see the advertisement on page X for details to subscribe). If you were a

paid delegate at the conference, access to the podcasts is included in your conference registration.

Just login to the new Knowledge Centre with your usual IPWEAQ username and password.

won the Best Paper award at the Lucinda conference, August 2016.

Natasha is keen to be involved in a program to encourage high school girls to consider engineering in the public works sector as a career.

IPWEAQ Partner, McCullough Robertson recently held a Construction Workshop in Townsville which NQ Branch members were invited to attend.

This is a popular workshop that has been well-attended in Brisbane for the past several years and we appreciate McCullough Robertson bringing the workshop (and valuable CPD hours) north for the benefit of our members.

If you would like to be involved on the NQ Branch committee, please do not hesitate to contact me at B.Gardiner@cairns.qld.gov. au or our CEO, Leigh Cunningham at Leigh.Cunningham@ipweaq. com. Please note that there are no elections for branch committee members however at present, branch committees are limited to five members.

Our next NQ Branch conference was scheduled for August 2017 however, with the state conference in our region just a few weeks later, our branch conference will be held instead in the early part of 2018. We will advise the date and location by April 2017.

You will also note an article in the IWD feature from our NQ Branch member, Natasha Murray who

There are a few NQ branch members still in the running for the inaugural IPWEAQ Grand Slam award with the next two branch conferences held this month in Dalby (2-3 March 2017) and Yeppoon (23-25 March 2017). I will be in Yeppoon later this month and hope to see you then.

Bruce Gardiner NQ Branch President

Our members enjoy a

strong sense of community through our proactive branch network.

NORTH QUEENSLAND BRANCH

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Engineering for Public Works

MEDIA KIT 2016 INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS. IPWEAQ is the peak body representing those working in the public works sector in Queensland. Our mission is to create a vibrant, vital, supportive community of professionals which serves to enhance the quality of life for all Queensland communities.

Our members take great pride in the projects they deliver because they know they’re making a difference. And in delivering projects for their communities, our members rely on the expertise and resources of a number of valued suppliers and consultants. IPWEAQ continues to attract industry leaders as our partners and supporters who assist us in growing our networks and staying on the cutting edge of best practice.

In addition to our strong sense of community and proactive branch network, our leading-edge technical products are widely-adopted. IPWEAQ’s comprehensive, innovative professional development program exceeds the needs of members and industry and our excellence awards are highly sought after. We continue to advocate on behalf of our members to government and industry.

MEDIA KIT 2017

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Publication dates & themes

June 2016 Connecting Queensland with roads, bridges technology, connecting people, connecting communities

Bookings due 1st May 2016 Artwork and editorial due 15th May 2016

September 2016 Managing change within projects, within structures, within organisations, within communities, within individuals

Bookings due 1st August 2016.

Artwork and editorial due 15th August 2016

December 2016 Paving the Way for generations to come, leadership, road paving, street design.

Bookings due 1st Nov 2016 Artwork and editorial due 15th Nov 2016

Engineering for Public Works

Distribution: online journal sent to over 5,000 IPWEAQ members, partners, supporters, mayors and council CEOs.

is the primary professional publication for the public works and civil engineering community in Queensland.

Why advertise with IPWEAQ? Our first issue received over

20,000

Content: Each issue

digital impressions.

features a major project, technical articles, case studies, academic and legal articles, a member profile, article from LGAQ and a local council feature plus reports from our state and branch presidents, CEO and our subsidiary, the Queensland Water Directorate (QWD).

Readership:

engineers and those actively involved in public works projects including technical officers and supervisors, procurement personnel, asset and fleet managers, mayors, council CEOs, consultants and those supplying equipment, products and services to the public works sector.

MEDIA KIT 2017

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017

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Value-Adds As part of our Partner Program, Principal Partners are entitled to a one quarter page advertisement in every issue with all partners receiving one complimentary half page advertorial per year. Partners and Supporters also receive a 20% discount on any additional advertising. Partner and Supporter logos are featured at the front of the journal.

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1/4 PAGE $480

LIVE ART AREA: 260pxW x 316pxH

FULL PAGE $1,200 TRIM: 612pxW x 792pxH LIVE ART AREA: 532pxW x 632pxH

1/8 PAGE business card

$370

LIVE ART AREA: 260pxW x 158pxH

HALF PAGE HORIZONTAL $780

1/2 PAGE VERTICAL STRIP $780 LIVE ART AREA: 260pxW x 632pxH

LIVE ART AREA: 532pxW x 316pxH

DEADLINES AD BOOKINGS First Friday of month prior to publication ARTWORK Second Friday of month prior to each publication

MEDIA KIT 2017

Engineering for Public Works | March 2017