WAT E R OP E RATIONS A ND TR EATME N T Utility Partner Solutions
‘Shovel ready’
ESSENTIAL SERVICES MAKE HEADWAY DURING COVID-19 While Australia slowly enters a progressive relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, stimulus plans are being rolled out to sustain businesses across the nation. The construction sector is a key focus, placing ‘shovel ready’ projects in the limelight to help revive our slowing economy. With its crews on the frontline building some of the largest pipelines across Australia and New Zealand, specialist in water infrastructure, Interflow, has been spearheading ‘shovel ready’ essential service projects for communities across Western Australia.
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roviding end-to-end solutions for water networks across Australia and New Zealand, Interflow is a self-performing contractor, employing over 600 people to carry out works in the planning, design, construction and maintenance phases of pipeline infrastructure within water, wastewater, stormwater and road and rail culverts. The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled essential service providers like Interflow to develop swift and innovative ways of meeting the nations' water infrastructure needs. The company’s crews are constantly on the frontline, building magnificent feats of engineering in the most extreme conditions. As such, the ability to rapidly respond to urgent infrastructure needs is now more important than ever.
READY TO MOBILISE Interflow’s Business Development Manager – Western Australia, Steven Paradiss, emphasises how ‘shovel ready’ projects can boost the economy, even in the most remote regions in Western Australia. “Our ‘shovel ready’ programs enable us to immediately mobilise at any time,” he said. “This allows us to provide essential water and sanitation services to rural, regional, peri-urban and urban areas in Western Australia.” Interflow’s fully resourced team in Western Australia has the capacity to commence an infrastructure project’s
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start-up phase without compromise to the contract’s commencement date. “Our team’s ability to ‘hit the ground running’ will enable us to build and renew essential water infrastructure for the Western Australia community before Australia reopens,” Mr Paradiss explained.
A SMART APPROACH TO STIMULUS FUNDING For asbestos cement (AC) pipe relining programs, current forecasts estimate that capital expenditure necessary to keep up with failure rates of AC pipes is expected to increase in both Australia and New Zealand over the next 20 years. “An AC pipe can be relined using trenchless methods. This means there is no dig-up required and our customers’ assets are and left in the ground undisturbed,” Mr Paradiss said. Coined as a ‘smart solution’, Interflow’s trenchless approach allows a utility's asset to be renewed with
UTILITY • AUGUST 2020
no open excavation and minimal disruption to the environment and the community. It also avoids hazardous waste disposal issues. Mr Paradiss also emphasised that by avoiding traditional open-cut excavation methods, Interflow’s trenchless solutions provide local governments with an economically viable solution. “Our trenchless method of AC pipe renewal is a prime example of a fast initiative to help reboot the economy – it reduces costly excavation, halves the completion time compared to traditional open-cut methods, and enables businesses and communities to carry out their regular activities.”
HARNESSING INNOVATION DURING COVID-19 As an essential service provider, Interflow has had to adapt quickly to restrictions and new ways of doing things. When looking at this flexibility through a ‘smart spending’ lens, the company is consistently developing end-to-end solutions that breathe life into customers’ water infrastructure networks for generations to come. “We take a holistic approach to solving our customers’ problems,” Mr Paradiss said. “If customers have an emergency, we’re here. If they need a bespoke solution, we can design it, and if they need a long-term plan that will get the most value out of their stimulus plans, we’ll help them.”
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