SEQ Branch President’s Report

Raad Jarjees, Branch President Technical Lead – Infrastructure, Cardno

Thank you to everyone who joined us for a record SEQ Branch conference in Caloundra! There were many highlights in the conference program however I can’t go past firstly mentioning our exceptional conference dinner held at the Queensland Air Museum. The Museum houses approximately 100 aircraft. It is Australia’s most diverse aviation museum with some significant aircraft including the F111 which delegates were able to sit in for photographs. It was a wonderful experience enjoying dinner and drinks amidst restored military and commercial aircraft.

Our first keynote presentation was delivered by Ross Ulman, Project Director, Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion Project, Built Infrastructure Group, Sunshine Coast Council. This award-winning project - 2020 IPWEAQ Project of the Year - exemplifies community engagement and preservation of fauna, flora and heritage while delivering a landmark project. We are also delighted to have Ross join the SEQ Branch committee!

The Best Paper award was won by Scott Young, Stabilised Pavements of Australia for his presentation on overcoming the challenges of rehabilitating thin existing pavements using basegrade stabilisation. In contention for the award was Darren Shepherd for his presentation on the GIS mapping and cloud technology used to centralise and manage Rockhampton Regional Council’s unsealed roads network, Annette Finch, NHVR for her discussion on the effectiveness of utilising road signs to limit bridge access and public sector ethics by Patrick O’Brien, McCullough Robertson Lawyers. Scott will now present at the IPWEAQ Annual Conference in Cairns, 12-14 October.

We had an exceptional program with presentations on stormwater management, an innovative solution to CBD flooding in Caloundra (SPEL Stormwater), peak hour traffic demand management, subgrade lime stabilisation, asphalt reinforcement, footpath and cycleway best practice, planning and urban growth modelling, implications of new street design regulations, practical leadership, infrastructure upgrades identifying coincident opportunities and how to replace non-renewable bearings on a 96 year old bridge. An IPWEAQ regional conference offers an excellent opportunity to experience a diverse array of topics and learnings relevant to those engineering for the public works sector.

We were delighted to have 36 exhibitors and our eight sponsors for the event including our overall sponsor, SPEL Stormwater, together with Shepherd, Tonkin, Peak, CPM, ProjexPartners, Orterra and McArthur sponsoring our coffee cart.

And I was delighted to have the opportunity to deliver a keynote presentation of my time as a lieutenant in the Iraqi army before emigrating to Australia. The papers, PowerPoint presentations and audiovisual recordings are now available in the IPWEAQ Knowledge Centre. These are viewable by members and delegates. If you are not a member, please join IPWEAQ this month for just $145 plus GST.

Next up for the SEQ Branch, please join us at the Plough Inn, Southbank from 5pm Thursday 25 March for a casual get-together. I look forward to seeing you then!

SEQ Branch Conference Sponsors

Thank you to our conference sponsors!

Overall Conference Sponsor • SPEL Stormwater

Other Sponsors • Shepherd • Tonkin • Peak • CPM • ProjexPartners • Orterra • McArthur