What They Taught Still Applies

WHAT THEY TAUGHT ME STILL APPLIES

Peter See Quilpie Shire Council

Good, consistent and strong leadership is the key to achieving great results in a workforce.

This paper will relate how lessons from early in my career, have been applied to empower the Quilpie Shire workforce to achieve outstanding results in the construction of outback roads at low cost and high quality. Quilpie Shire Council has decided to construct to bitumen standard, the QuilpieAdavale Red Road. In the past 2 years, 15 kilometres have been sealed from an existing unsealed loam road. Initial results were satisfactory, however poor quality was gradually occurring. The final result was a failure of 2.5km of road just prior to Christmas 2020, which resulted in costly rework and embarrassment. A reboot of the gang and processes were done. No staff changed, but we modified our processes and ownership. The staff had to be convinced that they could do better processes for less cost and have something to be proud of as the end product. The end result is that in a period of five months, Council constructed and sealed 6.2km of road with no failures at a cost of $246,000 per kilometre. This paper will explain how this outcome derives its roots from my experiences as a Cadet Draughtsman, Technical Officer and Junior Engineer. It will explain how leadership at a grass root level is the best way to achieve great outcomes.

Earlier in my career, I was told to let an audience know what the take home message of my presentation should be. They are as follows: • If you are beginning your career, pay attention to everything and try everything you are offered. You will need it; • If you are a new Manager, just make decisions; treat everyone with humility and respect, and be a leader. Not making decisions reflects poorly on you; and • If you are getting to the end of your career, think about working in small Councils. It is very rewarding.

Background

Quilpie Shire Council is building and sealing the Quilpie-Adavale Red Road over a period of six years so that the road link between Quilpie and Adavale is completely sealed. The village of Adavale has no fuel, no shop and no school, but it does have a pub and police station. The residents of Adavale depend on all-weather access to Quilpie 100km away to access medical, groceries, banking and other necessities of life. The sealed road will give allweather access between Adavale and Quilpie for the first time. It is a State Road, not a Council Road. The road would not be sealed by normal TMR priorities due to very low traffic and no accident history; in particular no fatalities.

The work is funded by TIDS (Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme), wise use of RMPC (Roads Maintenance Performance Contract), Council Capital works and Roads to Recovery (Federal Government).

The sealed road also improves access to Hell Hole Gorge National Park which is a key tourism destination in Quilpie Shire.

Works had been ongoing for a few years without any major quality incidents. The initial construction method was by using two graders, two semi water trucks, pad foot and multityred rollers. Water was carted approximately 50km one-way from Adavale, from an artesian bore. No surface water was available closer to the site. All pavement used is 100% loam excavated from gravel pits adjacent to the work sites. The pits are licenced with the State.

Typical soil characteristics and traffic are as follows: • Optimum Moisture Content is 8.5- 9.0%; • Linear Shrinkage is 4; and • Unsoaked CBR 29-70, soaked near zero.

The average annual daily traffic (AADT) is 15 vehicles with 50% heavy vehicles being type 2 road trains. The daily evaporation rate is 11mm.

In early November 2020, we had 4.5km of work near completed when we had 2.5km of failed compaction tests. It was too late to rework the failures which meant we had to rework 2.5km in the New Year at an additional cost of $200,000. The failures were density tests around 98% however we did have two at 94%. We were experiencing daily temperatures of 42 degrees but the loss of moisture was not the only cause. Everyone on site knew there was a problem but no one spoke up about the issues. We sealed 2.0km of passed work and then left for the Christmas break with a sense of frustration and disappointment.

Early career experiences and knowledge

I began my engineering career on 2 January 1978. At the time the No. 1 record was Mull of Kintyre (Wings) and the No. 1 Movies were King Kong and Rocky.

I began at Brisbane City Council as a Cadet Design Office Technician. I learned how to do flood mitigation designs, road design and stormwater design. It was sometimes hard repetitive work: hand sketching contours, in-field flood gauge reading, and closing real property plots before the days of Queensland Globe. I was tea boy for 80 people for 2-3 month periods, worked in the plan room for 3 months, and processed structure applications for 3 months. I learnt commitment to repetitive important work. Most importantly, intense personal training was done by Senior Draughtsmen and Tracers on design.

My next formative stage was at Queensland Government Railways as a Technical Officer. My development included being in charge of staff from 21 years of age, building major earthworks from Caboolture to Gympie as part of electrification, and learning how to handle a crisis when dealing with derailments, earth collapses and vehicle bridge strikes. I did my degree Thesis at the Railway soil laboratory and carried out Atterbergs, shrinkage and Dispersability Index tests. During my time there I developed a major understanding of how earthmoving plant operates, and this was from lots of time on-site watching plant.

I worked at Maroochy Shire Council as a Works Engineer where I was introduced to customer service and community expectations. I was first exposed to Main Roads’ projects and contract management. The Shire Engineer, Noel Ludwig provided a high sense of autonomy to me.

These three employments provided me with the skill sets that I still use every day.

The Importance of Mentors in your development

I have been fortunate to have been trained by some outstanding mentors. Stewy Anson from Queensland Government Railways taught me expertise in earthworks on a basic budget. He used humour and always treated staff equitably.

Wes Parry from Maroochy Shire taught me Main Roads construction works, compaction, crushed rock pavements and asphalt. He also taught me the value of community involvement.

John McCann of Maroochy Shire taught me local works, soil aggregate pavements, drag brooms, everything about bitumen, and the importance of the presentation of jobs. John was also very good at telling people nicely that they are wrong.

Mr Warneke of Queensland Government Railways encouraged me to become a full Engineer. He was a master of always knowing the answer to the question you have not yet been asked, to think on your feet, to make decisions, and develop staff like me. Keith Dawson, also from Railways, was a master of how to do people stuff: encourage, guide, discipline and how to make important decisions.

All of these experiences and mentors were part of what was the solution to our Red Road issues.

Solutions

I began by analysing the soil test results. Many test sites were well below OMC (Optimum Moisture Content). Some tests were ‘green’ with too much moisture when tested. Western experience says that testing too soon may get you a poor result.

I then checked the earthmoving plant. It took two days for the Apprentice Diesel Fitter to chisel out the compacted earth from between the pads on the pad foot roller. This caused poor compaction as the pad compaction wasn’t working. The graders couldn’t keep up with wet mixing of the base due to the extreme hot weather, extreme evaporation, and a lack of bulk water supply delivery. No dedicated roller patterns were being observed and no ‘squeeze’ or shovel tests of the moisture content were being done consistently.

There was not enough site supervision from me as the Engineer or from the Works Coordinator. There was too much unconscious reliance on past efforts. The sum of all minor defects led to failure.

Technical

I reviewed the Western Queensland Best Practice Guidelines (May 2011) published by the Department of Transport and Main Roads. This guide was developed at the time I was first based in western Queensland and is the result of engineering science and empirical experiences of engineers who worked in western Queensland. This is a very worthwhile reference which is recommended to anyone who works west of the Great Dividing Range.

The Plan

We did not start again on the project until we had a plan. We had trialled the use of a stabiliser machine to mix moisture into the pavement prior to break up with excellent results. I met with the gang. I employed a ‘no blame’, shared responsibility approach and empowered all members to speak up without fear or embarrassment. I took personal responsibility for the failure so that the air was cleared, as in essence, I had not managed the project correctly.

We carried out roller/compaction training using a soil tester who explained the compaction process. All staff attended, not just roller operators. We increased water availability dramatically by employing five semi-trailer tankers carrying 30,000 litres each, this equates to 800,000 litres per day. A rigid body tanker was used for surface backwatering.

A Soil Tester was arranged to be on-site to determine rolling patterns. The nearest laboratory is 500km away and so this was a costly exercise. The

Supervisor was full-time on site with no other duties. The Works Coordinator and Engineer were regularly on site on at least every second day.

On each visit the Works Coordinator and/or myself would talk to staff members as a group where possible but would also talk individually with people. We would ask their views as to what they were seeing, and whether or not the job was running well. We explained what we were doing with squeeze tests so that they understood. We continually asked for their opinions.

A stabiliser was brought in to do the mixing. Graders no longer do the wet mixing of the pavement, only the trimming. There was a little reluctance at first from the grader operators but this faded once they understood they were still very busy

Results

The results achieved have been outstanding. We have achieved high productivity and excellent quality. The initial failed area was reworked well and was finally sealed in early April 2021. The most recent project commenced in July 2021 and constructed an 8 metre width, 6.2km length in 5 months at a total cost of $246,236.00 per kilometre. There were only 9 staff on site during the peak periods. We had no failed tests. The morale of staff improved and the pride of the staff and of our Councillors in recent work is very high. The Department is happy. The community of Adavale are very happy.

My Advice for new, and not so new Engineers

People respect people who make decisions.

People respect you, if you treat them with respect and equity, and have genuine interest in them. They want to be included and have a say; as long as they feel safe to do so.

The people who you might learn the most from, are most often in high-visibility clothing.

Small projects can mean a huge amount to communities.

Acknowledgements

Dedicated to those who took the time to train me.

References

Western Queensland Best Practice Guidelines, Department of Transport and Main Roads, May 2011.

Peter is the Director Engineering Services at Quilpie Shire Council. He began his working life as a Cadet Draughtsman at Brisbane City Council. Over the past 44 years Peter has worked in roads, railways and local government all over Queensland. A self proclaimed basic engineer, Peter has managed staff since he was 21 years old, a millennia ago. Nearing retirement, Peter has returned to the Outback where he has spent a quarter of his working life. Peter has been married to Julie for 34 years, and has three children and a daughter in law who all live in Perth. Peter has been a Scout for 26 years including 19 as a leader.