MEMBER PROFILE
Monica Accornero
Monica is the Infrastructure Assets Manager at Hinchinbrook Shire Council, where she has worked since 2010, initially as a Technical Assistant splitting her time across the Assets and Water and Sewerage Departments. Starting out as a Cadet Technical Officer working on infrastructure projects at AECOM in Townsville set the foundations for her civil design career. Studying externally through the University of Southern Queensland, Monica earned an Associate Degree in Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering Technology, before gaining her Master of Engineering Practice (Civil) in 2019. She also has RPEQ registration. The mother of two children Abby and Kurt with Herbert River district cane farmer husband Brenden enjoys spending time outdoors boating, fishing or swimming in the region’s freshwater creeks. What have been your career highlights? I have had the opportunity to be involved in various infrastructure projects throughout my career at HSC. One of my career highlights was in 2015 as the project manager for the Forrest Beach Security Project. The project consisted of 11 m of 250mm pipeline for a supplementary water supply for a beach community in the Hinchinbrook area. I was required to manage various aspects of the project including the design, construction management and community consultation. This project was a significant
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Baillies Road Culverts.
steppingstone in my career and helped me obtain my current role. I am currently project managing the Palm Creek Culvert Crossing project (Dutton St), which is funded under the National Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Program. This is a $5.75 million project which will connect the north and south sections of Ingham during flooding. Construction phase will start in late 2021 and consist of major culvert crossing involving 44 cells of 3600mm wide RCBCs and link slabs ranging from 900mm to 3000mm tall. Each of the main culvert cells are 10.8m or 12m wide with an additional 3.6m wide driveway cell. Do you have a particular mentor who has made a big impact on you and/or your career? Having worked with many skilled engineers and managers at HSC, it is hard to pick just one mentor. However, Peter Martin, Council’s Utilities and Waste Manager, has dedicated 44 years to HSC and he took the time to mentor me for the first six years of my career at HSC. Council’s former Infrastructure Operations Manager, Jenna Devietti, has been an inspiration to me since I joined HSC in
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | DEC 2021
2010. She completed her PhD while working and having a young family at home and juggling a management role at Council. She is an idol for any mother trying to juggle full-time work and a family. Lastly, James Stewart, Council’s Director of Infrastructure and Utility Services, has guided me through my career and given me opportunities to develop in my field. He is an example how working hard and applying yourself leads to success. What has been the most valuable advice you’ve received? One of my former CEO’s once said, ‘don’t worry until there is something to worry about’. For some reason that has always stuck with me. What has been your biggest challenge so far? Resourcing in local government in recent times has been very challenging. We have been having difficulty securing qualified staff particularly in our Design and Technical Services area. With limited funds available it makes it difficult to obtain staff with the necessary skills to continue the development of Council’s forward works planning and asset management. We’re
