A Young Engineer’s View of a Big Project

Joshua Flanders

I am currently working for St George Project Services (SGPS) who have been engaged by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to undertake the contract administration and construction verification works on the $481 million Bruce Highway – Cairns Southern Access Corridor – Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale (E2G) project in Cairns, Queensland. The E2G project is one of the stages of the Cairns Bruce Highway Upgrade Masterplan, as part of the $12.6 billion upgrade program to improve safety, flood resilience and capacity along the Bruce Highway from Cairns to Brisbane.

The area which the E2G project boundary covers is currently the busiest two lane section of the Bruce Highway between Cairns and Brisbane, so the positive outcome this project will have is evident, especially for all road users on the southern side of Cairns.

The design and construction (D&C) of the project has been awarded to John Holland, Seymour Whyte, and AECOM, trading under the HSA Group Joint Venture title. The D&C contract was awarded in October 2019, construction started in July 2020 and the estimated completion date is mid 2023, depending on weather. I have been working on the project since February 2020 where I was predominantly performing design documentation and management plan reviews and other various document control duties. Now that the project is in its early stages of construction, I am performing construction verification engineering works for multiple different disciplines.

The northern part of the project where the new highway is being constructed on a greenfield site.

Wrights Creek where there are four new bridges: one northbound and one southbound Bruce Highway road bridge, one cane rail bridge, and one Queensland Rail bridge.

The location of the new overpass over the Bruce Highway leading to Yarrabah to the right.

Middle section of the project where there will be new Bruce Highway north and south lanes and a new local service road.

Although recently challenged by Cairns’ wettest April on record, with 845 mm of rain (second highest was 634 mm in April 2006, historical average is 200 mm), we are now hopefully out of the wet season and the upcoming few months of 2021 are shaping up to be the biggest of the project in terms of construction activity and key milestones.

Having only been out of university for three years, I am grateful to be part of such an important and significant project for the Far North region which will produce benefits for many years to come. It is also a great project to be on in terms of my personal growth as I endeavour to learn and develop as much as I can, with the aim to develop exposure and experience to apply for my Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) status at its conclusion.

E2G – Fast Facts

The E2G project includes most disciplines you can think of which relate to civil engineering, including earthworks, pavement, drainage, water and sewer reticulation, structures, light rail, heavy rail, environmental, as well as electrical and data transmissions and signals in upgraded signalised intersections. The coordination required to organise these disciplines to ensure the project is completed on time and under budget without compromising on quality is no easy feat. Some fast facts on the project are listed below.

• Over 10.5 km of new duplicated

Bruce Highway • Over 10 km of new service roads to remove local trips to the highway • Over 28 km of new drainage structures in over 250 RCBC and RCP long and cross drainage structures • Over 6 km of new water and sewer mains ranging in size from 100 mm to 800 mm, including new “Behana” water mains which service 98% of the

Cairns Regional Council Local Government Area

• Over 4.6 km of new Ergon low voltage and high voltage overhead and underground powerlines and cabling • Over 7.7 km of new

Visionstream trenched and underbored cable

• Over 8 km of new cane rail for

MSF Sugar across five separate areas, as well as a new cane rail bridge • Over 4.5 km of new Queensland

Rail North Coast Line separated over two areas, as well as the removal of multiple open level crossings, and two new

Queensland Rail bridges • New Telstra trenched and underbored cable

• Total of ten bridges including new cane rail and Queensland

Rail bridges, as well as two new northbound and two new southbound Bruce Highway road bridges, a new cycle bridge, a new road overpass and a new pedestrian overpass • Over 10 km of new high speed cycleway along the extent of the project • Significant environmental and sustainability consideration • Total of four environmentally sensitive watercourses on the project, with design catering for fish passage at each with one red (high impact) and three amber (medium impact) classifications

• Incentives on the project to maximise the amount of local and Indigenous work. • Over 465 jobs supported by the project

Contract Administration and Verification Role

SGPS have been providing resources on the project since late 2019 and currently are providing a total of 11 personnel, comprising of three engineers, four inspectors, one document controller, one construction verifier, one contract administrator, and one contract

One of five new cane rail sidings for MSF Sugar.

The first part of the new 3 m wide high speed cycleway which spans the length of the project.

Early morning concrete pour at a Queensland Rail culvert with the Gordonvale pyramid in the background.

administrator representative. SGPS is based in Townsville and was founded in 2006 by Luke St George who grew up in the project location of Gordonvale, so it was great to see SGPS win a job close to home.

In my role as an engineer within the construction verification team, I am required to review the progress of the contractors work and resolve any design or construction related issues to ensure that the works are being constructed in accordance with the contract and specifications. In addition, I undertake reviews of plans, work statements, lots, non-conformance reports, design clarification requests, inspection and test plans and other similar submissions.

My day-to-day duties include liaising with the contractor and our inspectors to understand what works are ongoing and upcoming and ensuring all requirements have been met, as well as reviewing any other daily submissions or construction related queries and checking compliance and construction progress on site.

My Experience - Challenges

It has been a very challenging and rewarding task to be one of the youngest people on the project sitting in an office with over 80 experienced individuals as well as interacting with many other on-site personnel and external stakeholders. Being the engineer within the construction verification team for drainage and water and sewer works, one of the first challenges I had was getting up to speed with multiple different technical standards and specifications spread across TMR, MSF Sugar, Queensland Rail and FNQROC to understand the scope of works required. It was important to become familiar with these different specifications as I was able to liaise more competently with these important stakeholders.

Other challenges included learning to communicate effectively between all members of the project team, managing my time efficiently, and making appropriate notes during meetings to follow up on any relevant items. One of the key “behaviours” that has been adopted on the project is “think, talk, write” and I adopt this everywhere I can as I believe clear, open, and transparent communication is a vital part of teamwork.

My Experience - Opportunities

I believe there are significant opportunities for myself on this project in terms of career and personal growth. Being part of the construction verification team on the client side, there is increased opportunity for experience and knowledge development in multiple disciplines rather than being focussed on singular elements for the project duration. In addition to drainage, water, and sewer, throughout the project I am hoping to learn and develop skills in the disciplines of earthworks, pavements, structures, rail, environmental, and sustainability works. This will hopefully give me the ability to apply for my RPEQ status by the end of the project.

Advice to Young Engineers

My advice to recent graduates is to, where possible, seek graduate program positions which allow for a rotation in roles to ensure you get the most out of the company and more importantly get an idea of what you like doing. While small engineering firms and local governments may be a great opportunity to start where you can get great exposure to a range of things, do not disregard the likes of large infrastructure projects where there is potential to learn about large scale civil construction. My top tip is to take advantage of all the other people around you who have been involved in the engineering profession for years and empower yourself to seek learnings and development from others. Finally, always strive for continual improvement and have a desire to learn.