Engineering for Public Works - Issue 25, March 2022

ENGINEERING

FOR PUBLIC WORKS ISSUE NUMBER

25

www.ipweaq.com Cyclist Safety at Roundabouts – The Cairns Experience, Stephen Bolden P 52

Kleinton Waste Management, Amy Bernier P 42

How to reduce the risk of Structural Steelwork failing in your projects, John Gardner & Peter Key P 68

Tony McDonald OAM member profile P 32

Ravensbourne on the Esk – Hampton Road, Saturday 26 February 2022

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

2022 Events Program CQ BRANCH CONFERENCE GLADSTONE

16-17 MARCH

30-31 MARCH

ROAD SAFETY FORUM BRISBANE

7

APRIL

20-21 APRIL

NQ BRANCH CONFERENCE MACKAY

10-11

PRESIDENT’S BREAKFAST BRISBANE

10

MAY

NT BRANCH CONFERENCE PALMERSTON

17-18

RURAL ROAD MAINTENANCE AND REHABILITATION FORUM BARCALDINE

11-13

ANNUAL CONFERENCE BRISBANE

JUNE

6-7

SEPTEMBER

FUTURE CITIES SUMMIT DATE TBA BRISBANE

4252

OCTOBER

Contact Senior Manager, Events & Marketing Monica.Robertson@ipweaq.com

ASSET MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM BRISBANE

31 MAY - 1 JUNE

AUGUST

BRIDGE MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM BRISBANE

SWQ/SEQ BRANCH CONFERENCE TOOWOOMBA

07 3632 6802

2022 EVENTS PROGRAM

CONTENTS

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

ISSN 2652-6050 (online) March 2022 Issue no 25

EXCELLENCE AWARDS GALA DINNER GOLD SPONSOR

Cover: Ravensbourne on the Esk – Hampton Road, Saturday 26 February 2022

What’s On

4

Welcome New Partners

6 9

President’s Report Adventures In Engineering

10

CEO’s Report

11

Women In Public Works Leadership Program

12

Community News

14

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development

17

Membership Milestones

17

Knowledge Centre Most Viewed

18

Member Profile, Sonia Campbell

22

Member Profile, Zane Gomez

24

Member Profile, Tia Golding

27

Member Profile, Matthew Yin

28

From Fruit Picker To CEO – Life of a Civil Engineer

30

Australia Day Honours, Anthony McDonald

32

Raise A Glass To Council Engineers

38

The Kleinton Waste Management Facility

42

Port To Project Logistics for Windfarms

46

Flinders River Byways Access Crossing

50

Cyclist Safety at Roundabouts

52

Being Shovel-Ready for Grants

60

Street Trees – Finding their Place

62

How To Reduce The Risk of Structural Steelwork Failures

68

CQ Branch President’s Report

76

NQ Branch President’s Report

77

SWQ Branch President’s Report

78

NT Chair’s Report

80

SEQ Branch President’s Report

81

Living Streets Design Guide Workshop

82

Qldwater Report

84

Your Asset Management Community

86

Professional Development Update

88

Save Time, Money And Potential Stop-Work Orders

89

Ambassador Report, Clare Ferguson

90

Lessons from the (qCRAC) Library

92

Book Review, The Promise of the City

94

Meet the Teams

96

ADAC Consortium

98

Partners

99

Subscribers

100

Media Kit

103

BEATS, MEETS AND EATS NIGHT GOLD SPONSOR CONFERENCE GIFT SILVER SPONSOR KEYNOTE PRESENTATION SILVER SPONSOR CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS POST EVENT SILVER SPONSOR COFFEE CART SILVER SPONSOR LANYARDS SILVER SPONSOR TECHNICAL TOURS BRONZE SPONSOR WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MASTER CLASS BRONZE SPONSOR IPWEAQ FUTURES CHALLENGE PROJECT BRONZE SPONSOR KEYNOTE PRESENTATION LEHMO BRONZE SPONSOR LUNCH BRONZE SPONSOR GEN X + WORKSHOP BRONZE SPONSOR EMERGING PROFESSIONALS WORKSHOP BRONZE SPONSOR MORNING/ AFTERNOON TEA BREAKS BRONZE SPONSOR SESSION STREAM BRONZE SPONSOR PANEL DISCUSSION BRONZE SPONSOR See all sponsorship opportunities or contact Monica.Robertson @ipweaq.com for more information.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

3

What ’s on March to May EVENTS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Register Online

Register Online

16 – 17 March | CQ Branch Conference, GLADSTONE 30 – 31 March | SWQ/SEQ Branch Conference, TOOWOOMBA 20 - 21 April | Asset Management Symposium, BRISBANE

15 – 16 March | Road Safety Audit, HYBRID – BRISBANE OR ONLINE 22 March | Street Design Manual for Practitioners, HYBRID – BRISBANE OR ONLINE

10-11 May | NQ Branch Conference, MACKAY

28 March (Day 1) | Pavement Rehabilitation, ONLINE

31 May – 1 June | NT Branch Conference, PALMERSTON

30 March | Erosion and Sediment Control Level 2, BRISBANE

PUBLIC WORKS TV

1 April | Temporary Traffic Management, TOOWOOMBA 4 April (Day 1) | Pavement Rehabilitation, ONLINE

Register Online 23 March | Women in Engineering, Homeward Bound global leadership program for women in STEM, Bernie-Anne Freeman 6 April | Project, Wayfinding Project 13 April | Project, Gold Coast Cultural Precinct LEARNING HUB

5 – 6 April | Supervisor Workshop, DALBY 7 April | Road Safety Forum, HYBRID – BRISBANE OR ONLINE 12 – 13 April | Unsealed Local Roads, ROCKHAMPTON 26 – 28 April | Bridge Inspection Level 1 & 2, BRISBANE

Register Online

DIGITAL BADGES

5 April | Administration of Asphalt Pavement Specifications

REGISTER ONLINE

27 April | Erosion & Sediment Control Level 2, SUNSHINE COAST 4 – 5 May | Demystifying Extended Design Domain Applications, BRISBANE 9 May | Native Title and Cultural Heritage, MACKAY

Introduction to Asset Management

Understanding Requirements

Lifecycle Planning

Asset Management Enablers

9 May (Day 1) | Administration for Construction Contracts (2 day workshop), ONLINE 12 May | Temporary Traffic Management, MACKAY 16 May (Day 2) | Administration for Construction Contracts (2 day workshop), ONLINE

Knowledge Management

Asset Management Strategy

Planning and Decision Making

Performance Management

24 – 26 May | Erosion & Sediment Control Level 3, BRISBANE 26 May | Type A, B & D Sediment Basin Design Course, BRISBANE 26 May | Managing Risks on Lower Order Roads, ONLINE

Introduction to Climate Adaption in Asset Management

4

Traffic Estimation and Strategy

Introduction to Flood Risk Asset Management

Inspection and Performance

30 May | Temporary Traffic Management, PALMERSTON 30 May | Native Title and Cultural Heritage, TOOWOOMBA

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

ROAD SAFETY FORUM BRISBANE 7 APRIL 2022

Around 1200 people die on Australia’s roads every year. In 2021, 275 died on Queensland roads, and the number of serious injuries is much higher. The National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 represents a national commitment to deliver significant reductions in road trauma, with 2030 targets of 50% reductions in fatalities and 30% reduction in serious injuries, putting Australia on a path to achieve Vision Zero by 2050. The Road Safety Forum will provide delegates with a practical understanding of how they can contribute to improving road safety for our communities.

Who should attend?

The program has been designed for technical professionals responsible for planning, building, maintaining and managing our transport networks. This includes, but is not limited to: • Road Asset Owners • Traffic Engineers • Planners • Civil Designers •C onstruction and Maintenance Professionals • Road Safety Auditors • Traffic Management Practitioners

Learning Strategies • Lectures • Case Studies • Interactive Panel Discussion • Q&A

Contact Professional Development Manager Tammi.Petre@ipweaq.com 3632 6807



www.ipweaq.com

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME NEW IPWEAQ PARTNERS! NB LAWYERS, LAWYERS FOR EMPLOYERS NB Lawyers, Lawyers for Employers offer employers and businesses across Australia a beneficial partnership, taking care of legal responsibilities and obligations so clients can concentrate on what they do best. Legal services include areas of Employment Law, Commercial Law and Property Law throughout the life cycle of the business.

We help Employers overcome legal obstacles and reach their goals through our three pillars: education, advice and problem solving.

Our values are: • Help first • Practical • Produce results • Honest communication We are uniquely suited to deliver Australian businesses the skills and broad experience they need to manage their obligations and achieve their organisational goals in a competitive market.

At NB Lawyers, our team of hand-picked experts have unique backgrounds and understand the need for practical advice for employers. We’re invested in the success of Australian businesses.

Contact us for more information on how we can support you with an obligation-free consultation on 07 3876 5111 or service@nblawyers.com.au. Visit us at www.lawyersforemployers.com.au

ASPHALT JOINT TAPE Our Mission is to help clients prolong the life of their roads, carparks and driveways by providing a quality range of products to prevent water ingress.

Implementation using Asphalt Joint Tape on asphalt patches greatly improves the life of the repair by preventing water ingress into the joins.

Asphalt Joint Tape is a self-adhering bituminous rubberized asphalt tape that is easy to place over joints. When installed above 15 degrees Celsius, the tape naturally adheres and forms a permanent bond on any asphalt, concrete or masonry pavement surface without the need for heating.

Tape may also be used as an adhesive pad to anchor reflectors, cats eyes etc if heated.

Most common failures occur around the joins between old and new pavements. AJT is a far more effective method then emulsion and sand and is fast and easy to install. It is the most aesthetically pleasing method leaving a neat professional finish to your project.

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

RETEX PAVEMENT SERVICES RETEX Pavement Services is Australia’s Premier Pavement Services Company servicing all major and regional airports, mining, defence and largescale road infrastructure projects. RETEX Pavement Services are constantly at the forefront of market development and product design, continually evolving our integrative project management solutions to address the many complex problems that the aviation and road infrastructure pavement sectors face.

achieving and maintaining a ‘zero harm’ workplace health and safety record and ensuring ecologically sound work procedures are front and centre of our project management strategies.

RETEX proudly utilises environmentally friendly vacuum waste recovery procedures, capturing all wastewater and removing certified waste management procedures.

Boasting the world’s largest and most effective water blaster, the EHR Cleanstar, RETEX is positioned to deliver the ultimate runway rubber removal and flush bitumen retexturing across Australia and New Zealand.

Our construction methodologies operate within an integrated management system, focusing on

GEOFABRICS For 30 years in New Zealand and 40 years in Australia, Geofabrics have supported the infrastructure sector on significant projects from the Victorian Level Crossing Removal projects to APLNG in Queensland to the Christchurch Gondola in New Zealand. On every project, we have a singular focus - to provide smarter infrastructure solutions for our clients.

Smarter infrastructure is about using smart products, smart solutions and smart people to help our clients develop value engineering opportunities for their projects. We believe this delivers greater opportunities to lower risk, cost and construction time frames whilst increasing maintenance cycles and whole of life opportunities.

We help our clients deliver and maintain their infrastructure by minimising their risk and increasing their value through the innovative use of geosynthetic products. We draw from our experience to tailor design geosynthetic solutions to best meet our client’s performance and economic requirements. Our superior technical support includes design and construction suggestions, certified designs, construction, and installation systems.

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. We have more than 3,700 lawyers and other legal staff based in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. Recognised for our industry focus, we have strength across all the key industry sectors: financial institutions; energy, infrastructure and resources; consumer markets; transport; technology; and life sciences and healthcare. Through our global risk advisory group, we leverage our industry experience with our knowledge of legal, regulatory, compliance and governance issues to provide our clients with practical solutions to the legal and regulatory risks facing their businesses. Wherever we are, we operate in accordance with our global business principles of quality, unity and integrity.

We pride ourselves on understanding local market issues and offer a full legal service. We have worked on some of the largest Australian transactions, projects and disputes across the resources, infrastructure and agribusiness sectors.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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Every community needs an Bridge Construction Katherine Town Council | Emungalan

Creek floods multiple times in a Pictured: The existing crossing at Leight town for residents in Emungalan Road. typical wet season cutting access to

Engineer

CALENDAR

ENG INEE RS CON NEC T COM MUN

Every community needs an

Engineer

ITIES

CALENDAR

Download the 2022 calendar!

Printed calendars available at all branch conferences.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT Angela Fry

It’s been called a Rain Bomb and has in its wake, caused major destruction in Queensland’s capital.

Caused by a combination of two consecutive La Niña weather systems, Brisbane had 611mm rain in the two days between Friday 9pm and Sunday 6pm – the highest two-day total since records began in 1840. The previous record was reached with the 1974 floods (600mm).

The Wivenhoe dam gained approximately 1,450 billion litres of water in under three days – three Sydney Harbours worth of water according to Stuart Khan, an expert on water management at the University of New South Wales.

Up to 15,000 homes were flooded with 1,544 people living in evacuation centres. 51,000 people were without power. Trains were cancelled, bus services limited, major roads were impassable, and the Bruce Highway closed at multiple locations. And that is just Brisbane - there is a similar

story of devastation and loss of life across southern Queensland and northern NSW. The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) has activated Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) for 22 Queensland councils in the south-east from the Gold Coast up the coast to Gladstone and North Burnett, and out to Goondiwindi and Western Downs.

Now that the immediate protection of people and property has passed, it is for us to restore our communities and make them resilient however no local government authority or public works engineer could expect to mitigate against the rarity of two consecutive La Niña weather systems occurring within three days.

We will have a lot to discuss when we gather this year at our regional and Annual conferences and I’m pleased to report that the CQ Branch conference in Gladstone, 16-17 March 2022 and the joint SWQ/SEQ Branch conference in Toowoomba, 30-31 March 2022 will proceed despite how busy, and exhausted our people will be. These are the times that we must get together

to share, learn, regroup and recharge.

Jimmy Scott from QRA will be presenting in Toowoomba on Day 1, Wednesday 30 March at 10am, and Somerset Regional Council will also present on the marathon recovery program ahead expected to consume councils and resources for the next two years.

Queensland is the most floodprone state in Australia, with flooding causing more damage in Queensland than any other natural hazard. Recent national research predicts Queensland’s disaster risk will continue to increase with total cost of natural disasters predicted to exceed $466 billion. The Queensland Treasurer has estimated $4 to $4.5 billion for the first flood event of 2022 alone which includes a $1 billion loss in economic activity.

We’ll further discuss resilient infrastructure at the Asset Management Symposium, 20-21 April in Brisbane. And Jimmy Scott will present on flood warning infrastructure.

In the meantime, don’t forget to take care of yourselves. Every community needs its engineers.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

ADVENTURES IN ENGINEERING The Adventures in Engineering storybook series for children in Years 4, 5 and 6 will be published later this month.

Written by Juliet Schaffer and illustrated by Narissa Amies, the six storybooks showcase real life civil engineers delivering real-life projects for our communities. The aim of the series is to inspire future generations of public works engineers.

When the Dam Runs Dry tells the story of Seren McKenzie and how she brought water to the drought-stricken southern downs region when the Storm King Dam ran dry.

Clarissa Campbell features in If Only Animals Could Talk – a story about engineering ingenuity ensuring the safety of the stormwater network while offering a creative solution to protect local fauna.

Using crushed recycled glass in concrete is another innovative engineering solution highlighted

by Josh Flanders in Walking on Crushed Glass.

Monishaa Prasad’s commitment to designing flood mitigation solutions for Rockhampton Regional Council is featured in Fighting Floodwaters.

The construction of the City of Gold Coast’s Palm Beach artificial reef features in Zoe Elliott-Perkins story, Engineering a Reef.

Tom, our only fictional engineer tells the story of the relocation of the town of Grantham following the 2010-2011 floods in Moving A Town.

Available as e-books and in paperback, individually or in a set, the Adventures in Engineering series links to the Australian Curriculum for maths, science, design and technology, English, geography, civics and citizenship.

Thank you to our first five engineers for contributing their stories to the stories and for their technical guidance on the illustrations by Narissa to ensure that they are appropriate for the targeted readership but also accurate.

Our thanks also to Juliet Schaffer for her time writing the accompanying stories and delivering the project on time and on budget.

The Adventures in Engineering series demonstrate that being an engineer requires creativity, innovation, and collaboration and are sure to inspire our younger would-be engineers to embark on a career that makes a difference to people, communities and our fauna and flora.

If you have a story about being a public works engineers you would like to see featured in the next part of the series, please contact the CEO, Leigh Cunningham.

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

CEO’S REPORT Leigh Cunningham

Beautiful one day; perfect the next then drought, bush fires, cyclones and floods. It’s been a challenging time again for our sector with further pressure on already stretched resources and with restoration expected to take month. years in some regions. Our thoughts are with everyone now immersed in recovery programs. It is certainly a time for us to remember that every community needs its engineers.

Our thanks to Dereck Sanderson, SWQ Branch President for the cover of this issue of Engineering for Public Works taken 26 February at Ravensbourne on the Esk-Hampton Road.

The chronic shortage of experienced public works engineers will continue to influence our longer-term sustainability with funded projects unable to secure people resources or competitive bids from suppliers. The schedule of works for the Games, particularly now that resources will be

Annual

CONFERENCE Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 11-13 October 2022

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL

diverted to recovery for some time, may be at risk. And what if these extraordinary floods arrived a week out from the 2032 Games?

The last major flooding event in Brisbane was 11 years ago; the Games are 11 years away. Hopefully we are not on a new 11-year cycle.

The theme for March of the 2022 Every Community Needs an Engineer (ECNE) calendar is ‘engineers enable our economy’ and that is especially true at this time. The February floods have wiped $1 billion from the Queensland economy and the speed at which we are able to recover will depend on how quickly communities return to functioning as normal and that will depend on the expertise of our engineers.

One initiative to attract engineers to our sector, is the Public Works Queensland Expo to be held in September. Engineers from anywhere including recent graduates, retirees, those engineering other sectors, and those who left our sector, will be invited to attend the Expo in Brisbane to discover why they should live in Queensland and work in our sector. Potential employers – councils and consultancies – will have opportunities to inform, connect and influence attendees.

Another initiative launching this month, and a longer-term strategy is the Adventures in Engineering picture book series for students in Years 4, 5 and 6 (ages 8-10). Read more about the project on page 10. The six storybooks showcase real life civil engineers delivering real-life projects for our communities. Our thanks to Juliet Schaffer, author of the stories, and to Narissa Amies, the illustrator who captured our engineers and their projects in a way sure to interest readers.

The Annual Conference this year marks 50 years since our formation in October 1972.

Please make a diary note for 11-13 October 2022 and join us in Brisbane for the celebration of our organisation from its origins as the Local Government Engineers’ Association of Queensland (LGEAQ) to IPWEAQ and IPWEAQNT which will emerge over the coming months. We hope to have our colleagues from the Northern Territory join us for this milestone event.

In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at a branch conference – Gladstone, Toowoomba, Mackay or Palmerston, or at the Asset Management Symposium in Brisbane in April. Take care of yourselves and each other.

CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN LATE MARCH! Earn up to 45 CPD hours preparing and presenting a paper for a professional industry conference.

10 reasons for presenting a paper at an IPWEAQ conference.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

WOMEN IN PUBLIC WORKS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Monica Robertson Senior Manager, Events & Marketing

We were delighted to welcome 12 women to the inaugural Women in Public Works Leadership Program (WPWLP) at our facilities in Eagle Farm, 24 February 2022. The Program provides continuing professional development (CPD), tools,

resources and support enabling female engineers to advance their careers.

Across 10 sessions, the program will address key challenges identified in a recent survey of women in our sector. In addition to these sessions, the participants receive up to 50 complimentary CPD Hours with access to the Professional Development program as well as complimentary registration to their local Branch conference and to the Annual Conference, Brisbane, 11-13 October 2022.

Our first session addressed the issue of managing career breaks, part-time work and work-life-family balance. Delia Atkinson, Acting Manager (Safer Roads), Department of Transport and Main Roads shared her experiences from graduation to full-time mother to her return to full-time work after a 15year career break. Delia’s story resonated with participants and entertained with anecdotes and an honest and humorous reflection of occasions when not everything worked as planned.

Mike Roddy, Managing Director, Technology People and Anita Dorwald, former Group CEO at Lorna Jane, discussed the options for women in today’s workforce including transitional

Jo O’Brien, Anita Dorwald, Mike Roddy and Delia Atkinson

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES

Leadership Program in action

WLPWP Bags

Renukha Nadarajah and Catherine Molnar

arrangements, work from home arrangements and the challenges of both with a young family. They encouraged manager-to-employee conversations and following a career break, generating robust and insightful conversations within a group with shared interests and experiences such as the WPWLP. Ultimately, speakers and participants agreed that there is no one way to achieve a successful work-life-family balance but open, transparent conversations with colleagues and management was critical.

Thank you to our Partners and Sponsors who donated items for our WPWLP satchels: • McCullough Robertson

Design Manager South East, EnergyQ and Suzanne Brown, Senior Engineer, Bundaberg Regional Council.

• Asphalt Joint Tape • Fulton Hogan • Huesker • Retex Pavement Services • Tonkin We look forward to our next session, 23 March on existing and advancing in a male dominated environment and environments with poor culture. Speakers include, Jane Zeng, Distribution

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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COMMUNITY NEWS

APPOINTMENTS Congratulations Hari Boppudi, Chief Executive Officer at Flinders Shire Council and Sandra Burke Executive Director - Asset Management Services, Department of Energy and Public Works (Queensland) for their appointment as Fellows of IPWEAQ. We are also delighted to welcome Hari and Sandra to the RPEQ Assessment Board.

Congratulations Mike Brady, who has been appointed Chair of the RPEQ Assessment Board.

Hari is Chief Executive Officer at Flinders Shire Council and has also recently joined IPWEAQ’s RPEQ Assessment Board. Hari has spent the last 11 years with Flinders Shire Council, across various Associate Director of Engineering roles, and overseeing multiple projects. Prior to this, Hari’s Engineering career began with Ipswich Water in graduate and Project Officer roles, before moving to Hughenden. Hari is also a member of IPWEAQ’s NQ Branch Committee.

Sandra is Executive Director - Asset Management Services, Department of Energy and Public Works (Queensland). Sandra has over 25 years of experience as an executive leader, change agent and professional engineer in State and Local Government, Utilities and Mining. Prior to her current role, Sandra spent 3 years with Department of Transport and Main Roads across various Directorship roles across Cairns and Brisbane.

CEO APPOINTMENTS

Congratulations, Jodie Taylor, appointed CEO for Western Downs Regional Council (WDRC).

Jodie has more than 25 years of experience in local government and has worked for WDRC for 15 years as Acting CEO and as General Manager for Community and Liveability for six years prior.

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Congratulations, Scott Waters, appointed CEO for Noosa Shire Council. Scott was previously the CEO for the City of Darwin and is currently working towards completing a Master of Business Administration at James Cook University.

Congratulations, Tim Baker, appointed CEO for Gold Coast City Council. Tim was previously employed as Secretary for Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) Tasmania, as well as Chief of Staff to the Premier of Tasmania, the Hon Will Hodgman MP.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

COMMUNITY NEWS

RPEQs

CAREER CHANGES

Congratulations to our latest RPEQs!

Congratulations Claudia Brassard who was recently appointed General Manager Infrastructure, Property and Fleet at Townsville City Council. We wish Claudia the best in her new role.

Congratulations Janice Wilson, appointed Director at the Mount Isa Water Board. Best wishes for your new role, Janice! We look forward to seeing Janice at IPWEAQ events!

Congratulations David Bell, who is now the Regional Projects Manager at Proterra Group.

Congratulations Robert Vos, who has retired from his role as National Sustainability Director at Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AfPA) after 21 years.

We wish Rob all the best.

Scott Walker, Engineer, Harrison Infrastructure Group

Ghan Poudel, Senior Infrastructure Planning Engineer, Rockhampton Regional Council

AMBASSADOR

CONGRATULATIONS

We are delighted to welcome Clare Ferguson as an IPWEAQ Ambassador. Clare impressed us with her contributions at the Public Works Professionals Intensive. She is a recent graduate and Civil Engineer at Proterra Group. Learn more about Clare on pages 90 - 91.

Congratulations Anthony (Tony) McDonald who was awarded an OAM on the recent Australia Day Honours list for services to engineering and communities. Learn more about Tony’s career and services to community on page 32.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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COMMUNITY NEWS

BRANCH COMMITTEES We are delighted to welcome Jessica Dennien, Civil Engineer – Design, Gladstone Regional Council, who has joined the CQ Branch committee as a committee member.

Maddy Stahlhut, IPWEAQ Ambassador has transferred from GHD in Toowoomba to a new role in Brisbane, Civil Engineer – Integrated Transport and Planning.

Welcome to SEQ, Maddy!

She will join the SEQ Branch committee.

REGISTRATION IN MECHATRONICS Mechatronics engineering has been recognised by the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland (BPEQ) as an approved area of engineering.

Engineers practising in the interdisciplinary branch – connecting mechanical systems, electronic systems, information technology and control systems – will now be able to apply to become an RPEQ – mechatronics.

Mechatronics engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with the research, design, implementation and maintenance of intelligent engineered products and processes enabled by the integration of mechanical, electronic, computer, and software engineering technologies.

SUBMISSIONS CLOSE 30 MARCH FOR THE 2022 ANZAC MEMORIALS COMMEMORATIVE BOOK.

ANZAC Commemorative Book

If you would like to feature your memorial and highlight your region’s ANZAC connection, please submit up to 300 words about the memorial and how it unites your community on ANZAC Day. Please also send high resolution images of the memorial and past ANZAC Day commemorations.

LEST WE FORGET

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

COMMUNITY NEWS

WORLD ENGINEERING DAY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT To celebrate World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development 4 March, we invited you to submit an impressive public works asset made from household sustainable products. Judges gave consideration to: • Sustainability of items used in the construction • Any non-household objects used • Were items used recyclable • Bonding agents – level of innovation applied and sustainability of items used • Innovation, creativity, engineering genius And the winners are … Proterra Group for their replica of 1 William Street which comprised: • A Proterra Group corflute sign formed the base • Toilet paper rolls from Who Gives a Crap were used for the building interior • Coloured twine from their monthly delivery of compostable coffee pods (thanks to Urban Brew Coffee Pods Australia) was used for the building detail • Cardboard from a donated HelloFresh box formed the outside of the building and was used to create the ramp and pylons • Fairy lights from a celebratory 50th birthday sign for street lighting • Bamboo branches formed the guard rails • Twigs and leaves from Proterra’s garden created the landscaping • And the detailed signage was handcrafted in-house Our second winner was Sparke Helmore Lawyers for their water treatment plant.

Proterra Group’s impressive replica of 1 William Street (state government building in Brisbane)

Sparke Helmore Lawyers impressive water treatment plant constructed from household sustainable products.

Proterra Group and Sparke Helmore Lawyers will receive two complimentary registrations to the 2022 Annual Conference (valued at up to $4,400 plus GST) when we will celebrate 50 years since IPWEAQ was formed.

MEMBERSHIP MILESTONES JANUARY – MARCH 2022

40 35 25

• Brian Bailey

• Dawson Wilkie

15

5

• Celisa Faulkner

• Gregory Buxton

• Susan Shay

• Dominic Powell

• George Bourne

10

• Shane Botting

• Eric Kraak • Pedro Baraza

• Nabin Shrestha

• Gerard Read

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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KNOWLEDGE CENTRE

KNOWLEDGE CENTRE MOST VIEWED ARTICLES (December-February)

Our globally recognised Knowledge Centre is an essential resource for anyone involved in public works in Queensland. Join IPWEAQ to access member-only content including all branch conference proceedings.

Contact Director, Information and Resources, Mark Lamont should you have any queries.

December 2021 Item/Handle

views

Asset decision making - the key to financial sustainability, LGFP (Shave, Michael) (1/6969)

288

RS-051 Heavy Duty Vehicle Crossing (1/1712)

186

TGS Selection Tool (1/7505)

170

RS-065 Pathways Concrete Pathways Construction Detail (1/1717)

166

Beames Brook Bridge (John Yanner Milmarja Ngarnara Bridge), Burketown (Arthur, Wade et al) (1/7512)

160

Temporary Traffic Management Toolkit (Moss, Craig) (1/7172)

156

RS-080 Kerb and Channel Profiles and Dimensions Including Edge Restraints, Median & Channel (1/2309)

134

Standard Drawings (publications): Roads Set (IPWEAQ) (1/2931)

128

2021 Annual Conference Cairns Photo Album 22 - Exhibitor Booths (1/7310)

128

Public Works Professionals Orientation - Day 1 Album 1 (1/7511)

124

January 2022 Item/Handle

views

Maryborough CBD Flood Resilience Project - Fraser Coast Regional Council (Naidu, Davendra) (1/6926)

146

TGS: SS-7401 - 70km/h- LANE CLOSURE WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL 4 WAY INTERSECTION (1/7423)

84

Carlie Sargent (1/1240)

82

TGS: SS-6001 - 60km/h, LANE CLOSURE WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL (1/7432)

82

TGS: SS-11401 - 110km/h- LANE CLOSURE WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL T- INTERSECTION- 01 (1/7406)

76

TGS: SS-11303 - 110km/h- LANE CLOSURE WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL T- INTERSECTION- 03 (1/7404)

76

Lime Stabilisation of Subgrade (Bell, David) (1/3822)

72

Grant Gatton-What a Conference (1/5673)

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RS-080 Kerb and Channel Profiles and Dimensions Including Edge Restraints, Median & Channel (1/2309)

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RS-051 Heavy Duty Vehicle Crossing (1/1712)

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February 2022 to 15/02 Item/Handle

views

RS-065 Pathways Concrete Pathways Construction Detail (1/1717)

126

Sunshine Coast Council’s Underground Automatic Waste Collection System (Hogg, John) (1/3122)

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RS-051 Heavy Duty Vehicle Crossing (1/1712)

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RS-080 Kerb and Channel Profiles and Dimensions Including Edge Restraints, Median & Channel (1/1718)

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RS-100 Public Utilities Typical Service Corridors and Alignments (1/2302)

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RS-080 Kerb and Channel Profiles and Dimensions Including Edge Restraints, Median & Channel (1/2309)

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RS-140 Subsoil Drains Details and Location RS-140 (1/1730)

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Engineering a Sustainable Future - Smart Cities, Innovation, Circular Economies. (Whereat, Michael) (1/7553)

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Asset decision making - the key to financial sustainability, LGFP (Shave, Michael) (1/6969)

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Trees for a Cool City: Guidelines for optimised tree placement (Coutts, Andrew et al) (1/3886)

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS AN ENGINEER

DECEMBER 2021

ENGINEERS CONNECT COMMUNITIES Department of Transport and Main Roads Beames Brook Bridge, Burketown

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Professional Development

Earn up to 1.5 CPD hours at our Project Learning – Bridges Mini-Conference and Bridge Management MiniConference.

Project Learnings – Bridges (95 mins) Topic

Speaker

Dur.

Replacement of the Original Gateway Bridge Expansion Joint Bearings

• Evan Lo – Transurban

26 mins

Toowoomba Second Range Crossing: Constructing the Viaduct

• Isaac Kirsch – TMR

22 mins

• Logan Mullaney – InQuik

25 mins

• Joe Ash – Wagners CFT

22 mins

Topic

Speaker

Dur.

Understanding what you really want from level 3 bridge inspections and bridge load capacity assessments

• Neal Lake – ARRB

25 Mins

Enabling better bridge management by understanding risk

• Tim Heldt – ARRB

30 mins

Timber Bridges in Local Government: Part of the Solution not the Problem

• David Goodman – Cassowary Coast Regional Council

40 mins

Scenic Rim Council and InQuik flood resilience project for Brookland Bridge replacement

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Fibre Reinforced Polymers, Geopolymer Concrete and Hybrid Structures

Bridge Management (95 mins)

Knowledge Centre New content in the Bridges Community.

Type

Article

Year

2021

Title

Wooden it be nice: The unsung program building our bridge to the future

• Daniel Tingley – Wood Research and Development

PW-TV

Digital Stories

This December we celebrated the role engineers play in connecting communitites as featured in the Every Community Needs an Engineer (ECNE) calendar with Wade Arthur and Devinder Pal on the Beames Brook Bridge (John Yanner Milmarja Ngarnara Bridge) in Burketown.

Brisbane Bridges is the first in the digital stories’ series.

This IPWEAQ series features prominent engineers and their ancestors discussing the history of seminal public works delivered for Queensland communities and how they contributed to the lifestyle we enjoy today.

Wade Arthur

Devinder Pal

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS AN ENGINEER

JANUARY 2022

ENGINEERS INSPIRE US Somerset Regional Council Brisbane Valley Rail Trail

Professional Development

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Earn up to 1.5 CPD hours at our Community Projects Mini-Conference.

Community Projects (98 mins) Topic

Speaker

Dur.

Brisbane Valley Rail Trail - Australia's longest trail

• Andrew Johnson – Somerset Regional Council

28 mins

Resurrecting an Australian icon: rebuilding the Waltzing Matilda Centre in outback Queensland

• Brian Jackson – Peak Services

28 mins

Toowoomba Railways Goods Shed – The Lessons Learnt Restoring Heritage Infrastructure

• Nick Delany – Toowoomba Regional Council

22 mins

Public buildings for post disaster function structural engineering design experience

• Stuart Grallelis – Dileigh

20 mins

FEBRUARY 2022

ENGINEERS ARE PIONEERS Brisbane City Council Smart Poles

Professional Development

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Earn up to 1.5 CPD hours at our Smart Technologies Mini-Conference.

Smart Technologies (111 Mins) Topic

Speaker

Engineering a Sustainable Future - Smart Cities, Innovation & Circular Economies

• Michael Whereat, Sunshine Coast Council

Improving pedestrian safety through Smart Crossings

• Janet Smith, Department of Transport & Main Roads • Kim Thomas, Integrate • Willen Rockett, Empower Engineers & Project Managers

Using Smart City Technology to Create a Smart Lake

• Darryl Hayter, Empower Engineers & Project Managers • Justin Cronin, Moreton Bay Regional Council

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS AN ENGINEER

FEBRUARY 2022

ENGINEERS ARE PIONEERS Brisbane City Council Smart Poles

PW-TV Brisbane City Council’s smart poles demonstrate how engineers pioneer solutions for communities. In this PW-TV, Mark Fallon, Strategic Asset Management Manager, Brisbane City Council and Robert Matchett, CEO at ENE.HUB discussed the smart pole installation throughout Brisbane that saw 20 poles installed throughout Brisbane to collect data on how the city functions.

Mark Fallon

Robert Matchet

Knowledge Centre Type

Year

Title

Article

2017

Sunshine Coast Council’s Underground Automatic Waste Collection System

Article

2020

Future Transport Needs Innovation

Article

2017

Water Forms the Basis of Smart Cities

Article

2018

Technology-Tried and Tested

Article

2018

Engineering a Sustainable Future - Smart Cities, Innovation, Circular Economies

Else Shepherd – A pioneering spirit Else Shepherd helped lead the way for women in engineering by overcoming many obstacles and challenges in her years of study as a young woman. She shares her story on how she became of one the first females in Queensland to graduate with an electrical engineering degree.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE

Sonia Campbell Building and Infrastructure Manager, East Arnhem Regional Council

What have been your career highlights?

• Aiding in the recovery effort after Category 4 Cyclone Lam passed over Arnhem Land in Feb 2015 – Flying by small charter plane to the affected communities soon after the passing of the cyclone was something I’ll never forget.

The entire landscape was bare, stripped of all foliage, hollows in the landscape that were previously unseen due to vegetation coverage were now exposed. From the window of the plane the fallen tree trunks looked like matchsticks laying on the ground. Damage to our buildings and infrastructure as a whole was quite severe, the rebuild process post event was consuming but also very rewarding, being able to help restore normality to the lives of the staff living and working in these communities was nice. I trust with the ongoing advances within construction codes and standards that the impact of these events moving forward will be reduced.

• Working in collaboration with the 19th Division Australian Army (AACAP project team) for the Design and Construction of a new Youth Facility in Lake Evella, NT – The Australian Army AACAP division will mobilise to site and live within a fully selfsufficient camp based on the outskirts of the community for the duration of the construction phase of the project later on this year, pending COVID restrictions.

• Completion of my CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority)

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Building Damage in Galiwinku

Commercial Drone licence – The ‘birds eye view’ a drone can portray is such an effective planning tool. It also essentially removes the OH&S element of visual inspections of elevated areas. Roofing iron and broadcast tower infrastructure inspections are a few of the areas we utilise the drone, but the applications are endless, we haven’t really touched on this space as yet. One of the assessment criteria when completing my license was the successful execution of an emergency spiral descend from height. At the time, I was sceptical as to when I would actually need to use this manoeuvre but have since had to perform multiple impromptu descends to escape some very persistent, territorial eagles and crows.

Did you have any mentors during your career who made an impact on you and/or your career pathway?

I have been very fortunate to have crossed paths with some very knowledgeable mentors, both male and female, during my career and life in general. In particular, the female mentors in leadership positions have been women who have worked their way up from the bottom, humbly earning their respect by the results they have achieved.

Key qualities I found refreshing in these leaders were: a) Great listeners - the ability to pick up

on finer details in conversation b) Strength – not in the standover sense but the strength to take risks, learn from failure, deal graciously with remarks, insults or stereotypes, and if pushed have the strength to stand up for what they believe in d) Grit – to persevere even in the tough times and get things done.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Attracting key staff with specific skills to a remote area. I am currently recruiting so would love to hear from anyone wishing to make a sea change.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Although I do enjoy the structured scheduled element of my job, I also really do enjoy the impromptu unstructured elements as well. Working in a part of Australia where travel to our construction sites is via light charter plane across untouched parts of the country, it does keep things interesting! Every day is different, we joke in the office that I could write a book someday featuring some of the situations I have been faced with.

Another aspect I enjoy is the progressive upgrade of our older facilities to accommodate new technologies and design aspects. Just because we are a remote Council shouldn’t mean we should settle for less or lower than our city counterparts.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

MEMBER PROFILE

Outstation roads in Galiwinku

Building damage Galiwinku

Aerial image of Ramingining community post cyclone

On site at our new Duplex construction in Gapuwiyak

What are the pros and cons of working in the Territory?

Pros – I would have to say the diversity within the Territory is a drawcard. Due to the transient nature of the state, there are so many different cultures and diverse backgrounds.

Cons – The logistical delays that occur on a regular basis. Being so remote with large distances between our major cities and the large supplier hubs transport/ logistical delays are a regular occurrence.

Has your career pathway been affected by gender or time out for family, if any?

Wow this is a huge question …. Having children was one of the best decisions of my life!

I have two beautiful children whom I am immensely proud of, they are everything to me.

But as a woman taking time out of the workforce to have a family does come with some disadvantage. Limited upskilling opportunities, being at the mercy of the childcare providers when returning to work, returning at a

Drone imagetaken from my boat while fishing at the Wessel Islands north of Nhulunbuy

lower level with less hours initially until you can ‘catch up’ and gain traction again.

A pause in superannuation payments when income isn’t being generated or is in the lower bands also means a greatly reduced overall figure for women to access at the end of their careers.

I’m not sure what the answer is in this space, it’s a very complicated situation. There has been excellent progression, but I do think we still have a long way to go.

East Arnhem Regional Council is situated in the far north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory mainland covering a land mass of approximately 33,359km2. The Council comprises of nine major remote communities, five of which are located on islands.

My position oversees the Building and Public Area Infrastructure sector across these nine communities.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE

Zane Gomez Civil/Structural Engineer, Department of Transport and Main Roads

While completing an Associate degree in Civil Engineering at TAFE, Zane worked full-time with three engineering consulting firms. He then completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) with First Class Honours from the Queensland University of Technology and now works in TMR’s Structures Design, Review and Standards team.

What inspired you to study engineering, and civil in particular?

My family and I have been fortunate enough to travel overseas where I have seen some of the most complex civil structures and manmade wonders of the world. As a child, I was in awe of the Burj Khalifa, Taj Mahal, and Autobahn. I still marvel at the engineering behind these constructions today. I was driven by curiosity to understand the mechanisms behind them, which inspired me to undertake STEM in high school and progress to Engineering in my tertiary years.

What was your Honours thesis, and have you had an opportunity to consider it further in the workplace?

My Honours thesis was on the characterisation of 3D printed Auxetic Materials and Composites. My research was specifically focused on the behaviour of 3D Printed Reentrant Chiral Auxetic (RCA) Geometries under In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Loadings. My

24

supervisor, Dr Tatheer Zahra, published a paper on this topic with the help of my research and development of the geometries.

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to explore this topic in my career as yet. However, I look forward to the possibility of progressing this research further when I return to university to complete my Masters.

dedicate myself towards making a difference in the community.

I have great pride in seeing my projects serve the public as I was born and raised in Queensland.

Likewise, I have achieved personal satisfaction in knowing that my work can help the lives of Queenslanders and visitors of our great state.

Why did you choose the public works sector?

What didn’t they tell you at university which you had to quickly learn on the job?

My mother is a vital part of our local community and has emphasised the importance of giving back. As such, I chose the public works sector as I wanted to

I have learnt to recognise areas of improvement within myself. There is always room to develop knowledge and skills to work more efficiently. I

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

MEMBER PROFILE

place significant value in being a life-long learner, whether it be theoretical knowledge, learning new software, or even how to further enhance my soft skills like creative thinking, communication, and leadership.

What projects have you been involved with? Any that you are able to point out to family and friends to impress?

Some of the pinnacle projects that I have worked on in Queensland so far include the Bruce Highway – Caboolture Bribie Island Road Interchange to Steve Irwin Way (C2SIW), the Captain Cook Bridge and

Riverside Expressway (REX), the Gateway Arterial Flyover (GAF), the New Parallel Runway (NPR) Construction Tender, Minnippi Golf Course, Coombabah Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and the St Paul’s Terrace & King St Service Coordination. I take pleasure in sharing my knowledge and personal experiences from working on these projects with my family and friends whenever we pass by.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am honoured to work with a team that is made up of industry professionals and

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE researchers. The combined calibre of knowledge and skills is unparalleled. I thrive on the complexity of work I do every day and having a strong team beside me who I can seek advice from is paramount in this early stage of my career.

What ultimately is your dream role – title and location?

I look forward to the career progression that will find me working as the Regional Director of Engineering, Queensland.

I know that as I work towards my goal, my appreciation for the multi-faceted discipline of engineering will grow with me. I hope to travel around the world with my job, but I find great personal and job satisfaction in being involved in the expansion and development of my state.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

I was honoured to be involved in the civil design of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. I am excited by the opportunities that will become available as the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games near. The Olympic Games are a global event that require a colossal amount of planning and designing in the years prior to ensure that regions can cater to the expansion and I look forward to being involved from commencement to completion.

Ten years from now, I see myself having worked towards planning and delivery of key infrastructure projects throughout South East Queensland, in the lead up to the Olympics.

4-5 May, Brisbane

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

MEMBER PROFILE

BUNDABERG REGIONAL COUNCIL’S FIRST FEMALE WATER TRAINEE INSPIRED

BY GRANDFATHER Tia Golding always knew she wanted a traineeship and kept her eye on opportunities to become a diesel fitter or auto electrician while working as a bartender, hostel night manager and doing Quality Assurance at a packing shed once she finished school. When a water industry traineeship came up with Bundaberg Regional Council in 2021, Tia grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

“My grandad is an electrician who has worked in the water industry for most of his life, first working at treatment plants and then helping to design and commission plants,” Tia said.

“People often start out loving their job and then realise later on that they don’t enjoy it anymore, but I knew my grandad still loved his job after all these years, so I thought it must be a good industry to work in.”

Asked about her favourite part of the job, Tia says she enjoys testing the water in the laboratory and being able to read the results to see how the plant is running.

“When I was in high school, we completed a Science in Practice unit where students tested the water at different locations from Gin Gin where there was no salt to the mouth of the Burnett River where there was a lot of salt,” Tia recalls.

“I found this really interesting

and looking back now, it amazes me that we were never told about jobs in the water industry – you hear about jobs as lawyers, teachers, doctors, but never about being a water industry worker, which is an essential service that our communities couldn’t live without.”

Tia suggests more work could be done to attract school leavers to the industry, keeping in mind that all students are different.

“Some students may enjoy listening to a presentation from someone working in the industry, but personally I would prefer to go on a site visit to see it for myself. I really enjoyed a recent visit to the new Gregory River Water Treatment Plant that was under construction at the end of 2021,” she said.

One of the most surprising things Tia has learned so far has been the different kinds of water treatment plants and what they do – from limestone beds to stop hardness and all the other interesting chemical reactions to produce clean drinking water.

“I didn’t realise how much work goes on in the background to make clean drinking water.

Before I started my traineeship, I never even noticed the treatment plants as I drove around Bundaberg, but now I see them everywhere! It has been great to learn more about the different plants and to have the satisfaction at the end of the day that you are making the water that people can drink,” she said “For now, I’m only working on water treatment plants but

as part of my Cert III in Water Industry Operations I will be trained in sewerage treatment as well.”

As the first female water industry trainee at Bundaberg Regional Council, Tia is embracing the challenges of the role.

“As a female I sometimes struggle to open really tight valves, and because I’m quite short it can be challenging to reach certain things, but other than that I can pretty much do everything the boys can do,” she said.”

While Tia doesn’t have a clear career path and dream role she aspires to, she sees the industry as a means to get a variety of jobs in different locations.

“I would love to go and work out West on different treatment plants and to keep learning and just see where it takes me.

The skills I’m learning now are universal and can be used in many different roles. It’s exciting not to know where I’ll end up but just to enjoy the journey.”

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE

Matthew Yin Principal Engineer (construction and maintenance) Toowoomba Regional Council

Matthew was born and raised in Zimbabwe before moving to Australia mid2000s and started his career as a soil technician.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from USQ in 2012 and has spent most of his career delivering road infrastructure projects in various capacities from site engineer to construction manager then in a senior engineering role in road maintenance to his current position.

Griffiths St Upgrade 2018/2019 (The infamous roundabout)

How did you begin your career and what inspired you to become an engineer?

I didn’t have a clear idea of what career I wanted to pursue coming out of high school. I applied for a few traineeships and apprenticeships in search of some direction. I landed a traineeship in soil testing and spent the next 18 months or so completing a certificate in materials testing. It was this traineeship that exposed me to the world of civil engineering.

The technical nature of the work and the idea of having a hand in the construction of the built environment appealed to me.

I took the plunge and haven’t looked back since.

What skills – technical and/ or soft skills – have enabled your contributions in your role, to team members and to projects?

I think an ability to combine my technical knowledge and

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Pierces Creek Road Realignment 2016/2017

experience in road construction with a collaborative approach to problem solving has enabled teams that I have been apart of to successfully deliver several road infrastructure projects over the course of my career.

civil designers were able to work their magic to save what could have been a very expensive mistake.

Which mistake, if any, provided you with the most valuable learnings?

The challenges I face are certainly not unique.

Maintaining a road network several thousand kilometres in length while balancing community expectations, defect management and limited resources is no mean feat. I take my hat off to all those who work or have worked in the road maintenance space.

The words “measure twice, cut once” hadn’t really sunk in until a roundabout my team was constructing had to be redesigned halfway through when we realised we’d misinterpreted the levels for the concrete apron. Fortunately for me, some very understanding

What are the challenges, if any of working in regional Queensland?

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

MEMBER PROFILE What do you enjoy most about your job and your location?

I enjoy the challenge of coming into work and not knowing what the day has to offer and working in a role and location that involves a good mix of urban and rural environments. I find it very rewarding to know that my work serves the local community.

What role do you hope to attain ie what would be the pinnacle of your career and where would it be located?

Just 18 months in, I’m quite happy with the role I’m in now.

I don’t have any immediate or even medium term plans. I have plenty of work to do and personal development to focus on at the moment, but who knows what the future holds

Highfields Sports and Recreation Park Stage 2 (2016/2017)

Do you have plans to become an RPEQ, and why or why not?

I became an RPEQ in July 2020 through IPWEAQ’s assessment process. Beyond the Professional Engineers Act requiring supervising engineers to be registered, it is a rewarding experience to successfully prove to a panel of your peers that you have the requisite knowledge and experience in your areas of expertise.

Who inspires you in your life and career?

My parents have always been my greatest supporters. Their work ethic, sacrifice and encouragement drives me to be the best I can be.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Colby Dam Access Road Bridge (2016/2017)

CQ BRANCH CONFERENCE

SWQ/SEQ BRANCH CONFERENCE

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

GLADSTONE 16-17 March 2022

TOOWOOMBA 30-31 March 2022

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE

LIFE OF A CIVIL ENGINEER FROM FRUIT PICKER TO CEO

Hari Boppudi CEO, Flinders Shire Council

I am sure what I am today is not what I will be tomorrow as life is full of surprises and challenges. I am trying to master my brain to deal with its demons, day to day work and family challenges, and prepare for what destiny has lined up. I still have at least another 30 years in my career and I will face a few more challenges.

There will be ups and downs in my career and a start from scratch, again.

Life has taught me: don’t forget where you started, never give up, be honest, work hard, put your effort 100%, respect the outcome, support others where you can without expecting anything in return and learn from failures.

I arrived in Australia 13 February 2007 on a student visa to complete a Master’s in Structural Engineering. Thank you, Australia, for allowing me to grow as an individual and professional. I am not shy to say life isn’t easy. What visa consultants tell you while preparing to move overseas and what we deal with on the ground is different. Many people don’t want to hear the reality anyway because we all want to succeed but I have been through many hoops but learned to come out strong every time I fell. Credit goes to my parents who invested all their life savings in supporting my dreams, what we call back

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Lake preconstruction ceremony

home, “Dollar Dreams”. In the life of an immigrant and their family, the fulfilment of the Dollar Dreams come with a lot of effort and sacrifices.

My work life in Australia started on a tomato farm. I lasted two days then part-time jobs at restaurants, McDonald’s, Coles, convenience stores, fuel stations and the like. Sometimes, when you are working in part-time employment for more extended periods, tired of searching for full-time jobs, you won’t have much hope. At those times, an immigrant focuses on survival or settlement but not growth.

But my boss and mentor, while working as a part-timer at a service station, helped me build my confidence and helped me look at life with a different perspective and positivity. I finished my studies in 2008 and became a Permanent Resident in 2009 which is when the Global Financial Crisis struck and so did the real drama of searching for a job. When I applied for graduate roles, I was overqualified. I applied for the experienced role and was told I didn’t have local experience.

I didn’t resign from the part-time positions and never stopped the job search.

But in 2009, I started my professional career as a graduate with Ipswich Water, now known as Urban Utilities. I met my first mentor who identified my

capability and guided me in the right direction; he also assisted me to invest my energy in the right areas to progress my career.

The biggest step was to accept a role with Flinders Shire Council in June 2010. During these 12 years, I invested my time and savings on many unsuccessful startups like @MillionPlexes and on successful startups such as ARIS and RRETS. My journey with Flinders has been filled with challenges. I’ve met many people, including my wife, who mentored me and supported me in growing as an individual and a professional. I thank everyone I’ve encountered along the way, sticking with me in good and bad times and supporting me to become what I am today. My journey with Flinders has always been something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Many graduates, particularly immigrants, contact me on Linkedin or through common friends. I can easily understand their situation and what they are going through. For some, everything falls into place over time but many immigrants and graduates fall into my category, where it takes time and many challenges to find a comfort zone. My advice: don’t lose hope, don’t deflate, never stop learning, keep your head up, aim high, and achieve your life’s dreams.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

INFORMS. CONNECTS. INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. REPRESENTS.LEADS. LEADS.

TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT

The TTM Toolkit will assist Traffic Management Designers (TMD) prepare Traffic Management Plans (TMP) and associated Traffic Guidance Schemes (TGS) for low volume roads (up to 250 vehicles per day). A TMP is required for every project to address the identified risks.

The length and complexity of the TMP is proportionate to the level of risk associated with the works. (AGTTM Part 2, Section 2.2).

The TTM Toolkit includes: • Traffic Management Plan (reference document) • Project Planning Tool • Standard forms • TGS Selection Tool • Suite of generic TGSs

Included in PWTS subscriptions $4,500 + GST from 1 July 2022.

The objectives of the TMP are: • outline how the works are integrated into the operation of the road network, providing for the safety of workers and road users while maintaining the service provided by the road network.

• provide the road infrastructure manager with confidence that all relevant issues have been identified and considered approach to each issue has been developed.

• ensure the safety of all road users including both vulnerable road users, and workers on roads, who require protection from traffic.

• manage possible adverse impacts on traffic flows and ensure network performance is maintained at an acceptable level.

• assess and minimise the impact on users of the road reserve and adjacent properties, businesses and facilities.

• identify and consider all foreseeable risks and stipulate mitigation measures.

• provide innovative treatments where possible.

Contact Director, Professional Services Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com 3632 6805

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IPWEAQ has developed the Temporary Traffic Management Toolkit (TTM Toolkit) to support the planning and design of safe, cost effective and efficient temporary traffic management solutions for low volume Category 1 roads. The Toolkit responds to concerns raised by councils that the adoption of the mandatory Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management (AGTTM) would place an undue burden on work activities related to roads with traffic volumes of less than 1,000 vehicles per day.

LAUNCH

SPECIALPLUS OFFER TOOLKIT ALL UPDATES FOR $3,000 to 30 June 2022TO 18 MONTHS including all updates.

30 JUNE 2023



www.ipweaq.com

MEMBER PROFILE

MEDAL OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (OAM) (GENERAL DIVISION)

Anthony (Tony) McDonald OAM FIPWEAQ

Congratulations, Tony McDonald who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia at the recent Australia Day Honours List. Tony has been a member since 1993 and a Fellow since 2013.

Tony instructing Esk Shire Council workers on conversion from imperial to metric measurement, Lycium Hall Esk. 1973

Tony commenced his career in local government in November 1969 with Wambo Shire Council based in Dalby. He started as a cadet working primarily as a chainman conducting engineering surveys with an automatic level, theodolite and measuring band.

In those earlier years, Tony was mentored by Morrie Mathieson (Shire Engineer, Wambo Shire Council), Graham Whyte (Shire Engineer, Esk Shire Council) and Bill Reilly (Shire Engineer, Stanthorpe Shire Council).

The bulk of Tony’s professional career (1977 to 2011) was spent as Overseer and Manager of Engineering Services for Cambooya Shire Council carrying out many and varied tasks applying for development grants, responding to latenight calls about burst watermains or rogue cattle, doing pro-bono construction design for community school and sporting facilities, attending

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Construction Setout for Oval – Tony McDonald holding peg, Nigel Davidson on hammer, Shaun Davidson holding tape and optical square

traffic emergencies, organising ANZAC Day services and Australia Day activities, conducting evening public consultations with stakeholder groups, and a myriad of other activities on top of his role and responsibilities in the engineering and local government portfolio.

Along with his commitment to Cambooya Shire Council and its residents, Tony has also volunteered in various

roles including SWQ Branch President of IPWEAQ. At the 2007 excellence awards, he received the Technical Officer of the year award and in 2013, became an IPWEAQ Fellow in recognition of his outstanding service over many years. During his career, Tony has mentored younger professionals and currently travels throughout Queensland several times a year to mentor rural staff on behalf of the IPWEAQ delivering the

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

MEMBER PROFILE Supervisors Workshop.

Early influences Tony’s involvement with the Gipps Street Church of Christ began in the early 1970s and he has fulfilled many informal leadership and pastoral roles including coordinating camps and related activities for the church’s youth group. Tony also volunteered to manage the construction of the church’s auditorium and carpark. From the late 1980s until the present,

Tony has served the Gipps Street Church of Christ as its Treasurer.

Tony continues to be an active member of his church and is a dedicated husband to wife of 49 years, Rhonda. He has three children and six grandsons aged from six months to eight years.

Queensland) in 1973 with a Certificate in Civil Engineering (Construction Technician/Design Technician), he has continued with his distinguished career now working part-time with GenEng Solutions Pty Ltd and will continue with his community involvement. This year, Tony celebrates 72 years.

Since he graduated from the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (now the University of Southern

Tony attributes his OAM to the many outstanding people who have helped and encouraged him along the way.

Going Forward

Employment History

Awards and Recognition:

• November 1969 – July 1972: Wambo Shire Council, Dalby – Cadet Technical Officer; Technical Officer

• Technical Officer of the Year, Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia, 2009.

• August 1972 – September 1972: Buckley’s Earthmoving, Toowoomba – Plant Operator; Truck Driver; Labourer • October 1972 – February 1976: Esk Shire Council, Esk - Technical Officer • February 1976 – February 1977: Stanthorpe Shire Council, Stanthorpe - Technical Officer • February 1977 – March 2008: Cambooya Shire Council, Greenmount – Overseer of Works; Manager Engineering Services; Senior Technical Officer.

• March 2008 – August 2011: Toowoomba Regional Council, Greenmount Service Centre – Senior Technical Officer • 22 August 2011 – September 2017: Harrison Infrastructure Group, Toowoomba – Senior Project Manager for Harrison Infrastructure Group in Toowoomba and Gatton Offices.

• September 2017 – September 2020: Lockyer Valley Regional Council – Technical Officer and Acting Manager Design Services.

• September 2020 to April 2021 – “Retirement” • April 2021 to present: GenEng Solutions Part Time Senior Technical Officer and Part Time Retirement.

• May 2012 – present: Co-presenter of the IPWEAQ’s Supervisors Workshop to Local Governments across Queensland.

• Late 2011 – September 2020: Represented Lockyer Valley Regional Council in the research into “Enhancing Resilience of Critical Road Structures: Bridges, Culverts, and Floodways under Natural Hazards” being undertaken by the University of Southern Queensland and RMIT University.

• Queensland Award, Fellow of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia, 2014.

• Outstanding Service Award, Cambooya Shire Council.

• Outstanding Service Award, Toowoomba Regional Council.

• Life Member Centenary Heights State School, Parents and Citizens Association, 2013.

• Recognition by Life Blood for blood donations.

• 2015 USQ Alumnus of the Year – Highly Commended Community Service Award Other Community Service • Late 1970s to the mid-1990s, Member of the Cambooya group of the Queensland State Emergency Services.

• Member and President, Parents and Citizens Association, Rangeville State School, 1987-1994.

• President, Parents and Citizens Association, Centenary Heights State School, 1994- 1999 and 2009-2013 and Life Member, since 2013.

• Justice of the Peace, since 1988.

• Treasurer, Gipps St Church of Christ, since 1989.

• Member, Cambooya Queensland State Emergency Service, 1970’s-1990’s.

• Donates blood every three months.

• Volunteered as coach or assistant coach for his sons’ numerous soccer and cricket teams.

• 1987 to 2014 - served on the Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) committees of Rangeville State School and Centenary Heights State High School. In recognition of this service, he has been made a life member of the Centenary Heights State High School Parents and Citizens Association, while the high school has named a classroom in the new Year 7 building the ‘McDonald’ room.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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MEMBER PROFILE

Grader driver did not turn up for work

Tony enjoying Grandsons, Carter on shoulders, Darcy in pouch

First Rockbuster in Queensland for Cambooya Shire Council.

From left. Graham Bowes (Owner/Managing Director Broons Hire Adelaide), Cr Bill Woods (Mayor), Jim Brown (Shire Clerk), Tony McDonald (Works Overseer at the time), John Jackson Queensland Representative Broons Hire based in Hodgson Vale. (Approx. 1984)

Rhonda and Tony

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

Asset Management Digital Badges We are delighted to be partnering with our colleagues at IPWEA NZ to deliver Asset Management Digital Badges for Queensland practitioners.

With pressure to manage the increasing number of infrastructure assets in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, strong skills in asset management have become critical. Asset Management Digital Badges allow you to complete short courses (2 – 4 hours) to develop your skills from introductory through to essential, advanced and specialist levels.

Introduction to Asset Management AU$183.00 + GST

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Planning and Decision Making AU$276.00 + GST

Performance Management AU$276.00 + GST

Introduction to Climate Adaption in Asset Management AU$183.00 + GST

Traffic Estimation and Strategy AU$370.00 + GST

Introduction to Flood Risk Asset Management AU$183.00 + GST

Inspection and Performance AU$230.00 + GST

Note: prices are indicative and may change due to the exchange rate AUD-NZ.

Contact Director, Professional Services Craig.Mosss@ipweaq.com 07 3632 6805

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www.ipweaq.com

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These micro-credentials align with ISO standards and the globally renowned International Infrastructure Management Manual (IMM).

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

STREET DESIGN MANUAL 22 MARCH BRISBANE AND ONLINE Up to 8 CPD hours

TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICE FOR MANAGERS, SUPERVISORS AND PROJECT MANAGERS ADMINISTRATION OF ASPHALT PAVEMENT SPECIFICATIONS 5 APRIL

BRISBANE

Contact Tammi Petre Professional Development Manager Tammi.Petre@ipweaq.com 3632 6807

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PAVEMENT REHABILITATION WORKSHOP 28 MARCH & 4 APRIL ONLINE Up to 7 CPD hours

1 APRIL

TOOWOOMBA

12 MAY

MACKAY

30 MAY

PALMERSTON

EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL LEVEL 2 30 MARCH BRISBANE 27 APRIL SUNSHINE COAST 9 JUNE GOLD COAST Up to 8 CPD hours

Up to 6 CPD hours

SUPERVISORS WORKSHOP 5-6 APRIL

DALBY

ROAD SAFETY FORUM 7 APRIL

BRISBANE

Up to 12 CPD hours

Up to 6 CPD hours

BRIDGE INSPECTION LEVELS 1 & 2

DEMYSTIFYING EDD APPLICATIONS

Up to 7.5 CPD hours

UNSEALED LOCAL ROADS 12-13 APRIL ROCKHAMPTON 16 CPD hours

26-28 APRIL

BRISBANE

Up to 18 CPD hours

4-5 MAY

BRISBANE

Up to 12 CPD hours

INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

NATIVE TITLE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 9 MAY 30 MAY

MACKAY TOOWOOMBA

Contact Tammi Petre Professional Development Manager Tammi.Petre@ipweaq.com 3632 6807



ADMINISTRATION OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS 9 & 16 MAY ONLINE

Up to 6 CPD hours

MANAGING RISKS ON LOWER ORDER ROADS

24-26 MAY

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Up to 16 CPD hours

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TYPE A, B & D SEDIMENT BASIN DESIGN

26 MAY

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ONLINE

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Up to 7 CPD hours

EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL LEVEL 3

Up to 8 CPD hours

QUDM – QLD URBAN DRAINAGE MANUAL 1 JUNE BRISBANE Up to 8 CPD hours

CONCRETE PATHWAY DESIGN 1 JUNE PALMERSTON

ASSESSING HEAVY VEHICLE ACCESS TO BRIDGES 7 JUNE TOWNSVILLE Up to 7 CPD hours

SPRAYED SEALING SECTION & DESIGN 14 & 15 JUNE BRISBANE Up to 15 CPD hours

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND

RAISE A GLASS TO COUNCIL ENGINEERS

Luke Tanner, Manager Works, Goondiwindi Regional Council

Andrew Leach, Coordinator Development Services / EA Engineering, Goondiwindi Regional Council

Dion Jones, Director Engineering Services, Goondiwindi Regional Council

The Queensland regional centre of Goondiwindi is protected by a levee bank, now stretching to approximately 21km, which has protected the town since the late 1950’s.

In 2021 the bank again protected its community from widespread flooding a number of times including two occasions where the Macintyre river reached levels within 240mm of the record 2011 flood.

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Bill McNulty - Foreman

Vernon Redmond - Engineer

The Goondiwindi Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs of southeast Queensland.

The region encompasses townships from Texas in the east, through Inglewood, Yelarbon, Goondiwindi, Toobeah and Talwood to the west, including many more small rural communities in between.

The region’s main town centre, Goondiwindi, is situated 350 kilometres west of Brisbane and sits proudly on the banks of the Macintyre River, which delineates the Queensland / New South Wales border.

floodplains upstream of Mungindi, then turning southwest back into New South Wales.

The Macintyre River forms part of the Border Rivers catchment and is one of the northern-most catchments in the Murray – Darling Basin. It begins on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in Northern New South Wales before the Dumaresq River and Macintyre Brook join into it just upstream of Goondiwindi and it continues running westward, gradually merging with other streams to become the Barwon River on the

Water – a blessing and a burden The ‘Gundi Windi Pastoral Company’ was established in the 1840s on the banks of the Macintyre River, where the Goondiwindi township now sits, for its rich and fertile farming soil. Goondiwindi is now a major centre for agriculture, producing a range of crops and fibres, and is an integral point of convergence of five major highways servicing Queensland and the southern states.

Save for times of exceptionally harsh drought, the access to such an abundance of water has long been a blessing and a burden for Goondiwindi. Since its establishment in the 1840s, the town has experienced a series of major floods including in 1890, 1921, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1955 and again in 1956, when the river rose over 10 metres, causing major damage in the town and district on four occasions in January and

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND

Pontoon - In Flood

Pontoon - Normal

Railway Hotel In Flood - 1921

February 1956 and once again in June.

The levee plan Following three consecutive floods in 1956, Council’s Engineer, Vern Redmond and his Foreman, Bill McNulty, began marking the flood levels on trees with an axe, sometimes heading out after working all day, staying out until 2 am with a torch and a small rowboat. The plan was to build a levee bank higher than any markings on the trees. Naturally, there was great debate around the viability of the levee bank and its effect on dwellings and

property downstream. Vern and Bill had the unenviable task of advising the property owners that they would need to shift or remove their dwellings. Local folklore tells of arguments and fights in the pubs, including Council officers bailed up in hotels on more than one occasion. There is even a story that someone threatened to blow up the levee bank.

The levee bank was eventually built in 1956, at a cost to Council and the community of 57,000 pounds.

Put to the test The levee bank’s first big test was in 1976, when the Macintyre reached a record height (at the time) of 10.48m, but did not enter the town.

The levee bank was tested again in 2011, when the river reached its highest level on record - 10.64m.

There was some isolated seepage through the bank and locations with the potential to overtop the bank to the west of the main town area, but Council had sufficient heavy equipment on hand to be able to stop or control the seepage and raise any low areas.

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SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND Cr Kearney, chair of the Local Disaster Management Group, has previously been quoted as saying: “In the 2011 flood, it would have required twice the volume of water that was in the system at the time to top the levee. So even though it was getting close, we needed a hell of a lot more water to top the levee.”

Two more floods in March and December 2021 were predicted to threaten, but did not eventually exceed, the record height of 10.64m. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded the river’s peaks at 10.4m and 10.46m respectively.

The levee today Over the years, the levee bank has been extended to a total length of approximately 21km encircling the majority of the township before petering out onto what classifies as high ground on the floodplain. Goondiwindi Regional Council provides for the upkeep and maintenance of the levee bank with assistance from external funding programs.

Council conducts an annual inspection program along with conducting regular surveys of the levee bank crest height to ensure the integrity of the levee is maintained.

During every major flood event, there is always the potential for the river to overtop the town’s levee bank, or contribute to small minor failures in the structure.

Flood Levee - Aerial Image

Council is responsible for the integrity of the levee and rosters staff on rotating shifts, 24 hours a day until the threat has subsided.

Council staff patrol and monitor the entire length of the levee bank on foot, on ATVs and in utilities, operating flood pumps to pump local stormwater and any seepage out of the levee area and conducting spot repairs should any signs of weakness appear in the levee.

As a result of some of the large flows in the Macintyre over the last couple of years, after years of drought, Council is taking this opportunity to upskill newer staff members on the levee and associated flood gates and pumps, and flood events in general, and to also further enhance and refine our processes and procedures.

70 years of protection Goondiwindi has two prominent monuments that sit proudly on either side of the town’s old bridge, on the northern bank of the mighty Macintyre River.

One is in honour of the famous ‘Goondiwindi Grey’; the other is a large, steel, abstract structure with the numbers 1-9-5-6 wrapped around the town’s very own ‘Tree of Knowledge’. For more than a century, townsfolk have gathered at the Tree of Knowledge each time a flood event has occurred. Aptly named, as locals would share their knowledge of river heights further upstream to assist in predicting the peak height of the Macintyre.

Although we now have digital river height forecast technology in the palms of our hands, the people of Goondiwindi still gather at the Tree of Knowledge and marvel. Not only at the speed and volume of water coming downstream, they look on in wonderment that nearly 70 years ago, two Council workers rowed out into the flood waters in the middle of the night, armed with nothing but a torch, an axe and a vision. A vision of a levee bank protecting the town of Goondiwindi from being inundated by floodwaters again.

Cr Kearney has a saying he likes to use to remind us: “Gunsynd put Goondiwindi on the map and our levee has kept it there”.

Gunsynd ready to swim

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

QUEENSLAND URBAN DRAINAGE MANUAL FOURTH EDITION

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND

THE KLEINTON WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY

Amy Bernier Project Manager Project Services, Infrastructure Services Toowoomba Regional Council

The Kleinton Waste Management Facility functions in a network of waste facilities to service the Toowoomba Region.

The $18m project incorporates a new waste transfer station, and it involved the rehabilitation of the existing landfill. The facility is designed for a 25 year life, with an expansion option for 50 years of service. The project has resulted in the optimisation of customer service, a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill, and an improvement in the economics of recovering resources. Customers were educated on how to use the facility, but the design was also based on observed customer behaviour. Detailed planning enabled maintenance of customer serviceability on the same land as the construction work, landfill rehabilitation, and minimisation of environmental impacts. Automation and sustainability initiatives have ensured that this facility is designed for the future.

Introduction Project planning for the Kleinton Waste Management Facility (WMF) began in 2015. The $18m project incorporates a new waste transfer station, and it involved the rehabilitation of the existing landfill. The facility

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functions in a broader network of waste facilities that are optimally positioned throughout the Toowoomba Region. The configuration of the site was planned to ensure customer ease of use, through the observation of waste facility customer behaviour.

There were several design considerations that were unique to the site, such as the need to maintain waste operations on the same land throughout construction. There were also several environmental protection aspects incorporated into the design. The automation and sustainability initiatives implemented on the site are a key differentiation between the Kleinton WMF and other facilities in the industry. Practical completion of the project was staged, with the main facility reaching practical completion in December 2020, and the final practical completion being achieved in April 2021. A site overview plan is shown in Figure 1.

Waste management as a network In 2017 a Waste Management Strategy was released to the community of the Toowoomba Region. This strategy describes how Council will build and manage a network of waste facilities. An intent of this strategy is to ensure that 98 percent of the Toowoomba Region can drive to a facility within 20 minutes.

Geographical network planning was used to select the optimum locations and sizes for each future site.

The Kleinton WMF is one of the key facilities in the network.

Project planning for the Kleinton WMF commenced in 2015 and started with considering how this facility would function within a network of waste

management facilities to service the Toowoomba Region. Several locations were considered for the site, however, it was decided that the existing landfill was best situated from a network and community acceptance standpoint. The 16 hectare site will service the Northern parts of the Toowoomba Region for the next 25 years, and can be expanded to offer 50 years of serviceability.

The facility configuration Configuration planning was of high importance for the Kleinton WMF design. Several concept designs were considered before the final configuration was agreed upon. These designs evaluated constructability, future waste processing opportunities, and suitability for a range of vehicle configurations. The facility layout has increased waste streaming options, optimised resource and cost recovery, and reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill. The design has improved the economics of recovering resources. The clockwise configuration illustrated in Figure 2 is split into four key areas that have the following purposes: •T he Bulk Materials Area – Segregation of green, timber, crushed concrete, and steel waste.

•R esource Recovery Area – Separation of recyclables.

•R esidual Waste Transfer – Discard of non-recyclables for compaction prior to landfill diversion.

•R etail Tip Shop – Resale of recyclables.

Enhancing the customer experience Customer serviceability and safety were important considerations of the design. The Traffic Impact and Engineering

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND

Figure 1 – Site overview plan

customers entering the facility during peak opening hours.

Figure 2 – Facility configuration map

Assessment had to ensure that traffic queuing was kept to a minimum. This was particularly important as the facility entrance is within a 100km/ hr zone, so it would be unsafe if traffic were to queue on the adjoining road. Traffic queuing is considered optimised as the average customer waiting time is less than seven minutes for

The customer experience has been further enhanced by designing the site configuration to suit observed waste facility customer behaviour. To ensure that the site configuration continued to match customer behaviour, a ‘How to Load the Trailer’ educational campaign was run. This campaign taught customers how to separate their waste and load their trailer to enable easy segregation of waste when visiting the facility.

The layout and facility operating model have been designed to be scaled up and down across the different tiers of facilities within the Waste Management Strategy.

This allows for a customer to have the same user experience across the region, regardless of the facility they visit. The facility has attracted positive customer Google reviews, and Council’s operating staff have provided positive feedback around how easy the facility is to operate.

Continuance of serviceability and landfill rehabilitation The facility was primarily built on an old landfill site that was being operated as a temporary

waste transfer station. The site characteristics meant that landfill rehabilitation and continued public serviceability were important aspects of the project. To maintain customer serviceability throughout the construction works, the facility operations had to be fully segregated and relocated three times throughout the works. This required detailed planning, as did the rehabilitation of the landfill.

Appropriate management of the waste relocation and landfill rehabilitation activities was paramount to avoid environmental harm. The Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011, Environmental Protection Act 1994, Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011, and Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 were adhered to through several measures.

These measures included the use of an asbestos spotter, gas monitoring system, and waste handling contractor. The landfill rehabilitation process is shown in Figure 3. The white material that can be viewed in Figure 3 is the geosynthetic clay liner. This liner is one of the many capping layers that ensures that waste does not rise to the surface. The landfill

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND

Figure 3 - Landfill rehabilitation works

was successfully rehabilitated, and a Landfill Closure Plan was developed to highlight the ongoing activities that must be performed to manage the landfill after rehabilitation.

Managing the environmental impacts Environmental management was a key consideration in the design. Beyond the landfill rehabilitation, additional aspects such as bushfire, and visual screening had to be considered.

Visual screening was achieved by implementing a 20 metre vegetated landscape buffer throughout the perimeter of the facility. The vegetation buffer, however, had to be thin enough to accommodate bushfire management requirements.

Vegetation works also had to consider the fact that Koalas were present on the site. A wildlife spotter was used to ensure Koala safety and environmental best practice.

Environmental best practice was also achieved through the minimisation of air and noise pollution. Although the site is rural, there are nearby neighbours. To operate the site, crushing and shredding activities

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must occur regularly. These activities can be loud, so a mulch bund and an acoustic fence were constructed to protect sensitivity receptors from the noise. The site activities, if not managed appropriately can also lead to odor and dust. Odour and dust are managed by a misting system which operates when waste is pushed and loaded. The waste is also transported away from site to the landfill at regular frequencies.

A further environmental consideration was stormwater management. The Stormwater Management Plan was developed in accordance with the Queensland Urban Drainage Manual. It was adapted to ensure that the facility will not generate contaminated runoff, but rather capture contaminated runoff in specialty treatment systems. The Residual Waste Area is enclosed to prevent water from contacting residual waste, and the discharge is channelled to a trade waste sump for treatment. Discharge from the Bulk Materials Area is channelled via a gross pollutant trap and held in a stormwater quality improvement basin. A bio-retention basin has also been incorporated into the design for

stormwater quality treatment.

Stormwater is appropriately managed.

Automation and sustainability initiatives The facility has been designed to be self-sufficient from a water and power perspective. The site has 20 kilowatts of solar, 320 kilolitres of rainwater tanks, 24 megalitres of stormwater capture dams, and an onsite bore system. Moreover, automation technology has been implemented for operational efficiency gains. This is a key point of differentiation between the Kleinton Waste Management Facility over other facilities in the industry. The integration of certain automation systems has allowed for the real-time management of the facility remotely.

The key automation technology implemented at the facility and their purposes were: •A utomated electric gates to make opening and closing the facility simple.

•S ecurity and access control to limit public access for public safety.

•D igital and thermal closedcircuit television (CCTV) cameras

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND for security, the capture of facility uses analytics, and early identification of waste fires.

• A building sprinkler system for fast response to fires.

• A building management system to promptly report electrical, sewer, fire system, CCTV, or water pump faults to key operational staff.

• A bell system to notify facility operators that customers have entered their area.

• Touch screen computers for record-keeping efficiency.

The automation technology on the site is linked. For example, the thermal CCTV cameras in the Residual Waste Transfer area can detect heat and trigger the fire sprinkler systems which are linked to water storage specifically for fires. The building management system simultaneously sends an automatic alert to the facility

operators that heat has been detected before the fire alarm systems are triggered. The automation technology is an innovative safety feature which is forward planning.

The takeaways The Kleinton Waste Management Facility has delivered positive outcomes for the Toowoomba Region. It functions in a network of waste facilities under Council’s Waste Management Strategy. The facility layout has increased waste streaming options, optimised resource and cost recovery, and reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill. The design has improved the economics of recovering resources, whilst optimising customer serviceability and safety. Observed customer behaviour was fed into the design to assist in educating customers on how to use

SWQ/SEQ BRANCH CONFERENCE

TOOWOOMBA 30-31 March 2022

the facility, and to achieve a design that minimises traffic queuing. To maintain customer serviceability on the same site as the construction work, to achieve landfill rehabilitation, and to minimise environmental impacts, detailed planning was required.

Automation and sustainability initiatives have ensured that this facility is designed for the future.

Amy works as a public infrastructure Project Manager for Toowoomba Regional Council. Prior to her time in Project Services, Amy worked in the private sector for engineering consultancies.

She has experience working as a multidisciplinary project manager, civil designer and a construction superintendent’s representative. She is motivated by challenges and personal engagement.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

SWQ/SEQ BRANCH TOOWOOMBA THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! 30-31 March 2022 CONFERENCE

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

PORT TO PROJECT LOGISTICS FOR WINDFARMS. PRACTICAL ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ON TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Available in ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Nick Canto icubed consulting

Roderick Hetherington icubed consulting

The construction of wind farms requires the delivery of hundreds of OverSize Over-Mass (OSOM) components from a port of entry to the project site often located in regional and remote areas.

Queensland has not seen a high penetration of constructed wind farms as of June 2021, however this is set to change at an accelerated rate in the next decade as the State and National electricity grids are de-carbonised and fossil fuel generators reach the end of their design operating lives.

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Road impacts that are more localised to the project area are associated with the construction of the “Balance of Plant” elements. That is access roads, installation hardstands, footings, substations, and electrical reticulation. These are substantial assets in their own right with each turbine requiring a reinforced concrete footing in the order of 600-700cubic meters in volume and a 1.0Ha hardstand capable of accommodating mobile cranes with a lifting capacity of up to 1000 tonnes.

Delivery of the constituent ingredients can often have a more significant impact on pavements given the intensity of these deliveries that often traverse LOR’s.

Heavy Vehicles and Road Network Impacts Over 80% of the freight task associated with the construction of a wind farm is comprised of normal Heavy Vehicle Transporters, which are allowed to operate unrestricted on Australian roads every day. Where the selected route permits, there are benefits in deploying prescribed vehicles including B-Doubles and Type A Road Trains operating Higher Mass Limits. While not essential, any measures that reduce the number of interactions with other road users is a reasonable approach. However, this is not always possible due to network limits on existing pavements and or structures on the required route.

The operational phase of a completed wind farm has little to no impact upon road networks due to limited traffic generation.

As such, any upgrades required to facilitate construction of any given project will be adequate for these purposes. During the construction phase, major routes used for the delivery of heavy aggregates should be subject to a well-conceived construction phase traffic management plan (TMP) due to them contributing most of the heavy vehicle movements.

The most significant contribution to network upgrades is associated with component delivery using the OSOM fleet configurations described in Section 5.1 of this paper. Turbine classes being delivered into the Australian Market at this time require the transport route from the port to site to observe some key parameters; • Vertical Curves – 500m but up to 700m VC limit depending on the trailer configuration – Existing Causeways are typically an issue • Horizontal Curves – 120m when the road pavement width is 6.0m or more • T-Junctions* – 60m truncations • Cross fall, 3% Crown and not more than 5% superelevation or adverse cross fall • Road Width 6.0m, allows Beam Trailers to operate on a 5.0m outer track width.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

Plate 1: 1940’s Bridge – Lal Lal Windfarm, Victoria

Plate 2: Load Testing of 1940’s Bridge – Lal Lal Windfarm, Victoria

Consideration should also be given to providing passing opportunities for other road users. Component deliveries are typically spread over an extended duration and at most there are 3-4 OSOM deliveries to the site per day. Inconvenience is

insignificant when project TMP’s are well-conceived, and pilots are familiar with the opportunities provided in the design of these offsite upgrades.

Structures Generally, state-controlled roads

will have a higher standard of infrastructure capable of catering for the OSOM delivery fleet associated with the construction of a wind farm. LOR’s, typically controlled by Local Authorities may have structures that are more problematic due to

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND their age and condition. Older bridge structures, or larger culverts, should be assessed with an appropriate degree of care. Where records of the asbuilt structure are limited, it’s appropriate to undertake load testing and model validation to ensure the freight task will not compromise the asset.

In the example presented in plates 1 and 2 the existing structure was shown to have an adequate rating factor to permit use by the OSOM fleet delivering components to the windfarm.

Prescribed vehicles operating HML’s were precluded from use due to an inadequate rating factor when multiple lane loading was considered in the analysis.

Figure 8: FEM Analysis of 1940’s Bridge

Pavements All roads on the transport route need to be considered as part of the project Transport Impact Assessment (TIA). As with structures, State-controlled and higher-order LGA roads generally have adequate pavement strength and formation width to facilitate the construction of a wind farm. Lower Order Roads (LOR) need careful consideration and depending upon the nature of these assets and background traffic, some degree of intervention is often required. At a minimum, a comprehensive pre-construction phase dilapidation survey should be undertaken to ensure that post-construction the assets are maintained to a standard equal to, or better than that which existed prior to construction.

Where the scale of the project and background traffic deems a full pavement upgrade and new seal is appropriate, the IPWEA LOR manual is a reasonable guide for industry. Where low use LORs are being used for access, upgrading to a gravel road standard is adequate for the purposes of construction. In this instance, Austroads Part 6 – U3 is generally sufficient to build a wind farm.

Lessons Learned As the wind industry has

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Plate 3: Before - Woorndoo-Streatham Road, Dundonnell Windfarm, Victoria

Plate 4: After - Woorndoo-Streatham Road, Dundonnell Windfarm, Victoria

matured from a niche market to a mature player in our energy transition, there have been several lessons learned over the years. Noting that this is not a comprehensive list, some

of these as they relate to road networks are: • Engage with the local community early and frequently. Requirements change as the project evolves

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SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND from establishment, enabling works (balance of plant), component delivery, turbine erection, commissioning and operations.

• Maximise the use of natural resources on the site where possible, especially when pavement materials can be sourced.

• Reduce interactions with the general public where possible, avoiding peak periods such as school bus times.

Acknowledgements

• Encourage car-pooling and where practical provide bus services for the labour force during construction activities.

• Mr Carl Keating of Zenviron, who trusted icubed to design our first full scope windfarm nearly 15 years ago.

Conclusion Wind farms will form a central part of Australia and Queensland’s transition to a decarbonised economy.

There are major construction activities that, done well, can make a valuable contribution towards regional economies, with little noticeable adverse outcomes. Well-conceived Traffic Impact Assessments, Traffic Management Plans and planning of network upgrades are an important feature in ensuring that the community expectations are met in terms of disruption and a positive legacy from betterment of local road networks is achieved.

• Ensure appropriate dilapidation data is available on parts of the networks being used for the entire freight task, including delivery of heavy aggregates.

• Undertake maintenance frequently and early during the construction of enabling works.

• Provide passing opportunities for other road users on the OSOM route and ensure they are well signed.

• Ensure the OSOM Pilots are familiar with the design intent of the project and any abnormal conditions, for example, adverse crossfalls, or narrow bridges.

• Our wonderful clients who trust us with their projects, whom are too many to mention.

• The wonderful team at RES Australia, who trusted icubed to deliver our first Windfarm Development Approval several years ago.

• All of the State and Local Authorities whom we deal with on a daily basis across Australia and New Zealand.

• The team at icubed consulting and our trusted subconsultants, who make us look better than we are nearly every day.

• And last but not least our wonderful families who allow us to fly away and work on interesting projects all over the country.

Nick Canto Nick Canto is an executive, engineer and entrepreneur with 26 years of experience in the infrastructure and energy sectors. He is currently the Managing Director of icubed consulting, a Brisbane based Development Consulting practice, specialising in Renewable Energy and Infrastructure projects.

Founded by Nick in 2003, icubed today employs over 40 dedicated professionals. Since inception, icubed has consulted on over 5GW of constructed Wind Energy Projects across Australia.

Rod Hetherington Rod Hetherington is a Chartered Civil Engineer managing icubed consulting’s renewable energy team. With ten years in renewables and civil construction, Rod has developed strong project planning, stakeholder management, analysis, and quality control skills.After becoming a partner at icubed in 2018, Rod moved to Melbourne to establish icubed’s Victorian branch and expand icubed consulting’s reach through the renewable and infrastructure sectors. Once established in Melbourne, icubed then expanded operations into New Zealand, where Rod Project Manages our NZ renewable projects and oversees the operations of the broader icubed subsidiary i3NZLP.

™

ASSET DESIGN AS CONSTRUCTED

NATIONAL STANDARD FOR ASSET DATA

THE NATIONAL STANDARD FOR PUBLIC WORKS INFRASTRUCTURE

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

FLINDERS RIVER BYWAYS GAINS ALL WEATHER ACCESS CROSSING

Hari Boppudi CEO, Flinders Shire Council

When engineers decide to work out a commonsense approach and deliver a product that complies with the relevant standards and regulations, we will see outcomes similar to the Flinders River Glentor Crossing.

Designed and constructed

by Flinders Shire Council with the assistance of local contractors, due to the low VPD numbers on this road, Council wanted a structure that is resilient, low maintenance and

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cost effective. The project success mantra was to use the best of local knowledge, making the best use of locally available materials.

Council crews completed the project on time and within budget, achieving 70% cost savings compared to the other options considered during the planning and design stage.

Glentor Road is the only access to the local property owners; closure of the link (generally due to wet weather events) increases their travel time by 30 min - 1 hour one-way. This route is widely used by the producers along the Hann Highway and the Glentor Road and is a vital link to southbound traffic. VPD is 250 to 300 per day when the road is accessible.

Users had lodged numerous complaints and submitted various requests to Council to upgrade the crossing.

This project was in the planning stage and on the wishlist for a long time. I started my career with Flinders in 2010, and my overseer always told me of his desire to build the crossing before he retired. He was not hopeful due to project costs and complexity. I used to tell him miracles happen. We secured funding following the 2019 flood event, when he was alive but commenced works after his sudden death due to health issues. He had so looked forward to contributing to the success of this project.

The crossing is in a purple zone; hence the proposed scope had to comply with the “ accepted development requirements for operational work constructing or raising waterway barrier works” as required by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries guidelines. The engineering challenge was compliance, budget and a design/scope that the Council workforce

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could deliver. The project team undertook the initial investigation works in consultation with the local property owners and the Council. The preliminary meetings gave the technical crew a good overview of the ground conditions, challenges, overview and history, and locally sourced materials data. We also collected information on how older crossings built along the Flinders River had lasted for more than 60 years. Although the old crossings are structurally sound they are technically non-compliant with the current legislation. However, we used the design basis of these old crossings, adjusting to comply with the current legislation. Credit goes to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for assisting Council in providing preliminary advice and granting the approvals on time.

My experience with Fisheries is worth mentioning; I had heard that the approval process could be lengthy, so I considered obtaining timely approvals to be a crucial task. To expedite the process, I read the guidelines, ensured I was familiar with the requirements, and prepared a concept before the first meeting with the Department. We discussed the scope, compliance, and changes required and submitted the final version of the drawings for review and approval.

As a result, we received approvals in little time.

The Flinders River Glentor Crossing project involved planning, designing, and constructing a new concrete crossing with bitumen approaches. Prior to replacement, council crews repaired the floodway after every minor and significant rain event requiring closure of the road for extended periods. The existing structure was a gravel causeway, and the newly built structure is a concrete causeway, which minimises the damage to the asset and reduces road closure timings.

The project scope consisted of a new concrete floodway (approximately 190m) on Flinders River Crossing and 1.2km of bitumen approaches. The scope included excavating the riverbed to the shale layer (approximately 5m) and filling it with rock of various sizes layered to allow natural interlocking. The 6.5m wide concrete floodway was constructed using the rock foundation (8.0m wide) as a base and ensured the top of the crossing is at river bed level.

Initially, we thought of using gabion baskets to fill the rock.

After listening to the experiences of one of the contractors based in the Far North and how a river had taken away the whole structure, we decided not to consider this option. I had also considered using drums filled with concrete as footings to hold the

reinforcement, but I dismissed that option as it was risky from a compliance perspective and costly from the construction perspective, probably a silly idea to an extent.

The Flinders River Glentor Crossing was a flood resilience and road safety project which now saves at least $50,000 per year to the Council maintenance budget and provides access to the locals for more than 11 months of the year, reducing travel time by around two hours and has proved popular with tourists travelling through the bio-regions. Before renewal, Glentor Road was closed between four-five months during the wet season. The Council and locals now consider this road an all-weather link connecting North to South.

Hari is Chief Executive Officer at Flinders Shire Council. Hari has spent the last 11 years with Flinders Shire Council, across various Associate Director of Engineering roles, and overseeing multiple projects. Prior to this, Hari’s Engineering career began with Ipswich Water in graduate and Project Officer roles, before moving to Hughenden to commence his career in the Shire council.

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

CYCLIST SAFETY AT ROUNDABOUTS – THE CAIRNS EXPERIENCE

Stephen Bolden Cairns Regional Council

Road planners and designers in Cairns were awakened to the potential problems with accommodating cyclists on roundabouts after two traffic accidents about a decade ago. Once was on the State controlled network at Trinity Beach Roundabout and the other was on Council’s Network on the Scott / Aumuller Street roundabout in Bungalow. In both cases, a cyclist travelling in a cycle lane/shoulder through a roundabout was fatally injured in a sideside clash with a truck.

A subsequent coronial inquest for the Council roundabout recommended improvements in typical design of roundabouts in the conveyance of cyclists. This has provided the impetus for research and design developments to improve the safety of roundabouts.

Traditional Roundabout function Roundabouts are a common feature of the road network in Cairns because they effectively

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Available in ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

reduce conflict approach angles and provide an efficient throughput flow of vehicles. There are many single and multi-lane roundabouts throughout Cairns.

Single lane roundabouts, in particular, are reasonably straightforward to design and quite familiar to road users in Australia.

travelling in its lane has right of way over the cyclist in the cycle lane at conflict points.

The other main issue is that a cyclist is a vulnerable “soft” user on a roundabout where cars and heavy vehicles are forced to undertake large deviations through the intersection.

According to Austroads1, a welldesigned roundabout is the safest form of intersection control for vehicles. They result in fewer casualty crashes than at other at-grade intersections with traffic signals, stop, or give-way signs. This is achieved largely by controlling vehicle speeds and conflict angles through the roundabout. A typical roundabout complete with terminology is shown in Figure 1.

To allow safe lane sharing for cyclists and motorists on roundabouts, the approach and circulation speed should be no more the 30km/h. Vehicle speeds above this level can result in reluctance of the cyclist to take the lane. In this case a separated cycle path solution should be considered. Figure 2 shows the relationship between traffic speeds and traffic volume and the need for shared or segregated cycle path. Separation of offroad cycle and pedestrian paths needs consideration in the design process.

Accidents involving cyclists

Figure 1: Typical roundabout terminology. Source: Austroads (2021)

Cyclists as road users The problems come when we add vulnerable road users to the same roundabout. Traditionally in Cairns the cycle lane has been added to the outside of the vehicle lane circulation where technically the vehicle

Accident statistics for Cairns involving cyclists at roundabouts may be derived from the TMR Crash Analytics and Reporting System (CARS)2 which contains data on traffic accidents. In the past 10 years in the Cairns local government area there have been 109 accidents involving cyclists at roundabouts as shown in Table 1. Of these 68 were on Locally Controlled as opposed to State Controlled roads. It is interesting to note that 73 of the accidents occurred in clear, daylight conditions.

In the majority of cases, the contributing factor for the accident was noted as “failure to give-way”. Most non-compliance appeared to reside with the motor vehicle, but failure of the cyclist to give-way was also commonly featured.

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NORTH QUEENSLAND Table 1: Accidents involving cyclists at Roundabouts in Cairns LGA in the past 10 years.

Number Percentage (%) Total No. of accidents

109

100

On locally controlled roads

68

62

In clear daylight conditions

73

67

Note: Accidents occurring in the 10 years to 22 September 2021 It is encouraging to note there are no recorded fatalities of cyclists at roundabouts during this time.

Figure 2: Guidance of separation of cyclists and motor vehicles.

Source: Austroads (2017b)7

Design development There have been significant developments in roundabout design and implementation over the past several years in Cairns.

This effort has largely centred around safe accommodation of cyclists on the numerous single-lane roundabouts in Council’s road network. This has resulted in significant design improvements to upgrade existing and new infrastructure.

Generally, a combination of off-road and on-road cycle paths have been built into the roundabout design. The on-road pathways have utilised a bicycle awareness zone (BAZ) solution.

The off-road solution has involved special on/off ramps across the kerbs sharing the pedestrian footpaths. To date approximately 25 single-lane roundabouts have been upgraded with the BAZ type improvements. Further improvements and additional roundabouts are programmed for upgrading in the future.

Historical Configuration The historical single-lane roundabout configuration implemented in Cairns is shown in the following aerial imagery of Abbott / Minnie St intersection in Cairns CBD in Figure 4. The roundabout features a single circulating cycle lane outside and directly adjacent to the single circulating vehicle lane. There are some obvious deficiencies with

Figure 4: Historical typical single-lane roundabout configuration in Cairns (Minnie / Abbott St). Source: Cairns Regional Council

this roundabout configuration including the following: • Vehicle approach speeds are inconsistent and poorly controlled. Typically, the 85-percentile speed will be significantly higher than the desirable 30km/h.

• Vehicles tend to cut the road shoulder on approach and departure to the roundabout.

• The design places cyclists and vehicles in parallel through the roundabout.

• Legally cyclists using the cycle lane in the roundabout are required to give way to other vehicles departing the roundabout. Many cyclists are not aware of this fact resulting in confusion in expectations between cyclists and motorists.

• The significant horizontal deflection through the roundabout can result in larger design vehicles crossing into the cycle lane.

Progression of design Cairns Regional Council has embarked on a dedicated program to update and renew roundabout design over the past several years. Some funding has been provided by the Queensland Government to support this. This has been something of an evolutionary design process over this time as planners, traffic engineers and designers have sought better, cost effective and safer outcomes for roundabout users.

The progression of design has resulted in establishment and

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NORTH QUEENSLAND Awareness Signage Warning and awareness raising is further emphasised by suitable signage installed in advance of the roundabout merge zone to suitably advise motorists and cyclists. Cairns has adopted the following “Watch for Bicycles” sign shown in Figure 9.

Austroads5 recommends the use of advisory pavement marking treatments such as sharrows shown in Figure 10. This example comes from Banff in Canada.

Figure 5: CRC preferred typical bicycle treatment for single-lane roundabouts Source: Cairns Regional Council (2021)iv

Figure 6: Typical mid-block termination of the bicycle lane Source: Queensland Transport and Main Roads (2020)

progressive revision of a preferred typical bicycle treatment for single-lane roundabouts shown in Figure 5.

Bicycle Awareness Zone (BAZ) The significant feature of the Cairns Regional Council roundabout treatment for cyclists is the design and implementation of the Bicycle Awareness Zone (BAZ) through the roundabout. The adopted treatment consists of a “midblock termination” of the bicycle lane on approach to the roundabout similar to the requirements of “Bicycle provisions mid-block” in the TMR Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 9 Bicycle Facilities3 shown in Figure 6 as follows.

The BAZ treatment is then applied to the merge zone as an encouragement and signal for the cyclist to fully merge with the main trafficable lane. Additional advisory pavement markings

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should be provided at the bicycle lane departure points and merging point into the adjacent lane as per the TRUM manual Volume 1 Part 10, Section 6.5-1: Bicycle Awareness Zones4 shown in Figure 7. In Cairns we have in effect applied the BAZ across the roundabout with the Bicycle Merging Zone engaged on each approach, the Shared Zone through the circulatory section and the Demerging Zone beyond each roundabout exit.

Given the purposeful narrowing of the traffic lane and the intent for cyclists to “take the lane”, the positioning of the BAZ cycle symbols guides cyclists to the centre of the lane and gives motorists the clear expectation that this will happen. Note that in Queensland a cyclist may legally take the lane without the support of a BAZ treatment. Application of the BAZ treatment to the roundabout is shown in Figure 8.

These treatments are known to enhance a cyclist’s capability to move to the centre of the shared lane in the merge zone prior to the roundabout entry.

Awareness is further raised on Cairns roundabouts by use of an emerald BAZ start box shown in Figure 11. This start box is implemented as the first BAZ of the series and provides emphasis at the cyclist merge zone. Other jurisdictions have used similar devices to indicate changed road conditions.

Speed Where bicycles and motor vehicles are intended to share the road space, Austroads6 recommends design principles should provide a target design speed of less than 30km/h. It goes on to state that where the approach speed cannot be achieved, consideration is given to a separated cycle facility off the roundabout. Cyclist behaviour is such that there is a reluctance to take the lane when cars are approaching too fast. In turn the failure of cyclists to “take the lane” leads motorists to not expect it to happen, so the motorists tend not to slow down to allow the cyclists to take the lane.

Cairns has used a number of treatments combined to reduce approach speeds of vehicles.

Horizontal deflection is the most common, although not always entirely effective. Measures include splitter islands, chevron islands, shoulder treatments and entry lane narrowing.

Implementation options can

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Figure 10: Example of sharrow pavement marking – Banff, Canada

Figure 11: Emerald BAZ start box

Figure 7: Typical application of BAZ treatment. Source: Traffic and Road Use Management, Transport and Main Roads, November 2018

roundabout function and safety for all users is speed control.

This has been reinforced with imposition of a 30km/h speed limit through the roundabout.

The importance of controlling speed down to 30km/h was discussed above. Failure to slow vehicles to 30km/h can result in a reluctance on the part of cyclists to take the lane as they feel unsafe. It is realised that the environment is equally important in setting and controlling the approach speed of motorists.

Failure to match the posted speed limit with the speed environment, may justifiably be viewed as failure of design.

Approach Lane Width

Figure 8: Application of BAZ to a roundabout

become limited when retrofitting existing roundabouts where the geometry has for the main part been pre-established. Cairns recognises a potential need to use vertical deflection of the road approach in the form of a flat humps, or speed cushions, but has been reluctant to implement this due to cost, maintenance, and the potential need for higher levels of street lighting.

Figure 9: Advance warning signage Source: Australian Standards (2018)vii

Speed regulation An important part of the

The features of the current design roundabout approach merge zone are shown in Figure 13 and will be relevant to discussion in the following sections.

Where possible the width of the entry lane is narrowed to 3.0m. This assists in shrinking the environment around the approaching motorist, lowering the speed environment and hopefully causing them to slow down. Reduction of the width to 3.0m may not always be possible due to the need to adequately accommodate

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

Figure 13: Approach layout and features

Figure 14: Proposed 200mm wide by 10mm deep groove rumble treatment

clearances for larger design vehicles. For the main part there will always be a chevron shoulder treatment additional to the traffic lane to provide an emergency run-off space to accommodate cyclists unable to merge or otherwise “squeezed” off the traffic lane. The chevron shoulder width is intended to be 1.0 m or less, so that it does not appear visually to cyclists to be simply a continuation of the terminated 1.5m wide cycle lane.

This is important to combat the traditional approach of the cyclist entering the roundabout on the shoulder in parallel with motor vehicles.

Shoulder treatment The roundabout approach shoulder treatment provides both an emergency run-off space for cyclists, but also functions to deter road users from entering this space. Cairns has traditionally implemented painted chevron areas to discourage vehicles from particular roadway areas and

56

this has been the initial shoulder treatment applied to roundabout approaches to narrow the traffic lane. It has been observed that a painted chevron alone does not achieve this. Investigation and trialling over the past few years has been underway to determine suitable shoulder treatments for roundabout approaches. The effort has generally focussed on a range of audio tactile treatments.

• RRPM’s – Raised Reflective Pavement Markers, other wise referred to as cat’s eyes had initially been applied to many of the roundabout shoulder treatment. They have since been removed due to safety concerns after complaints that cyclists traversing through the shoulder zones were slipping or losing control on individual RRPM’s.

• ATLM – Audio Tactile Line Marking – 8mm high x 50mm long x 150mm wide thermoplastic raised bars are defined by TMR Technical Specification MRTS45 Road Surface Delineation • Raised inverted seal treatment – These have been successfully used as warning rumble bars in other jurisdictions on rural roads to warn of approaching hazards such as T-intersections.

A strip of single/single seal 14/7 aggregate bitumen seal rumble strips provides a raised and roughened strip of road surface to work as an audio tactile feature. This treatment was discarded over

concerns the treatment would delaminate from the edges and controlled application over the small intended areas would be difficult.

Routed rumble bars – 10mm deep x 200mm wide grooves at 1-2m centres formed into pavement using asphalt / concrete grinder. This treatment is currently being trialled by Council with a sample shown in Figure 14. Implementation of the treatment is imminent pending trials to assess noise, safety and effectiveness.

Signage Road signage is critical for conveying the necessary awareness, hazard warning, changed road conditions and regulatory information to road users. Dealing with the proliferation of road signs on approach to roundabouts has been an important consideration for two main reasons: • Spacing of signs so they are legible for road users on approach to a roundabout is controlled by design guidelines.

This involves ensuring the spacing between signs along the roadway is not less than 0.6V metres where V is the posted speed limit in km/h. This means signs should be spaced no closer than 18m and 36m in the 30km/h and 60km/h zones respectively.

• Placement of signage to provide minimal disruption

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

Figure 15: New sign approach typical layout sequence

to roadside parking and other uses. Placement of signs in wide roadside verges requires protection using traffic islands or similar.

These two factors can make sign placement a challenge.

The adopted signage layout has now progressed to the new layout shown in Figure 15.

Off-Road Paths Off-road shared paths are typically implemented by Council on higher traffic volume roundabouts or closer to schools where cycle demand may be higher. It has therefore depended on cost and demand. Usually off-road shared paths have been implemented on sub-arterial and major road classifications. The typical configuration of cyclist offroad shared path facility is shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16:Typical cyclist off-road shared path configuration

The facility includes dedicated angled cycle on / off ramps connecting with a “circulatory” shared 2m wide pedestrian path.

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NORTH QUEENSLAND Examples of Roundabouts Typical examples of roundabout treatments implemented in Cairns are shown in the following series of Figures.

Figure 19: Preferred arrangement of roundabout with priority crossings Source: TMR (2019)x Figure 17: Ramsey Dr / Sailfish Cl / Teraglin St - Kanimbla

platform approaches and circulating carriageway • Continuous coloured pavements for priority pathways with contrasting raised platforms The downside of this “ultimate” roundabout are the significant costs of construction and the space limitations to normal local street environment. Attention is required to lighting and stormwater handling.

Figure 18: Severin St / Gatton St Parramatta Park

Ultimate Design The ultimate design outcome for roundabout treatment where budget and land are not limited, may be considered the configuration shown in Figure 19.

This desirable roundabout arrangement provides the following significant advantages:

Views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and not necessarily those of Cairns Regional Council.

References i.

• All road vehicles GIVE WAY at platform approach • Vehicle storage between raised

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vi.

(2018) Queensland Transport and Main Roads. Traffic and Road Use Management Volume 1: Part 10 – Traffic Control and Communication Devices.

vii.

(2018) Australian Standards AS 1742.9:2018 Manual of uniform traffic control devices Part 9: Bicycle facilities

viii.

(2017a) Austroads. Research Report AP-R542-17 ‘’Bicycle Safety at Roundabouts’’.

ix.

(2017a) Austroads. Research Report AP-R542-17 ‘’Bicycle Safety at Roundabouts’’.

x.

(2019) Queensland Transport and Main Roads. Technical Guide “Raised Priority Crossings for Pedestrians and Cycle Paths”.

(2021) Austroads. ‘’Guide to Road Design Part 4B: Roundabouts’’.

AGRD04B-15. Edition 3.1 [Online] Available at: http://www. austroads.com.au

ii.

(2017b) Austroads. “Cycling Aspects of Austroads Guides’’.

Edition 3.

iii.

Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Crash Analytics Reporting System, https://www.cars.tmr.qld.gov.au [Accessed 22 September 2021]

iv.

(2021) Cairns Regional Council.

CRC Preferred Typical Bicycle Treatment for Single-lane Roundabouts. Drawing No. 22767-SK01. Revision G. 14 July 2021.

• Narrowed 3m wide approach lanes • High speed ramps from road entry and exits for road cycle lane access

(2020) Queensland Transport and Main Roads. Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices - Part 9: Bicycle facilities

Disclaimer

• The radial approach configuration • Raised priority cycle and pedestrian crossings

v.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

Stephen is a civil and structural engineer with more than 36 years’ experience in research, materials science, project management and consulting civil and structural engineering. Most of this has been in the private sector. He has been employed by Cairns Regional Council for the past 8 years in roles of project management and design of capital infrastructure projects.

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NORTH QUEENSLAND

BEING SHOVEL-READY FOR GRANTS

Glenda Kirk Director Infrastructure Services Mareeba Shire Council

It’s the first day of a new road construction project.

The crew is raring to go, grader and digger engines are purring, and the sun is shining but there’s one thing missing – the plans. A shiny white ute approaches from the east, weaves between the traffic cones, charges onto the work site and grinds to a halt beside the site supervisor. The ute window glides down and the engineer passes a set of plans to the supervisor.

They’re still warm from the photocopier and the ink from her signature has barely dried. She drives away in a cloud of dust.

Alright, I’ve never actually done this however I have been on the receiving end of it, literally, and while this scenario is a bit dramatic, I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves scrambling to have designs ready in time. Whether it be designs for our own day labour crews or for tendering in the open market, there’s no denying that rushing the design process can lead to community dissatisfaction, frustrated construction staff, quality issues, time delays and cost blowouts.

While infrastructure is being hailed as the solution to

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Australia’s economic recovery through the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now being ‘called out’ by funding agencies, presumably after too many undercooked projects have failed, or worse, failed to even get off the ground.

The most recent round of grants offered under the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund came as a shock to many of us. The key eligibility criteria for infrastructure projects centred around projects being “investment ready”, meaning construction would need to be able to commence within 12 weeks of executing the funding agreement with applicants required to provide evidence of having final designs and costings prepared, regulatory approvals in place and co-contributions guaranteed.

It’s likely we will see this type of requirement extend to other grant programs over the coming months and years. So how do we get ever ahead of the game?

Smaller councils in particular, struggle with being able to afford

to develop designs for projects prior to being approved for funding. The community wants to see their money spent on the ground where they can see it, not on planning – which, ironically, is where we need it most. At the same time, we also struggle to design and construct projects within a single year as for many of us, the ideal construction weather occurs in the first six months of the financial year.

While we are yet to have an abundance of ‘shovel ready’ plans in the draw, Mareeba Shire Council embarked on a mission in 2019 to be better prepared for delivery of capital works projects through implementation of a Forward Design Program.

The Program was initially established by sacrificing around 10% of the capital works budget for upgrade of transport infrastructure and its purpose was to develop detailed designs for the following year’s transport program projects. The Forward Design Program is its own project within the capital works program,

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NORTH QUEENSLAND allowing expenditure and progress to be tracked as per any other project.

Only around half of this modest budget was expended in the first year but the funds used were sufficient to ensure around a third of transport projects were fully designed and costed ahead of the following year’s budget adoption, with survey and investigation commenced for several others. This provided greater confidence in the scope and budget for those projects, which was welcomed by elected representatives.

The 10% reduction of physical work delivered under the transport program in that first year wasn’t particularly noticeable to the community.

Since the costs expended for forward design are transferred

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to their respective projects at the commencement of the new financial year, the Forward Design Program is effectively replenished annually without further sacrificing program funding.

Council attempts to ensure that only high priority projects, likely to be funded in the upcoming budget are included in the Forward Design Program to ensure that we are making best use of the funding allocation.

This is done through selecting projects that have funding committed under a longterm program eg Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme (TIDS) projects or Council’s 10-year asset management sub-plan for that particular asset class, or projects that have been assessed under

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Council’s Project Prioritisation Tool (PPT) as being top priority for funding consideration. Council’s executive management team also maintains oversight over projects and the associated design budget approved for funding under the Forward Design Program to ensure projects align with the Council’s priorities.

Each year, we improve a little bit more, and this year, Forward Design Programs will be introduced for Mareeba Shire Council’s Water and Wastewater capital budget recommendations. It is hoped that one day, the small sacrifices we make upfront will ensure our projects are better planned, grant-ready and deliver better outcomes for our communities.

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

STREET TREES – FINDING THEIR PLACE IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Jason Reepsdorff Bundaberg Regional Council

Bundaberg Regional Council (BRC) in partnership with AECOM recently undertook a review of BRC’s street tree standard drawings for planting trees in road reserves. The review sought to harmonise internal and external stakeholder needs while updating the standard drawings to reflect current industry best practice. The process was driven by competing interests and confusion when applying the previous standard drawings. To address concerns from internal asset owners and external developers AECOM were engaged to provide an independent external peer review and to facilitate collaborative workshops with key stakeholders within Council. The process commenced in May 2020 and was finalised in January 2021. During this period a moratorium was placed on street trees being planted in road reserves.

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The review was multi-disciplinary and involved the following disciplines: • Landscape Architect • Civil Engineer • Environmental Scientist • Arborist And the following stakeholders from Council: • Engineering Services • Parks, Sport and Natural Areas • Development Assessment • Strategic Planning • Civil Works • Water Services • Major Projects The collaborative process highlighted the competing interests for all stakeholders in the road reserve space and sparked strong debate with a lot of passionate views on trees. In principle all parties supported quality trees in our urban neighbourhoods however how BRC went about this has proven challenging. We are now in the implementation stage of the new drawings and we will review them again after 12 months to measure their performance.

There were two main sticking points during the review, these being: • Optimal size of the planting area and soil volumes for a tree; and • Finding space to install trees.

The Queensland State Government developed the ‘Model Code for Neighbourhood Design’ to help local government address aspects of the liveable communities state interest of the State Planning Policy 2017. The

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model code sets a benchmark of at least one street tree to be provided per 15m on each side of all streets. IPWEA with the help of the industry developed the ‘Street Design Manual – Walkable Neighbourhoods’ to complement the objectives of the model code.

The document talks about road reserve widths, truncations and road width treatments to help create spaces for significant trees to be planted or retained.

The document is a great tool, however there are further issues that are encountered in brownfield sites where BRC are undertaking street tree planting as part of the ‘One Million Trees Bundaberg Region’ project.

This paper looks at the journey BRC undertook to develop the new suite of standard street tree standard drawings. In particular, engineering aspects of planting trees in the road reserve, the judgements and risk analyses that were undertaken to arrive at a decision matrix to guide street tree planting.

Introduction Street trees vary in size, colour and function, and in the urban environment they vary in health and appearance. How important are they?

Quality street trees perform a critical role transforming the urban jungle of hard surfaces into a sense of place connecting to nature. The benefits of street trees are numerous and include: • Improved streetscape amenity • Aesthetics • Liveability • Improved biodiversity

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Figure 1 – Woongarra Street Figs, Bundaberg

• Reduction of urban heat • Encourages active transport • Sense of place.

of BRC’s standard street tree planting drawings. The review was completed by AECOM who undertook a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach with a team that consisted of Landscape Architects, Civil Engineers, Environmental Scientists, Arborists and BRC Stakeholders.

of Council’s concerns. In conjunction with AECOM’s work BRC undertook a Safety in Design Risk Assessment and developed a Street Tree Treatment Selection matrix. Whilst the review was being undertaken a moratorium was placed on new trees being constructed in road reserves as part of Council works.

The review process commenced in May 2020 and was completed in January 2021 with the adoption of seven new standard drawings and accompanying technical note. There were two main points of debate during the standard review, these being:

Standard Drawing Review

The need for a review was driven by feedback from developers that the previous standard drawings were contradictory, not practical and didn’t represent best practice. It was a conscious decision to engage an external consultant to undertake the review to ensure independence that could be defended to developers if queries arose.

Synergy was also required between Council’s Infrastructure branch, who are the owners of the road reserve asset, and the Parks branch, who plant and maintain significant amounts of trees in these reserves. BRC’s vision of planting one million thriving trees in the Bundaberg Region by 2024 also highlighted the importance of ensuring the standard drawings were practical and had ownership by all stakeholders.

BRC’s Engineering Services department is the custodian of BRC’s standard drawings and oversaw an external review

The review included two workshops with key Council stakeholders to achieve a thorough understanding

In addition to providing the listed benefits, some places are known for their distinct boulevards e.g.

Jacarandas in Brisbane and Sydney, Figs in Bundaberg – Refer Figure 1.

‘Soft’ assets like street trees play a critical role in the urban environment and are as every bit important as ‘hard’ assets. Street trees form an integral part of the hard footpath asset.

Balancing the needs of delivering a streetscape that benefits the community and the environment, while also providing essential services in terms of civil, drainage, water, wastewater and other infrastructure is a challenging one.

It is important that quality is emphasised when referring to street trees. It was this focus on quality that prompted Bundaberg Regional Council (BRC) to undertake a review of its street tree planting standard drawings.

• Optimal size of the planting area; and • Finding space to install trees.

Planting Area Each discipline had their own ideas on minimum planting area requirements and what volume of soil was required to give street trees the best chance to establish and flourish. It is important to BRC that planted trees develop into quality trees that improve the streetscape. BRC didn’t want to see trees struggling and looking in poor condition providing no benefit to the community.

Council’s preference is for up to 25L pot size trees to be

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Figure 2 – BRC Standard Drawing R4501

installed. This direction is based on younger trees having a better chance to adapt to the surrounding in-situ soils when their roots reached that level of maturity. For BRC’s approved tree list, climatic conditions and soil condition requirements, a minimum depth of 600mm and volume of 1m3 of planting hole was adopted. The planting surface areas adopted are a minimum of 3m2 for road shoulder plantings and 2m2 for back of kerb plantings. Refer to Figure 2 for example BRC standard drawing showing planting requirements.

Guiding Policy and Documents The Queensland State Government Planning Regulation 2017 is the head of power for planting requirements.

It sets a benchmark of at least one street to be provided per 15m on each side of streets in new developments. The Queensland State Government developed the

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Model Code for Neighbourhood Design to help local government address this and other aspects of the liveable communities state interest of the State Planning Policy 2017. It achieves this by setting a set of standards that can be used by local government to support healthy and active communities and promotes the creation of walkable neighbourhoods.

IPWEAQ with the help of industry developed the Street Design Manual – Walkable Neighbourhoods to complement the objectives of the Model Code. The document provides guidance on how to create spaces in the urban environment where significant trees can be planted or retained. Examples of these include varying road reserve widths, providing larger corner lot truncations and road width treatments.

This document is a great tool, however brownfield sites present

additional challenges when trying to incorporate street trees.

Particularly when trying to retrofit a tree every 15m to align with the Planning Regulation 2017 that guides new developments.

Engineering Guidelines and Standards From a civil engineering perspective there are numerous standards and guidelines that need to be considered when designing components of the road reserve. A number of these standards and guidelines impact the availability of locations for street trees to be planted.

Examples of standards and requirements that should be desirably met include: • AS2890: the carparking standard provides guidance on sight distance requirements for driveways • AS1158: provides guidance on street lighting • Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4 : Guidance on

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND The following tests were applied to the Bargara development, refer Figure 3: • Clearance to Street Lights nominated in BRC Planning Scheme (7.5m), (Magenta circle) • Intersection/Pedestrian Bus Stop obstruction exclusion nominated in Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4 and BRC Planning Scheme (Green polygons) • Intersection Sight Distance Requirements nominated in Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4A (Blue polygons) • Driveway Sight Distance nominated in AS2890.1 (Orange polygons) Figure 3 – Street Tree Assessment, Recent Development

• Standard Service Corridors (Red polygons) The assessment shows that available areas for street tree planting were very limited and nowhere near the desired street tree every 15m. Available areas are shown with a green dot, of which there are 6 in the area assessed. On the ground there are 21 trees planted in the area of assessment.

The following tests were applied to the West Bundaberg site, Refer Figure 4: • Clearance to Street Lights nominated in BRC Planning Scheme (7.5m), (Magenta circle)

Figure 4 – Street Tree Assessment, Historic Development

obstructions near intersections, bus stops, pedestrian refuges and crossings.

• Austroads Guide to Road Design Parts 4A and 4B: provide guidance on sight distance requirements at intersections and roundabouts.

• Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 6: provides guidance on roadside hazards • DTMR supplement to Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 6: provides guidance on clear zone requirements • DTMR Road Landscape Manual: provides guidance on clear zone and sight distance requirements • BRC Planning Scheme:

nominates expected standards to be followed and provides additional planting requirements • Ergon Energy Trees and Powerlines: provides guidance on planting trees near powerlines and power poles Case Studies Existing urban areas in the Bundaberg Region were assessed against the previously mentioned engineering guidelines and standards to identify opportunities for street tree planting. These were a recent development at Bargara and an older area in West Bundaberg developed in the early to mid 1900’s.

• Clear Zones (wide road reserves with wide grass verges before kerb and channel), (Yellow polygons) • Intersection/Pedestrian Bus Stop obstruction exclusion nominated in Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4 and BRC Planning Scheme (Green polygons) • Intersection Sight Distance Requirements nominated in Austroads Guide to Road Design Part 4A (Blue polygons) • Driveway Sight Distance nominated in AS2890.1 (Orange polygons) • Standard Service Corridors (Red polygons) This assessment showed that in the older areas of Bundaberg

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Figure 5 – Street Tree Treatment Selection Matrix

Risk Assessment

Figure 6 – Street Tree Assessment using Matrix, Recent Development

that had wide road reserves (30m) there was ample opportunity for street trees to be planted in the road shoulder and behind kerb.

Finding Room for Street Trees The results at the example development at Bargara highlighted the need to reassess what guidelines and standards could be relaxed to accommodate street trees. There

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were already developments with street trees that didn’t have identified issues and higher density developments in SEQ also seem to function without concern.

It was agreed that an outcome that was fit for purpose was needed that applied engineering judgment to assess the risks of relaxing standards to accommodate trees.

Crash data was analysed for well landscaped residential areas in Bundaberg over the preceding 20 year period to see if trees were a contributing factor. The crash data showed that no accidents at intersections and driveways were attributed to the presence of trees. This scenario was run through BRC’s safety in design risk assessment tool to outline control measures to mitigate the risk of street trees causing vehicle conflicts. It was decided to relax standards on low speed, low traffic roads, i.e. road classifications lower than trunk collector. The assessment showed that the risk after mitigation was at a tolerable level. For higher classification roads it was decided that traffic volumes and speeds made a relaxation of standards intolerable, however typically these roads have wider road reserves that can accommodate street trees.

It was also documented that the assessment is to be reviewed after five years. This length of period was chosen to assess the

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND • Establishing a water balance model to study scenarios representing the standard passive irrigation plantings.

• Taking empirical measurements of soils moisture percentage using a soil temperature and moisture recorder.

• Providing recommendations on improving the effectiveness of active and passive irrigation methods.

Further Refinement

Figure 7 – Passively Irrigated Street Trees, Sinclair Street

judgement that whilst newly established trees were growing to mature height the potential to restrict sight lines is greater. This is due to foliage being at driver eye height when planted, while after five years the tree trunk should be the only restriction.

If this was an issue Council’s customer request system will have documented any complaints and crash data could again be reviewed.

Matrix for Street Tree Treatment Selection As part of the standard drawing review BRC wanted passive irrigation options to be added and that this type of installation was to be the preferred outcome.

A matrix was developed to guide the selection of street tree treatments that incorporated the outcomes of the risk assessment and highlighted the priority for passive irrigation installations.

Another important feature of the matrix is that it isn’t a hard no if criteria couldn’t be met for planting, if this occurred approval is required. This allows further engineering judgement to be applied in some situations.

The matrix covers road shoulder plantings and back of kerb plantings for low speed, low volume or high speed, high volume roads, refer Figure 5.

Case Study Reassessment The developed street tree selection matrix was used to reassess the development at Bargara. Using the adopted criteria there is a greater opportunity for trees to be planted. This is due to sight distance criteria for intersections and driveways being relaxed as Malo Drive and Lavella Street are not trunk collector streets.

At a desktop assessment, 19 of the 21 street trees that were planted as part of the development comply with the matrix. In fact there is an opportunity for more trees to be planted, refer Figure 6.

Trial Site After adoption of the new standard drawing suite BRC has embarked on a number of trial planting sites. One of these is a section of Sinclair Street where 31 trees have been planted. These trees are passively irrigated behind kerb plantings, refer figure 7.

A local CQU student is undertaking a thesis project on The Comparison Between the Effectiveness of Active and Passive Irrigation for Establishing Street Trees using Sinclair Street to undertake testing. The thesis includes:

It is acknowledged that the drawings will need fine tuning with the addition of more drawings possible. It is hoped the drawings are a step in the right direction and have started the process of all stakeholders engaging in working towards success. BRC will continue to look to improve the drawings based on user feedback.

Acknowledgements Adam Johnston, Manager Design, Bundaberg Regional Council Wiebke Witte, Principal Landscape Architect, AECOM References • IPWEAQ. 2020. Street Design Manual: Walkable Neighbourhoods.

• Witte, Wiebke (AECOM) (2021) Bundaberg Regional Council – Street Tree Detail Review.

Jason has over 26 years experience in civil design and documentation of subdivisions, retirement villages, unit developments and infrastructure in the Agnes Water, Bundaberg, Bargara, Caloundra, Hervey Bay and Townsville areas including earthworks, roadworks, stormwater drainage, sediment & erosion control, sewerage and water reticulation, estimates and scheduling. He is a skilled 12d, AutoCAD, XPSWMM, XPRatHGL, XPRafts, and HECRAS operator.

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TECHNICAL

HOW TO REDUCE THE RISK OF STRUCTURAL STEELWORK FAILING IN YOUR PROJECTS expectation for safety and risk, and commercial pressure on local manufacturers and suppliers leading to a reduction in quality in some instances.

John Gardner Australian Steel Institute

Peter Key Australian Steel Institute

The Australian Steel Institute (ASI) is the nation’s peak body representing the entire steel supply chain, from the primary producers through to end users in building and construction, resources, heavy engineering, and manufacturing.

One of the more recent focus areas for ASI has been steelwork compliance as part of a wider initiative by the building industry to address nonconforming building products.

The compliance of building products is a demonstrable issue in the current procurement environment, with both increasing importation of products from countries whose regulatory and commercial practices do not align with the Australian community

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There is currently recognition of and focus on addressing the problems by a range of Government and industry organisations. Whilst Government can provide the framework to support improved compliance outcomes, there is an expectation that industry needs to rise to the challenge and provide practical implementation to meet community expectations for risk and safety, as defined by the National Construction Code (NCC), our Standards framework and Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations.

This article examines some of the current problems, and tools available to manage product compliance and discusses the National Structural Steelwork Compliance Scheme (NSSCS) which includes steel fabricator certification as a practical step towards providing the Australian community with improved safety outcomes for structural steelwork.

Problems to be addressed and AS/NZS 5131 The procurement, fabrication, and erection of structural steelwork for buildings, infrastructure and resources projects involves a supply chain that is as varied as it is long. Contractual relationships and commercial and political pressures all influence the ultimate procurement scenario, which can also change markedly

Available in ANNUAL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

over the period of project delivery.

The Regulatory environment is also continually recalibrating, influenced by tensions that exist between our obligations under World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirements for free trade, performance solutions enabling innovation and the most fundamental requirements to ensure our community can expect risk-minimised safe solutions for their workplaces and habitation. Images of some of the problems experienced with structural steelwork are shown in Figure 1.

Case Study This case study has been chosen from a group of case studies prepared by ASI as it best highlights a number of serious non-conformances.

Non-compliant imported steel fabrication for a steel truss supporting a glass sound barrier Project: A glass acoustic noise barrier alongside a Sydney roadway, comprising a 62m span triangular tubular truss fabricated from up to 250 mm square steel hollow sections.

Details of the failure: This project was put out to tender, and the winning tender (lowest price) was based on imported fabricated steelwork from Vietnam. The resulting imported fabricated steelwork illustrated significant defects with the truss defecting on installation.

Issues determined: • Steel was well below the specified yield strength.

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TECHNICAL Independently measured by a NATA certified laboratory at 338 MPa versus the 450 MPa specified.

• Lower capacity fillet welds used instead of the specified full penetration butt welds • The welded joints indicated weld cracking. Chord members displayed cracking in the steel.

• The workmanship of the tube and fabricated structure was non-compliant to Australian Standards.

Figure 1: Problems with Structural Steelwork

• Many of the tubular members were below the design wall thickness i.e., lower capacity sections were utilised.

• The cross chords were filled with water, presumably to increase component weight to that specified for shipping purposes (suspected fraud).

• The protective coating was non-compliant. It was independently verified by a NACE certified coating inspector that the top urethane coat was missing, and signs of rusting were evident.

Figures 2 to 5 show images of the truss and some of the noted problems.

The builder undertook significant repairs onsite, including reinforcing the areas where cracking occurred in the junction between cross beams and main truss beams and welding reinforcing tubing alongside sections of the cross beams that had split. The truss still failed in service and the fabricator responsible for importation of the truss structure went into insolvency The project was rebuilt by an Australian fabricator to largely the same design but with compliant materials and workmanship.

The initial cost difference between local and imported fabricated steel was approximately $100,000. The rectification and rebuild costs were approximately $810,000.

Unfortunately, the ultimate responsibility was passed onto

Figure 2: The non-compliant steel truss

Figure 3: Fillet welded connection instead of butt weld

Figure 4: Poor paint finish

the engineer by the builder and the overall cost including legal fees was borne by the engineer’s Professional Indemnity Insurance.

AS/NZS 5131 Structural Steelwork – Fabrication and Erection

Figure 5: Under-cut (concave) weld below required thickness

The publication of AS/NZS 5131 ‘Structural steel – Fabrication and erection’ (Ref.1) has introduced a risk-based approach to fabrication and erection of structural steel, for both permanent structures and also temporary works.

The foundation of AS/NZS 5131 is essentially a statement of ‘good practice’, defined by a combination of existing Australian fabrication practice and input from international practice. The processes for material procurement, cutting,

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TECHNICAL

Figure 6: AS/NZS 5131 risk matrix assessment of the Construction Category (CC)

Figure 7: AS/NZS 5131 Construction Categories (CC) and example structure types

holing, shaping, assembly, welding, bolting, surface treatment and erection that form the foundation for good practice are consistent with our existing Standards suite.

Project risk, including the consequences of failure and the complexity of the construction works, is recognised through categorisation into one of four ‘construction categories’ (CCs), as shown in Figures 6 & 7.

Construction Categories of CC1 to CC4 in order of increasing risk profile are defined. The CC affects predominantly the level of documentation and traceability required to establish veracity of the input products and completed fabricated components and certain critical aspects of functional processes

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such as cutting, holing, welding, and high strength bolting. The assessment of the construction category is provided in AS 4100 (Ref. 2) and AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1) and discussed in ASI Technical Note TN011 (Ref. 3).

De-specification and product substitution The number of engineers specifying AS/NZS 5131 Structural Steelwork – Fabrication and erection in their design documentation is increasing.

However, there is a lack of compliance with the standard on many projects. One justification mentioned for this lack of compliance is that AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1) is not yet referenced in the current edition of the National Construction Code

(NCC) (Ref. 4) so is not yet “law”.

It is important to note that AS 4100 makes reference to AS/NZS 5131, so any project that uses AS 4100 for design must also utilise AS/NZS 5131. If a Construction Category is not specified in the engineering documents, then it will automatically be assumed to be CC2.

The latest version of AS 4100 will be called up in the 2022 edition of the NCC and as the latest version of AS 4100 makes reference to AS/ NZS 5131, both of these standards are then “law”.

Another reason for the lack of compliance is due to the original design engineers not being involved with projects once the design drawings leave their offices.

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TECHNICAL

Figure 8: Yield strength histogram based on manufacturer production testing – 300 Grade steel

In some instances, once a builder wins a project with a low tender price, they then engage another engineer to re-engineer the structure in order to reduce construction costs. This process can involve what is termed despecifying where a specified CC3 level may be reduced to a CC2 level in order to use a lower cost fabricator without the required systems in place; the reference to AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1) is totally removed from the specification, and in some cases the project is re-designed to suit overseas fabrication (product substitution) e.g., including adding connections to reduce the length of steel sections to suit shipping containers.

Concerns regarding spot testing of imported fabricated steelwork

Figure 9: Imported welded 3 plate beams being unloaded from a shipping container

Figure 10: Imported welded 3 plate beams – extra joins increase risk of noncompliance

There have been cases where an importer has provided a local engineer with a single or small batch of test results of imported steelwork. These tests have shown a yield strength value equal to or above that of the specified Australian manufactured steel, so the engineer has approved the use of the imported steel. Unfortunately, by basing approval on a single or small number of test results the certifying engineer is taking on considerable risk as the substituted steelwork is not likely to meet Australian standards.

It is important to understand that a single batch test of steel only affords a snap-shot of the manufacturer’s production at a point in time. A batch test does not give any indication of longterm quality levels. A statistical approach utilising test data collected over a period of time is required to determine this.

The limit state design basis for the Australian steel design Standard AS 4100 (Ref. 2) is predicated on and calibrated against five percentile characteristic material properties, as required under the National Construction Code (NCC) (Ref. 4). Australian steel product standards define characteristic

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TECHNICAL strength based on the five percentile (95% passing), which is assessed from long term quality testing data A single test result provided on a manufacturer’s test certificate, or a single testing outcome, cannot be used to establish the five percentile characteristic strength.

Figure 8 indicates a typical distribution of actual yield stress from an Australian steel manufacturer testing for a 300 Grade steel. Note that the majority of tests are significantly higher than 300 MPa, with an average of around 350-355 MPa. It is important to understand that test data on test certificates taken from a single batch of steel cannot be used directly as the basis for design or for (re)grading of the product, as this data does not represent the five percentile (95% passing) material properties to which AS 4100 design basis has been calibrated and the NCC requires. The Commentary to AS 4100 (Ref. 5) and ASI Tech Note 015 (TN015) (Ref. 6) provide further details. TN015 also provides a methodology to assess the five percentile characteristic value based on a statistically relevant minimum of at least three tests.

Specific issues with imported Welded 3 Plate Beams Part of the de-specification process can involve the substitution of imported 3 plate welded beams for the specified hot rolled beams.

The 3 plate beams shown in Figures 9 & 10 are welded items which are fabricated overseas and made up of a web welded to a top flange and a bottom flange to make an “I” shape. These beams are structural members which comprise the “skeleton” of a structure, so are considered a high safety risk.

The overseas fabricated 3 plate beams are considered to be bespoke items, so they need to comply with both AS 4100 (Ref. 2) and AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1).

The 3 plate beams should also be assessed as a performance

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Figure 11: NSSCS overall structure

solution under the National Construction Code.

The National Structural Steelwork Compliance Scheme Regardless of how well or clearly AS/NZS5131 (Ref. 1) defines product conformity, the assessment of whether a completed structure meets the requirements of the Standard is not a trivial task, in particular given the aforementioned procurement environment in Australia. There is increasing realisation that practical solutions are necessary in order to support robust compliance outcomes and that third party compliance schemes are desirable for safety critical items such as structural steel as noted in the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) Procurement of Construction Products – A guide to achieving compliance (Ref. 7).

The National Structural Steelwork Compliance Scheme (NSSCS) has been developed by ASI to provide procurers with a straightforward cost-effective solution to improved compliance outcomes for fabricated structural steelwork.

The NSSCS comprises four

components, as shown in Figure 11: • Fabrication Standard: AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1), a risk-based fit-forpurpose approach as described elsewhere in this paper.

• Conformity Assessment: the framework defining how conformity to AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1) is assessed.

• Risk identification: assessment of the ‘Construction Category’ by the engineer.

• 3rd Party Certification: certification and auditing of fabricators by Steelwork Compliance Australia (SCA).

AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1), conformity assessment and risk identification by engineers have been discussed in other parts of this article.

The objective of Steelwork Compliance Australia (SCA) is to provide independent certification of fabricators for the supply, fabrication, and erection of structural steelwork to be used in Australia, irrespective of the origin of the steel or fabricated steelwork product. This gives clients the ability to select fabricators who have been independently assessed as having capability

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TECHNICAL to achieve compliance to the requirements of AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1) for the nominated Construction Category. SCA supports the pragmatic implementation of the NSSCS. The steel community in Australia, and in particular procurers, specifiers and builders wishing to ascertain the certification status of available fabricators, can access the website at http:// www.scacompliance.com.au/ and freely review the list of certified fabricators.

The Responsibility of the whole supply chain to address problems with steelwork In November 2012, the ASI held the seminar ‘Implications of the new Work Health and Safety Act 2011 on Compliance in Construction Steelwork’ in Brisbane with the support of Workplace Health and Safety Qld (WHSQ). ASI put questions to senior representatives from WHSQ on the relevance of product compliance to Designers’, Contractors’, and Importers’ duties under the WHS Act. These questions related to the responsibility of the various parties in the building chain to maintain standards within the environment of increasing global procurement of structural steel in Australian building projects. The increased demands, responsibility and risk placed on each member of the supply chain was discussed.

The full answers to the questions can be viewed on the ASI website at https://www.steel.org.au/ASI/ media/Australian-Steel-Institute/ PDFs/WHSQ-answers-toquestions-ASI-Brisbane-seminar26-Nov-2012.pdf, but the overall message from WHSQ was that everyone in the building product chain has a shared responsibility for product compliance and safe structures, not only the engineer or building certifier.

In 2017, the Queensland government confirmed this view by introducing the first

Australian chain of responsibility (CoR) legislation to address nonconforming building products.

This legislation entitled “Building and Construction Legislation (Non-conforming Building Products—Chain of Responsibility and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2017” insists that all members of the building product supply chain, from the manufacturers, importers and wholesalers to the suppliers and installers, take responsibility for ensuring building products are compliant and fit for their intended purpose.

Compliance with the legislation is managed by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).

How third-party certification of fabricators supports current safeguards to address NCBPs. The Shergold/Weir Report “Building Confidence – Improving the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems for the building and construction industry across Australia”(Ref. 8) has identified independent third - party certification of products and services as a way to address NCBPs. Typically, compliance cannot be corrected after the fact without expensive, time consuming processes that are very dislocating for the project. The resulting project cost increases and poor results are less than ideal. In some cases, the structure needs to be refabricated. Third-party fabricator certification is insurance that the project has a better chance of compliance and meets duty of care obligations under Workplace Health & Safety (WHS).

A recognised transparent and quantifiable quality bar (Fabricator Certification) will help prevent stakeholders avoiding their duty of care by using a fabricator who cuts corners to produce non-conforming fabricated structural steelwork.

Having a quantifiable bar such as Fabricator Certification makes it a lot easier to implement the very important step of policing.

The lack of effective policing has been a feature of many state based regulatory regimes. The

regulation may be first class, but the problem is that it is not policed and therefore can be abused. A properly implemented certification scheme has inbuilt review processes and the ‘big stick’ of de-certification of the Steel Fabricator. This layer of ‘private policing’ can make it easier for Government to augment its own policing regimes based on feedback from industry.

The process to achieve the quality benchmark for Government is: • Configure government procurement specifications to correctly reference AS/NZS 5131 (Ref. 1). The National Structural Steelwork Specification (NSSS) (Ref. 9) and Standard Drawing Notes (SDN) (Ref. 10) will help in this regard. Ensure the appropriate Construction Category is included in the specification.

• Nominate third party certification of steelwork under the NSSCS. • Implement surveillance to ensure the intent of the procurement specifications has been actioned.

The benefits for clients and Government include: • Assurance that the steelwork contractor is competent as assessed by an expert process.

• Assurance that the tender offer is based on a like-forlike quality comparison and not compromised on quality, therefore minimising likely costly rework and remediation.

• Management of risk and your duty of care under the Safe Work Australia ‘Model Code of Practice - Safe design of structures’ (Ref 11).

• Utilising a steelwork fabricator who has invested in training, apprenticeships, systems, and capability over those who quote on price alone.

Conclusion ASI has developed the National Structural Steelwork Compliance Scheme (NSSCS) as an easily actionable tool to

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TECHNICAL help ensure stakeholders and our community have compliant risk-minimised structures. ASI strongly recommends thirdparty certification of steelwork and is seeking to have the following wording included in specifications for all government building projects: “Compulsory auditing and certification of all Steel Fabricators by Steelwork Compliance Australia (SCA) to meet the requirements of AS/ NZS 5131 prior to tendering on government projects.”

Free resources on the topic of steelwork quality and compliance are available to download from the ASI website at https://www. steel.org.au/focus-areas/qualityand-compliance/

References 1.

Standards Australia 2020 AS/ NZS 5131 Structural steel – Fabrication and erection.

2.

Standards Australia 2020 AS 4100 Steel Structures.

3.

Australian Steel Institute 2020 Technical Note TN011 AS/NZS 5131 – Implementation Guide for Engineers, Specifiers and Procurers.

4. Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) 2019, National Construction Code.

5.

Standards Australia 1999 AS 4100 Steel Structures Commentary

6.

Australian Steel Institute 2021 Technical Note TN015 Ascertaining Compliance of Structural Steel.

7.

Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) 2nd Edition 2015, Procurement of Construction Products – A guide to achieving compliance.

8.

Shergold, P & Weir, B 2018, Building Confidence – Improving the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems for the building and construction industry across Australia.

9.

Australian Steel Institute 2020 National Structural Steelwork Specification

10. Australian Steel Institute 2020 Structural Steelwork Standard Drawing Notes 11. Safe Work Australia 2018 Model Code of Practice - Safe design of structures

Peter Key Dr Peter Key is ASI’s National Technical Development Manager and a regular presenter on steel design and construction. He is part of Standards Australia Committee BD-001 responsible for the AS 4100 Steel Structures and AS/NZS 5131 Steel Structures Fabrication and Erection Standards. He has also written a range of technical publications including the Structural Steelwork Fabrication and Erection Code of Practice.

John Gardner John Gardner is ASI’s Qld/NT Manager and National Education Manager – Technical. His responsibilities include assisting the Institute’s members in the technical, educational and marketing areas. This includes managing the production of technical seminars and webcasts for Engineers as well as other initiatives to improve design and construction.

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

CQ BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT Adam Doherty CQ Branch President

In just a week or two, we’ll be welcoming delegates to the 2022 CQ Branch conference in Gladstone, 1617 March. Our thanks to host council, Gladstone Regional Council for supporting the event with delegates and speakers including: • Philip Street Communities and Families Precinct, Erickson Noakes, Strategic Projects Specialist and Lee Griffiths, Manager Engagement and Partnerships • Gladstone Region Coastal Adaptation Study, Brent Tangey - Senior Natural Environment Officer and Ali Moore - Manager, Environment & Conservation • One of regional Australia’s best – Nature, Community, and Infrastructure: Harmony, Mostafizur Rahman and Kris Dahtler • Robust Decisions Delivering Fit for Purpose Investments, Celisa Faulkner, Manager Asset Planning, Strategic Asset Performance • Community Engagement – More Than Just Consultation – The Cassy Lives Skate Park Project, Jessica Dennien, Graduate Civil Engineer - Design And in addition, there is an array of other relevant, topical subjects including: Technology advancements in CCTV and AI, disruption in civil projects, geosynthetic barriers for PFAS containment, Engineered Geosynthetic Systems, integrating cost to the Risk Management Improvement Program, Yeppoon STP effluent

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upgrade, water infrastructure design development through 3D modelling, demystifying RPEQ, unsealed road maintenance, Temporary Traffic Management – are you compliant?

With a cross-section of engineering professionals from different councils and organisations gathering together to share learnings and experiences, benefits accrue for all our communities. So please do join us for this opportunity to catch-up in person – as we all know now with certainty, a zoom call cannot replace face-to-face interactions, particularly in our community.

And of course, this event provides relevant, technical CPD hours (up to 9.5 hours) for RPEQs and those planning to attain RPEQ. CPD hours is not just a tick and flick – it has a purpose and that is the ongoing trust our communities have placed in the engineering profession. It takes just one failure for that trust to be eroded so it is incumbent on us to maintain our engineering expertise, knowledge and skills at the highest levels. The sharing of experiences and learnings at regional branch conferences strengthens us and that strengthens all of our communities.

If you are planning on applying for RPEQ, Craig Moss will be presenting at the CQ Branch conference on demystifying RPEQ. There are also three helpful videos on the IPWEA-QNT website related to the three key elements of the RPEQ process: qualifications, experience and CPD. Following the CQ Branch conference, we are proposing another CQ Technical Forum in June in Blackwater. Topics proposed include innovation, water quality and sewerage ensuring all topics address local issues and local projects including the recent sewer alignment project at Gladstone Regional Council. As usual, recent Graduates are invited to submit an extract for an opportunity to present to a smaller, local audience.

Our thoughts at this time are with our colleagues in the southeast and south-west dealing with extreme flooding events – from drought to fire to floods; that is the inevitable life of a public works engineer.

I look forward to seeing you all in Gladstone in just a couple of weeks!

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

NQ BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT Glenda Kirk, NQ Branch President

A shout out firstly to our colleagues in the south-east and south-west - we know what you’re going through and acknowledge the efforts you are going to in keeping your communities safe. We wish you all the best in your recovery efforts and look forward to debriefing with you at the Annual Conference in Brisbane in October.

It is that time of year when we are all gearing up for our regional branches and this year, we have the addition of the inaugural NT Branch conference in Palmerston. We wish our colleagues in the Territory every success. These events are critical for sharing knowledge and experiences and networking with likeminded professionals who best understand the challenges of our roles.

The 2022 NQ Branch conference will be held in Mackay, 10-11 May at the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre. The Call for Papers has closed and the program will be announced shortly with registrations opening shortly thereafter. We hope to see most of our NQ councils in attendance. If you require any financial assistance, please contact the CEO, Leigh Cunningham.

It is worth noting that Gladstone Regional Council (GRC), hosts of the CQ Branch conference have registered 23 GRC team members for their regional branch conference – a record for any host council. Congratulations,

Gladstone Regional Council for setting a new record and a challenge for the rest of us.

At this time of year, there are likely to be some training budgets to expend and for RPEQs and those wishing to attain RPEQ, CPD hours to attain, particularly given that CPD audits are underway. There are now a number of online and hybrid events available: • Road Safety Audits (16 CPD hours), 15-16 March • Street Design Manual for Practitioners (8 CPD hours), 22 March • Pavement Rehabilitation workshop (8 CPD hours), 28 March or 4 April • Road Safety Forum (6 CPD hours), 7 April • Administration of Construction Contracts (14 CPD hours), 9 May and 16 May (2 days) • Managing Risks on Lower Order Roads (7 CPD hours), 26 May

Also coming up 20-21 April in Brisbane, is the Asset Management Symposium.

This is an opportunity to engage teams involved in the management of assets across all of your organisation as interdisciplinary collaboration on asset management is key to success.

Last year’s event established the benchmark for ongoing conversations regarding best practices for Queensland and Northern Territory practitioners for the next decade. In preparation for this year’s event, please download the Guidelines developed last year.

And on a personal note, my husband and I are looking forward welcoming our second son into our family in April.

I’ll be handing the reigns to Natasha Murray, our Branch Vice President for the Mackay conference but look forward to seeing everyone in Brisbane for the IPWEAQ 50-year celebrations at the Annual Conference.

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

SWQ BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT Dereck Sanderson SWQ Branch President

As I write this, many areas of the Darling Downs and South West are under siege from flooding with disaster response and recovery teams actioned and working around the clock. It has been a busy weekend and will only get busier as the water gets away and the true extent of the damage is revealed.

We have flood waters across our area from Brisbane all the way to Goondiwindi and West to Miles, with the Lockyer Valley being hardest hit. Predictions of rain easing Saturday 26 February did not eventuate, with the rain system stubbornly sitting over the top of the south-east corner. Creek levels rose quickly, approaching levels not seen since the devastating floods of 2011. Conditions have eased but there is just enough rain falling to keep creek levels up and many roads closed. We have vehicles stranded in the middle of the Warrego Highway that will need to be moved before we can safely open the road.

I am very proud of the way our different agencies across government work together to manage these types of disasters.

Through collaboration, we are able to deliver the best outcomes for our communities. Some responders have worked 36 hours straight and although this is not to be encouraged, it demonstrates a commitment to community. We all have crews out in challenging condition to initially warn motorists of road safety issues and restrictions then focussing

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Esk Hampton Road 26.02.2022 12.00pm

on providing emergency vehicle access and then repairing priority roads to minimise the impact on the broader community. I’m also proud of how well areas of the road network that were badly damaged in 2011 are holding up now. Clearly, the engineering involved in rebuilding our assets was of a high standard and that is why every community needs its engineer.

The ongoing frustration though, is educating people about the risks of attempting to cross flooded roads – the message just doesn’t get through to everyone.

And given the herculean efforts of everyone involved in these flood recovery efforts, nerves can get a little frayed as energy levels understandably fall so please ensure you take care of yourself and your team mates.

Later this month, we will host another joint branch conference with our colleagues from the SEQ Branch and along with our host council, Toowoomba Regional Council, we look forward to

welcoming a delegation of 200+ professionals from our industry.

The venue this year is the Highfields Cultural Centre with the conference dinner at the Highfields Pioneer Village. There have been suggestions that the Pioneer Village has had some hauntings but as engineers, this is not likely to distract us from socialising or an old-fashioned roast dinner.

We are offering two Tech Tours this year to accommodate the larger delegation. Tours depart by bus from the venue Tuesday 29 March at 3pm and return 5:30pm.

Choose from: Wagners CFT Facility tour This exclusive tour of Wagners CFT facility featuring manufactured composite fibre material. Credited with manufacturing and installing the world’s first composite road bridge in a public road network and the first clip-on pedestrian walkway/cycleway onto an existing bridge, this tour

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES will feature Wagners’ design capability, prefabrication and onsite installation processes.

Wagners products provide superior strength to weight ratio, are cost-effective and durable particularly in environmentally sensitive and challenging terrain.

Toowoomba Regional Council Principal Depot The award-winning Toowoomba Principal Depot (projects over $20 million) is home to over 500 staff and Council’s Construction & Maintenance teams, Water Infrastructure, Fleet & Logistics, Parks & Recreation, Property Services, Stores and Procurement, the safety team and the parks nursery, as well as an SES facility.

Grantham 25.02

A 200kW solar system, 400kW of battery storage for energy and 750kL rainwater tank for harvesting rainwater for irrigation and other non-potable uses makes this depot highly sustainable.

After the Tech Tours at 6pm, we’ll get together for an informal welcome function at the Royal Hotel. There’s no need to register – just turn up, grab yourself a drink and order dinner if you wish.

Weir River 27.02.22 10.32am

We have an excellent program again this year with relevant, local content and featuring local projects including the multiaward winning Kleinton Waste Management facility. Up to 12 CPD hours available including attendance at a Tech Tour.

corners, it will be an ideal time for us to get together, to share experiences and learnings and to take some time to recharge after what has been a challenging and exhausting period for public works professionals but this is what we do; this is who we are.

And given our current challenges with mass flooding across the south east and south west

Finally, our best wishes to Mike Brady nominated by IPWEAQ for the Public Works Leadership

Medal together with SEQ Branch member, Ross Ullman. Winners will be announced at the IPWC conference in Adelaide in May – good luck, Mike and Ross!

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

NT BRANCH CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Peter McLinden, Director Member Services and Infrastructure, LGANT

The Call for Papers for the inaugural NT Branch conference are now closed and the program is being finalised. We are delighted to have representatives from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics including the Infrastructure Commissioner, Louise McCormick, delivering presentations:

• NT Infrastructure Blueprint (Refocussing the NT infrastructure investment strategy and planning) Louise McCormick, Infrastructure Commissioner • Middle Arm Sustainability Development Precinct (focus on the Infrastructure Master Plan) Simon Flowers, Project Director • Alice Springs CBD revitalisation, Sarah Fairhead, Executive Direction Southern Region • Darwin City Deal – State Square Art Gallery and Civic and State Square Redevelopment, Leanne Taylor, Senior Director Infrastructure NT • Planning for the Beetaloo Subbasin Development Alister Trier, Chairman Gas Taskforce and/or Jason Howe One of the key features of IPWEAQNT regional conferences is

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the opportunity to bring people together – practitioners who ordinarily work in isolation and/ or remotely – to share knowledge, experiences and learnings which benefit all communities. We are all addressing similar issues including a lack of contractors and competitive bidding, an absence of qualified and skilled people with experience in our sector and the impact of the large number of grants which further exacerbate the shortage of human resources. A shortage of public housing also affects the ability to recruit externally. Our inaugural branch conference in May is the ideal forum to discuss these and other issues for our sector. I hope to see you in Palmerston then.

At a recent NT Branch committee meeting, we benefited from a presentation on the new Asset Management Digital Badges.

These micro-credentials offer an excellent opportunity to get your team onto the same page with asset management at an introductory level up to specialist levels. And I’m delighted to report the first subscriber for the new digital badges was Katherine Regional Council. We look forward to hearing more about the badges from Katherine Regional Council and others at the NT Branch conference.

Coming up for the Northern Territory this month, we have the following workshops or courses delivered online: • Pavement Rehabilitation, 1 & 14 March

•R oad Safety Audit, 15-16 March •S treet Design Manual for Practitioners, 22 March •P avement Rehabilitation (2 x half day sessions), 28 March and 4 April •A dministration for Construction Contracts (2-day course), 9 and 16 May •M anaging Risks on Lower Order Roads, 26 May •T emporary Traffic Management Practices, 30 May, Palmerston (in conjunction with branch conference) •C oncrete Pathway Design, 1 June, Palmerston (Day 2 Branch conference 1:30pm-5.00pm ) You may have noticed the cover of the 2022 Every Community Needs an Engineer calendar featuring the construction of the new crossing at Leight Creek which floods multiple times in a typical wet season cutting access to town for residents in Emungalan Road.

Download the calendar.

At the NT Branch conference, aside from getting together to talk about all things public works in the Territory, the official rebranding of the IPWEAQ to IPWEA-QNT will take place and we look forward to your participation in celebrating this milestone moment in IPWEAQ’s 50 year history.

In just a couple of weeks, you’ll receive the program for the NT Branch conference with links to register. We look forward to having a strong contingent of practitioners in attendance.

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

SEQ PRESIDENT’S REPORT Jo O’Brien SEQ Branch President

Since 2020, we’ve been exclaiming each new year as a tough one and 2022 has been no exception with an unprecedented weather event across a significant part of the southern parts of our state.

The devastation has been heart-breaking.

But these are the times that see us – public works engineers – at the forefront of recovery efforts to restore our communities. This is what we do and no doubt, will continue to do for the rest of the year and into the future.

For me professionally, this is also what Tonkin does ie provides hydrological and hydraulic analysis, planning, design and management of stormwater and I look forward to sharing some of our 2022 flood experiences with you at a future branch conference.

For now, we’re continuing to look ahead to the joint branch conference in Toowoomba with our colleagues in the south-west who are similarly inundated with water. The conference will offer everyone respite from long days, resourcing issues and crisis management and offer an opportunity for us to share and learn from a weather event that arrived unexpectedly.

The program offers up to 12 CPD hours and includes presentations from the SEQ Branch including: • Learnings and Discoveries from the World of Total Flood Warning Review, Lisa Holden, Senior Flood Engineer, Cardno • Causeways - Risk Mitigation

through Renewal Upgrade and Emergency Response, Leanne Salter - Principal Engineer Stormwater Infrastructure, Moreton Bay Regional Council • A Lifecycle approach to Operation and Maintenance on the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Project, Brett Beagley - Project Director, Ventia Australia • Recovery and Resilience in South West and South East Queensland, Jimmy Scott General Manager, Resilience, Queensland Reconstruction Authority • What is a road? A lawyer’s perspective, Sarah Hausler Partner, McCullough Robertson Lawyers • Activating transport to school with a Safe System, renewable energy and community engagement, Prue Oswin Active Transport Engineer, Sidelines Traffic • Micro-scale CFD modelling to improve cycle track safety, Teneale Jeffrey - Civil Engineer, ARUP

• The Use of Recycled Crushed Concrete in Logan City Council Roads, Ruchitha Mendis Construction Engineer, Logan City Council We are also calling on past and future members of Team IPWEAQ to ride out for the MS Brissie to the Bay, Sunday 14 June. Please contact Savannah.

Roberts@ipweaq.com to join the team and place your order for the Team IPWEAQ bike jersey.

To complement your Team IPWEAQ bike jersey, we also have IPWEAQ navy polos (Engineering for Public Works) and white polos (Every Community Needs an Engineer). Contact info@ipweaq. com to order your polos. The polos will also be available at the SWQ/SEQ Branch conference in Toowoomba.

If you have any suggestions for social functions, events, forums or Tech Tours for SEQ, please do not hesitate to contact me.

• Unsealed Roads Maintenance Secrets to Save Time and Money, Darren Shepherd Director, Project Services, Shepherd • Solution-focused management of pavement assets in tackling the impact of expansive soils for more cost-effective, durable and sustainable construction using specialised geosynthetic systems, Zehra Kaya - National Business Manager - Roads & Pavements, Huesker Australia • ZEROAD technology providing significant carbon reductions and sustainable environmental solutions, whilst improving asphalt performance, David Simmons - General Manager, Austek Roads

SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2022 Join Team IPWEAQ for this year’s Brissie to the Bay. Complimentary IPWEAQ jersey for participants.

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

LIVING STREETS DESIGN GUIDE WORKSHOP DECEMBER 2021 Safe Designed to create safe and secure environments.

Peter Smith Infrastructure Planning and Development Consultant

In December 2021, IPWEAQ particpated in an Industry Workshop for the DesignLed City: Living Streets Design Guide currently being developed by Brisbane City Council.

Development of the Living Streets Design Guide is one of the actions from the “Planning for Brisbane’s Future: Design-led City – A design strategy for Brisbane”, released in late 2019.

Design-led City – A design strategy for Brisbane (the design strategy) outlines Council’s commitment to ensuring quality design that reflects Brisbane’s character, identity and climate is delivered across all elements of the built environment. This includes all public and private development, parks and open spaces, streets, buildings, supporting infrastructure, structures and the spaces between them.

The workshop provided a Project Overview, including the Design Guide development and structure and how the Guide is intended to be used. It also included two workshop exercises, firstly to review the Design Guide content and then to prioritise design outcomes, with particular attention to the following design values adopted in the design strategy.

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Inclusive Designed to welcome people of all backgrounds, abilities, ages, genders and cultures.

Green Designed to enhance and connect to green infrastructure and provide greenspace for people, wildlife and biodiversity.

Comfortable Designed to create a comfortable experience by reflecting the human scale in terms of bulk, proportion, detail and enclosure.

Resilient Designed to be adaptable and responsive to future changes in society, climate and technology.

Responsive Designed to make a positive contribution to the community and place by responding to the site and context.

Sense of place Designed to have an identity that reflects the context, heritage, and culture of people and place.

Subtropical Designed to celebrate our subtropical climate and outdoor lifestyle.

Efficient Designed to be functional, easily maintained and reflect the whole-of-life costs and benefits.

Reinforcing the design strategy’s aim “to achieve a people-centric approach to design, delivery and maintenance of the built environment”, the Living Streets Design Guide principally focuses on centres and main streets and the interactions between the users and between the users and the built form.

The workshop structure split the attendees into groups, with each group focusing on aspects of different main street/centre types, with particular attention to the design values and reporting their observations and recommendations to the broader group.

The draft design guide is currently not available for public distribution as Council is in the process of revising the draft design guide in response to this industry feedback and will be advising when further industry input/consultation is to occur.

Strategic design context

Connected Designed to facilitate accessible connections to and through a place.

Diverse Designed to encourage different options and many opportunities for people to enjoy themselves.

Healthy Designed to encourage physical activity, including active travel, and social connections.

Shaping the strategy Design of the built environment was identified as being important to Brisbane’s future during 2017-18 citywide

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IPWEAQ UPDATES consultation as part of Council’s Plan your Brisbane initiative. This is reflected in Brisbane’s Future Blueprint, which identifies a design strategy as a key action to ensure that best-practice design complements the character of Brisbane as it grows.

The design strategy seeks to achieve a people-centric approach to design, delivery and maintenance of the built environment. This is to ensure that developments positively contribute to the community.

Council led the development of the strategy, working closely with industry to develop design values, priorities and actions. Community and development sector feedback has informed the final strategy, ensuring it reflects Brisbane’s evolving identity and character.

The design strategy aligns with, and contributes to, Brisbane Vision 2031 as well as other key strategy documents, including: Brisbane Economic Development Plan 2012-2031; Brisbane. Clean, Green, Sustainable 2017-2031; Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan; Transport Plan for Brisbane – Strategic Directions; Creative Brisbane Creative Economy 2013-22; and Brisbane City Plan 2014.

The design strategy also sits within a wider framework and complements the goals and aspirations outlined in Creating Places for People: an urban design protocol for Australian Cities, Queensland Government’s QDesign Manual, and ShapingSEQ – South East Queensland Regional Plan 2017.

Design values The built environment is a long-

term asset for our community.

Buildings, streets and public spaces last decades, if not generations. It is critical that all changes to the built environment are sustainable and make a positive contribution to the way a place looks, how it functions and how long it lasts.

These design values provide the foundation to create great places and spaces. The design, delivery and maintenance of all new development and projects, no matter how big or small, should seek to achieve these values.

The values have resulted from identifying what makes Brisbane special and what people value most about Brisbane.

Priorities To achieve the vision and become a design-led city, three priorities have been identified. These priorities are supported by a set of actions aimed at improving the design process and ensuring positive long-term effects on our city and community.

• Creating great places • Demanding design excellence • Growing a prosperous and inclusive city Process is critical to successfully becoming a design-led city and delivering these priorities.

Robust processes must be in place for all built environment projects to understand the context, community and stakeholder needs and full range of opportunities for different outcomes.

Actions

The relationship between buildings and the street has a large impact on how people experience a city. The scale, proportion, detail, materials and landscaping of these interfaces can enhance the visual interest and comfort for a pedestrian.

The function of these should be identified, ensuring they are practical and easily maintained.

A design guide to address this interface will articulate how quality building and street interfaces can optimise the experience of the street for pedestrians.

Peter Smith BE, MSc (Env Mgt) Grad Dip Municipal Engineering ICYB Peter Smith is recently retired Civil Engineer with over 40 years diverse experience.

His most recent role was as Executive Director – Technical Services at Economic Development Queensland.

Peter has experience in State and Local Government, and the development, contracting and consulting sectors. He has successfully led the planning, facilitation and delivery of large and medium scale complex, innovative, multi-award winning master-planned residential developments, commercial and residential buildings and subdivisional and trunk infrastructure.

Since retiring he has assisted IPWEAQ with the editing of the Street Design Manual and subsequent training program.

Action: Prepare a guidance document for the design of streetscapes and building interfaces.

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QLDWATER

QLDWATER REPORT Dave Cameron CEO, qldwater

Another eventful start to a year but hopefully we are over the main hump.

Many qldwater staff were directly impacted by COVID but many more members have been dealing with significant seasonal events.

The disruption is unlikely to make a significant difference to how we approach events and other key activities in 2022. At the time of writing we were expecting a decline in physical attendance for our Skills Forum in early March but had adapted the program to hopefully make for an engaging hybrid experience.

The most significant announcement for us in recent months has been the Queensland Government’s decision to extend the Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program funding permanently. The original QG investment towards the program goes back to 2011, and the duration (and quantum) of each grant has been increasing since then. Now a mature partnership among Queensland councils, the Queensland Government, the LGAQ and qldwater - the funding certainty significantly helps maintain continuity for planning and in retention of key people. It’s too early to know exactly what this means for our little group, however, the extra funding will support new collaborative activities for nine regions – almost all of Queensland except for the southeast and some First Nations councils in the Cape.

Most of these Cape councils are

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the subject of visits planned for our Water Connections Week in May, in between Ozwater (in Brisbane this year) and our Port Douglas conference. COVID willing, we will be using Cairns as a base and along with various Queensland Government representatives, will be meeting with around 9 councils to discuss their service delivery challenges and look for opportunities for the broader qldwater network to provide support and expertise.

We unfortunately had to cancel tours in 2020 and 2021, meaning a hiatus for what has historically been a major part of our regional outreach program. Securing a Principal Sponsor for qldwater in Grenhof along with some other savings has made a charter feasible for the first time in quite a while.

Much of our advocacy work has been delayed as agencies struggle with their own responses to COVID and seasonal challenges. Importantly, water sector staff have been recognised now as critically essential workers meaning that once Rapid Antigen Tests are more readily available, there is a process for close contacts to be able to attend to essential roles including treatment plants as Omicron continues to spread. In general, the industry continues to impress with its approach to information sharing and mutual support.

A few upcoming highlights from our programs: • Lots happening in the environmental space including proposed changes to the Environmental Protection Act and End of Waste Codes, as well as a lot of work around contaminants including the release in the coming

months of a public-facing campaign to attempt to build awareness around everyday products and practices which contribute to sewerage service providers’ capacity to deal with contaminants including PFAS and microplastics. A national workshop is planned in April, and we have entered into a number of national partnerships and sponsored small research investments through the qldwater Consortium for Research and Advocacy on Contaminants.

•A coordinated review of the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan Guideline with the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water participating in a final review workshop with industry in March.

•S everal activities with the Water Services Association of Australia and other water directorates, including sectorwide approaches to address new Critical Infrastructure legislation and Workplace Exposure Standards (particularly for hydrogen sulphide and chlorine).

•C ontinued advocacy to attempt to finalise an exemption to allow high pressure water jetting activities on AC pipes.

•A n audience to progress a proposed restricted drainer’s licence along with an agreement to review MP1.4 of the Queensland Development Code (building over/ near infrastructure).

•M ajor SWIM enhancements including strong uptake of the new WebReports module.

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QLDWATER • At the time of writing we were recruiting to fill our Skills Manager role, and the skills agenda is large, including working with RDMW on its review of potential minimum mandatory qualifications for drinking water operations staff, delivery of micro-credentials (SCADA commencing in February), revisions to various online training products, and a lot in the national space with changes to the way training

packages are administered.

Our proposed workshop for OzWater on addressing the training supply challenges facing Registered Training Organisations nationally has been accepted and is in development.

• Finally, there are a number of other strategic advocacy activities in development based on the water industry roadmap priorities. These include briefings with key state

agency executives as well as SEQ service providers, looking at opportunities for whole of industry approaches to support service providers in regional and remote Queensland.

Looking forward to getting out on the road again soon and catching up with everybody, and hoping the restrictions many members have necessarily imposed on travel don’t last too long so we can all have a break from online meetings.

ABOUT US collaborative hub, working with its members to provide safe, secure and sustainable urban water services to Queensland communities.

Key Programs

qldwater is a business unit of IPWEAQ. Its members include the majority of councils, other local and state government-owned water and sewerage service providers. It has strong effective working relationships with national water industry associations as well as local, state and Commonwealth government agencies eg Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Department of Environment and Science, Department of Health, Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs and the Bureau of Meteorology.

As the central advisory and advocacy body within Queensland’s urban water industry, qldwater is a

The Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program – a collaborative program between Queensland Councils, qldwater and LGAQ (supported by the Queensland Government) aimed at helping Queensland councils work together at a regional scale to achieve efficiencies for their customers; The Statewide Water Information Management (SWIM) Program – advocacy and continuous improvement supported by a sophisticated regulatory and business reporting and benchmarking tool; The Queensland Water Skills Partnership – a collaboration among utilities to identify skills needs and solutions and encourage appropriate investment;

sewerage and celebrating its achievements with often limited resources, to make the industry an attractive place to work and exploit its competitive advantages and collaborative culture.

The Strategic Priorities Group (SPG) oversees industry priorities and the areas of technical focus for qldwater.

The SPG includes Water Managers, Chief Engineers, Chief Executive Officers and Water Operators from approx 30 urban water entities representing small, medium and large service providers from all regions across the state. A broad range of topics are discussed.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT

MEMBER BENEFITS

Other Industry Advocacy Services – focused on sustainable investment and planning, and fit for purpose regulation; Industry communication, innovation and marketing initiatives – creating a distinct profile for urban water and

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

YOUR ASSET MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY

Craig Moss Director, Professional Services

Queensland and the Northern Territory are fortunate to have significant and ever-increasing infrastructure assets that are vital to supporting our communities. These assets and related services are the foundations of our day-to-day lives, and our communities have an expectation that they will support and enhance their quality of life. To achieve these outcomes, it is vital that anyone who is responsible for the planning and management of our public works and services understand and practice good asset management.

At the 2021 inaugural IPWEAQ Asset Management Symposium, we asked the question, what is your greatest asset management need? The intelligence gathered has guided the Asset Management Steering Committee (AMSC) to identify the challenges facing our asset management community and to develop strategies and initiatives to address these areas of concern.

This process identified three primary areas:

important areas: • innovation • resources • risk There is a perception across industry that all that is required for sound asset management is more data or the right data however it appears that collaboration is the most critical aspect with collaboration between the different disciplines involved in asset management linking to the analysis of available information to strategic decision making. And then we are more likely to be moving in the right direction.

• education

Some of the initiatives of the Asset Management Steering Committee include:

• lifecycle costs and decision making

Asset Management Community of Practice

Plus three secondary but equally

The aim of this program is to

• data

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regularly interact with others across the asset management community and share best practice, knowledge, ideas and tools to achieve consistent and effective outcomes. With the intelligence gathered from the needs analysis at the Symposium, the AMSC will continue to lead virtual conversations of relevant topics. Discussions held to date include: •R isk - creative ways to hide the 4-letter word or just an accident waiting to happen.

•T he asset management journey •O rganisational asset management culture and commitment (24 March 2022) These topics will continue on a bi-monthly cycle.

2022 IPWEA-QNT Asset Management Symposium 180 delegates from 26 councils plus 50 organisations gathered at

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IPWEAQ UPDATES the inaugural Asset Management Symposium in 2021 to discuss the long-term financial sustainability of our sector and its dependence on the successful management of our public infrastructure.

The next Asset Management Symposium is scheduled for 21–22 April 2022 in Brisbane.

The 2022 Symposium will build on the content and learnings from 2021 with industry experts and respected practitioners discussing their practical experiences achieving effective outcomes. 19 presentations will address the following topics: • asset management fundamentals • knowing and understanding your assets • asset decision making • asset accounting • innovation • looking forward The program is relevant to anyone involved with the planning, provision, and management of infrastructure assets and services including engineers, technical

professionals, financial professionals, data managers, senior management and elected officials. Please join us! Register online. e-Learning IPWEA-QNT is partnering with our colleagues at IPWEA NZ to deliver Asset Management Digital Badges for asset management practitioners.

Badges are a visible, shareable and portable digital record that recognises newly acquired knowledge and skills. These micro-credentials complement and supplement qualifications, experience and other professional achievements.

practice it. The first four asset management badges address managing assets from the outset and together, cover the IMM (Infrastructure Information Management Manual) curriculum.

The range of Asset Management Digital Badges on offer are constantly expanding as we develop more advanced, and more specific areas of asset management practice.

To learn more or to enrol in your first badge, visit our website.

The Badges will develop your skills from introductory through to essential, advanced and specialist levels. These online courses are bite-sized (2-4 hours) making it easy to fit them into a busy schedule. AM 101 introduces principles and key concepts essential to successful asset management and will provide a solid foundation of asset management and why we

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT UPDATE potential issues

Craig Moss Director, Professional Services

Throughout 2021, IPWEAQNT has focused on a better understanding of the needs of our sector which has resulted in new or updated products and an expanded Professional Development program. In the December 2021 issue of EPW, the new workshop, Temporary Traffic Management Practice for Managers, Supervisors and Project Managers was highlighted, and continues to be in high demand. The following new programs are now available: Pavement Rehabilitation Workshop Selecting the most suitable and cost-effective strategy for pavement rehabilitation continues to be a significant challenge to the road asset owner. It is essential that technical professionals understand the treatment options available to maximise pavement service life and optimise budget allocations for projects.

This workshop provides a practical understanding of appropriate rehabilitation treatments suited to local conditions. Topics covered include: • How do pavements work?

• Common defects • Treatment options, benefits, and

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• Joint types and design

• Reseal preparation techniques

• Joint layout

• Selection of treatments

• Restraint cracking

• Purpose of rehabilitation

• Corrosion

• Local considerations • Levels of service

•C onstruction Methods (Best-Practice)

This one-day workshop can be delivered in-house on request or online over two half day sessions.

This half day workshop is offered online or can be delivered inhouse on request.

Soon to be released programs

Testimonial:

 The presenter has a

wealth of knowledge and maintains your interest throughout.  Best Practice Design and Construction of Concrete Footpaths and Cycleways Footpaths and cycleways feature prominent in our daily lives: walking children to school, exercising or just strolling around the neighbourhood. Footpaths are intended to create a safe environment for any activity. A lot of planning and forethought goes into ensuring this safe environment for example appropriate lighting, trees for shade, signage and most importantly, the pavement design and construction of the concrete surface that you walk, run or cycle on. This workshop addresses best practice design and construction methods and will answer the following questions:

• Technical Writing • Introduction to procurement • Understanding financial reports • I nstallation of Reinforced Concrete Pipes • Fundamental road design • Construction practices If you would like to learn more about our new or existing programs, please contact our Professional Development Manager, Tammi Petre at Tammi.

Petre@ipweaq.com or contact me at Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com

• Why is my footpath cracking?

• Why are the joints moving, causing trip hazards?

• What is causing cracks?

• How can this be resolved and avoided?

Topics to be discussed include: • Concrete mix design • Path thickness and dowels

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

DID YOU KNOW Approximately 35% of the programs run by IPWEA-QNT are held in-house on request.

If you have a training need, do not hesitate to contact us for a program tailor-made for your organisation and people.

trackmycpd.com.au

IPWEAQ UPDATES

SAVE TIME, MONEY AND POTENTIAL STOP-WORK ORDERS

Mark Lamont Director, Information & Resources

The native title and Aboriginal cultural heritage landscapes are dynamic.

The watershed Timber Creek case in the Northern Territory was a $ 2.5 million lesson for the local council on the importance of conducting assessments prior to commencing public works. And a cultural heritage case has now arisen for Bega Valley Shire Council in NSW. In December 2021, a $1.9 million road resealing project was suspended after items believed to be Aboriginal artifacts were found in the works area. The council must now obtain an Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit (AHIP)

before works can proceed. The AHIP process is complex and requires an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment (ACHA) as well as extensive consultation with the local Aboriginal Land Council.

Bega’s Acting Director Assets and Operations suggests the process will take up to 40 weeks before work can recommence. In the interim, the speed limit for the road will be reduced to 40 km per hour.

A preliminary assessment, like those available in IPWEAQ’s native title and cultural heritage portal, iMPACT (Integrated Management Portal for Assessment of Cultural heritage and native Title) would have revealed the potential for artefacts providing an opportunity for safe removal and storage, and the project could have proceeded on time and on budget.

These types of cases are arising more frequently highlighting the importance of planning before any works are undertaken.

Not all councils have the internal resources to undertake these assessments and that is where IPWEAQ is able to assist. Councils can either subscribe annually

for access to the portal if they have internal personnel to undertake the assessments OR engage IPWEAQ to undertake the assessments. Assessments can be undertaken as a one-off $1,000 per assessment or with an Assessment Package - five assessments for $4,000.

Many government grants now require declarations that assessments have been undertaken. And the sooner those assessments are undertaken – for native title and cultural heritage – the better it is for project outcomes. Needless to say, engagement with traditional owners early in the process will benefit all parties and engender ongoing better relationships for future projects.

Council’s reputation is also preserved as it does not make headlines having destroyed artefacts or shown disrespect to traditional owners.

If you would like to subscribe to iMPACT or to organise an individual or package of assessments, please contact Mark Lamont at Mark.Lamont@ ipweaq.com.

Nominate your council’s representative to join the iMPACT consortium Annual Subscription (all councils, utilities, government departments, consultancies and mining companies)

+ GST

One-off Project Assessment

$1,000

Assessment Package - five project assessments

$4,000

Councils < 25,000 constituents

$3,000

All other councils, utilities, consultancies and other industry entities eg mining, pastoral

$5,000

Access to iMPACT including ongoing capability training to meet your changing needs

$8,000

20% discount applies to subscribers of the Public Works Technical Subscription (PWTS)

i M P A C T i ntegrated M anagement P ortal for A sessment of C ultural heritage and native T itle

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

AMBASSADOR UPDATE

Clare Ferguson IPWEAQ Ambassador

I was delighted to have been invited to become an IPWEAQ Ambassador and to attend the IPWEAQ Annual Conference in Cairns in October.

Since then, I graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree, majoring in Civil Engineering, from the University of Southern Queensland in December. Luckily, we had an in-person graduation ceremony unlike many other students over the past two years which was super exciting.

I started studying part-time in 2015 and have been able to work in a variety of engineering roles during those seven years to graduate not only with a degree but with a whole lot of experience under my belt. In 2019, I joined the Proterra Group as a Technical Officer and now as a Civil Engineer.

Now I’m on the hunt for things to do to fill in the many hours of spare time!

Recent Projects I have been working with Goondiwindi Regional Council (GRC) since their flood event in February 2020 to help project manage the reconstruction of their damaged assets. We obtained over $9 million in funding from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority in 2020 to rebuild GRC’s assets to preevent condition. Work on the roads commenced in March 2020 with three full-time work crews engaged to complete more than

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Clare with her partner, David

Clare with her parents

Clare presenting awards at the 2021 Excellence Awards

164 kilometres of restoration work ranging from 50 mm gravel top ups to entire sealed road replacements.

Not twelve months later, in March 2021, Goondiwindi experienced its worst flooding in over a decade. Roads which had only recently been restored were damaged again, and others we hadn’t made our way to yet were damaged even more. We collected GoPro footage of every road within the Goondiwindi Shire and prepared several funding submissions based on the road type (gravel or sealed), location (east, middle or west), culverts and other specialty categories. After meeting with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority in the middle of October to review the applications, we pressed the submit button for $61 million of funding shortly after.

While waiting patiently for the submissions to be returned, Goondiwindi again experienced severe flooding. Rain from late November 2021 resulted in

widespread flooding lasting for over a month. The most severely impacted area this time around was Inglewood with the town becoming completely cut off for several days.

So come December 2021, we had reconstruction work relating to damage from February 2020 well underway, submissions lodged for flooding in March 2021 and now the majority of the shire’s roads underwater… again.

Challenges Faced: The steel reinforced concrete pipe supply issues being faced by the whole of Southeast Queensland has changed the way our projects are planned and resourced. Paul Adam, Chair of Concrete Pipe Association Australia (CPAA) presented on IPWEAQ’s Public Works TV (PWTV) in April 2021 on the issue and, although as much as possible is being done to mitigate supply delays, it’s something the industry is going to have to accept for the foreseeable future.

Usually, the first step in planning

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES

Drone footage of Inglewood flooding (Source: ABC 2021 via Paul Williams)

a project is ensuring you have adequate plant, equipment and personnel and then materials are ordered as needed and on an ongoing basis. At the moment, some reinforced concrete items such as box culverts and large pipes have a lead time of over 30 weeks – something unheard of in my lifetime – and therefore need to be ordered as soon as funding is approved. This means that councils are spending significant portions of their funding at the start of the project when work onsite might not start for another five or so months.

In addition to the supply issues surrounding pipe culverts, we are faced with the challenge of trying to source and prepare more than 912,000 tonnes of gravel from local quarries ready to use in road reconstruction on council’s large, unsealed road network. Many of the quarries in GRC’s shire are privately owned and unlicensed as there has previously not been a need to take more than the 5,000 tonne per pit, per year limit set by the Department of Environment and Science. This time around, we need to take up to 50,000 tonnes from several quarries within an 18-month period. Our in-house

Environmental Officer has been sifting through Council’s list of quarries to determine which sites are already on the Environmental Authority, which ones do not need to be, and those which need to be added as a matter of urgency.

The other challenge experienced with this project is the shear volume of work needing to be completed in a relatively short amount of time. We have 3,233 days’ worth of work in the March 2021 program to complete in only 270 working days. This does not include over 100 days’ of ripping, pushing and stacking gravel before we can even start road reconstruction. With two of the larger contractors in Goondiwindi already engaged, completing the last of the February 2020 event damage, sourcing contractors with the equipment and knowhow to complete the magnitude of work required is proving difficult. We need at least 10 full-time work crews to complete the work before the 30 June 2023 deadline – not an easy feat in a small regional town like Goondiwindi.

The benefit of working in a small town however, is that contractors

Road washout on Kioma Road, Goondiwindi Region, following November 2021 event

are generally happy to work together and pool resources to ensure work is completed on time. Council will likely engage contractors to push pits or reconstruct roads around their local area which has the benefit of minimising transportation costs as well as providing several contractors within the Goondiwindi region with ongoing work until at least 30 June 2023.

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

LESSONS FROM THE (QCRAC) LIBRARY

Dr Louise Reeves, Program Research Coordinator, qldwater

Over the past year or so the qldwater Consortium for Research and Advocacy on Contaminants (qCRAC) online library has grown to more than 160 library items and links including peer-reviewed papers in international journals and reports from various sources. These have been individually chosen because they provide information on emerging (or emerged) contaminants that are in some way relevant to the urban water industry in Queensland.

In this update I’d like to share some of the more interesting and more generally relevant wisdom from the qCRAC vault.

Watch your washing Microplastics are in the spotlight at the moment, with media attention in recent years resulting in firstly, a ban on single use plastic bags in all states other than NSW (where it is coming in 2022) and secondly, single use plastics (e.g. straws, cutlery, cups) in Queensland, ACT and SA, with further restricted items being recently foreshadowed for Queensland after a public consultation process.

These measures seem likely to reduce the amount of plastic to landfill, and therefore the amount

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of microplastics released to the environment from breakdown of thoughtlessly disposed plastics.

But microplastic fibres and other particles are also present in our sewage in high numbers.

A recent study in Australia of three large wastewater treatment plants accepting domestic sewage showed that up to 92 particles per litre of raw effluent, 77 of which were fibres. Most of these fibres are PET plastics derived from washing synthetic clothing.

Another study showed that there are some simple things that people can do right now to reduce the number of microfibres that are released from your weekly wash: Wash in cold water using the shortest machine cycle you can – the study compared a normal wash at 40°C against a quick wash in cold water and found that these conditions lead to a 30% reduction in microfibres released.

These conditions also resulted in less loss of dyes from the clothing (which may make them last longer) while maintaining acceptable dirt removal.

Wash full loads instead of half loads – there was correlation showing a clear trend towards increasing fibre loss in smaller loads. Smaller loads have a higher water to fabric ratio, which leads to higher flow of wash water through the fabric. Full loads are also a recommended water conservation measure.

Making these changes will lead to less microfibres being released from your clothes, and according to the authors will also reduce dye fading, pilling and holes and tears. As a bonus: your clothes will last longer! As most fibres are lost in the first 5 or so washing cycles, the longer you can delay buying

that new fleece, the less impact you will have.

Mind your makeup Makeup is a literal cocktail of ingredients. Many of these we are happy to use because they protect our skin (sunscreens), hydrate our skin (moisturisers), improve the appearance of our skin (foundation, concealer), or make us look more attractive.

However, these products tend to be used every day, and there is a clear pathway to the body by accidental ingestion (by mouth) and through the tear ducts.

A recent survey of 231 cosmetics sold in North America showed that fluorinated compounds were found at the highest concentrations in three categories: foundation, eye products, mascara and lip products. The products with the highest fluorine were analysed further and multiple PFAS compounds were detected in all of them, even though they were not listed on the ingredients.

What is worse is that when the researchers contacted the manufacturers of these cosmetics, many didn’t realise that there were PFAS in their products, because the supply chains of the ingredients are so complicated.

PFAS does provide some very useful chemical properties to makeup, such as improving spreadability, making them weather resistant, and improving skin penetration of active ingredients, but the trade-off is that they will end up in our bodies, and will be washed off when we shower, into our sewers.

There is a similar problem with microbeads. These are tiny, spherical plastic particles that are manufactured and added to hundreds of personal care

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES products. You might expect to find them in facial scrubs, cleansers, exfoliants and maybe even toothpaste, but they are also commonly added into moisturisers, cosmetics, face washes, deodorants, hair colouring, shaving creams and sunscreens. They are included in these products for their “ball-bearing” effect to create a silky texture, and as bulking agents, and to prolong shelf life by trapping and adsorbing degradable ingredients.

Since 2015 there has been a voluntary phase out of microbeads by Australian manufacturers, which seems to be having an effect according to a 2017 study conducted by the Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment, however, this study used the list of ingredients to determine the presence of microplastics in products, which were compared

with a list of 17 known common microplastic ingredients. Other sources suggest that the list of microplastic ingredients is as large as 500 compounds, with 22 ingredients being considered “red flags” for the presence of microbeads.

These issues might seem to be a little way removed from the urban water industry in general, but they represent a significant emerging problem for us all. Public WWTPs are the receivers of all the contaminants discharged to sewer from domestic and industrial sources, and it is growing increasingly expensive to treat and remove emerging contaminants. These costs could be avoided by reducing the number of these compounds flushed to sewers in the first place. It would seem to be much easier for regulators to manage the problem at the “receiver” end than the “source”

end, even. For example a survey of biosolids from 19 Australian WWTPs, determined that there was a relatively consistent flux of PFAS into biosolids of 6.0 mg per person per year. There was no statistically significant difference between the relative contributions of rural and urban WWTPs suggesting that this may represent a baseline domestic PFAS emission rate because of population exposure to PFAS compounds from all sources… and WWTPs have to deal with it all.

To raise awareness of this issue qCRAC is developing an information-based website that will provide information and advice for consumers on how they can reduce their contaminant footprint through choices and actions that they take every day. The website “Chemical Concoctions” will be released in 2022.

Livingstone Regional Conference Hosts: Livingstone Shire Council Dates: 24-25 March 2022 Venues: Conference (Friday 25 March) Yeppoon Town Hall 25 Normanby Street, Yeppoon QLD 4703 Dinner (Thursday 24 March): The Rocks Yeppoon 3 Lagoon Place, Yeppoon QLD 4703

Principal Event sponsor

Inquiries: Naomi Carragher, ncarragher@qldwater.com.au Central Queensland Trade Waste Interest Group (CQTWIG) meeting - Thursday 24th March.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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BOOK REVIEW

THE PROMISE OF THE CITY, ADVENTURES IN LEARNING CITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION BY DAVID WILMOTH

Jo O’Brien SEQ Branch President

David Wilmoth, the author of The Promise of the City, is the son of Geoff Wilmoth after whom the Annual Conference Best Paper award is named.

The Promise of the City is a fascinating life story of David’s development as a professional (and as a person) in his career as an urban planner. ‘The City’ describes his life experiences during a time of enormous social and economic change in Australia and the world through the dynamic periods from the 1960’s to today. This includes David’s observations on the effects of the current pandemic. But urban planner is such a limited description of David’s work in the areas of planning, education and the urban sector where his influence on the development of innovative and successful places of learning and cities across the globe has been significant.

From a young age David’s spark of fascination about cities, how they work and how they could be changed for the better was lit by his experience taking part in the American Field Service

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(AFS), an international youth exchange program, which still sends thousands of high-school aged students abroad today.

David’s first overseas trip, a year participating in the AFS in America, particularly his time in New York and the social injustices he saw there in the mid 1960’s, planted the seeds of his views on urban politics and the need for change.

His time in the AFS, after which he ‘returned as a different person’, kickstarted a career that spans both Federal and State Government in Australia, Higher Education and Consulting internationally, across many different and varied projects. A self-proclaimed ‘Planner who doesn’t plan’, David modestly notes that ‘one opportunity has led to another’. However, the career that has resulted is nothing short of fantastic. His curiosity and eagerness to find solutions to difficult issues has driven his success and obvious enjoyment in his career, staying true to his values of equity and social justice.

David’s story is forthright in its honesty about the things that didn’t go well, as well as the successes. It’s a story of taking risks, learning by doing and by not being afraid to say ‘yes’ and see where it might take you.

We’ve all been out of our depth at one time or another, in careers and in life, and David’s story gives you the inspiration to take a risk and see where it might take you.

Author, David Wilmoth

I really enjoyed David’s story – very inspirational.

The Promise of the City, Adventures in Learning Cities and Higher Education is available from Booktopia and the Kindle Store.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES

NEW IPWEAQ TEAM MEMBERS Sabrina Schults – Bookkeeper

Born in Indonesia, adopted by a Dutch family and living in Holland for the first 4.5 years of my life, I have been raised and lived in Brisbane for most of my life so far. I have also lived overseas here and there (Japan for 13 months as an English Teacher and England for 18 months, for experience).

I am now settled and married to an Englishman, with one daughter.

In my free time, I enjoy doing reformer pilates, shopping online for dresses I absolutely do not need, having BBQs at home and having a few drinks whilst listening to old music and contemplating about life.

Anna Mehonoshen Water Skills Partnership Coordinator (qldwater)

Before joining QLD Water Directorate, I was working as a Project Coordinator for a solar company. Prior to this I was working as an accountant at an SME after spending a few years at QUT as Project Support Officer. I have completed a Bachelor of Business (Management) and a Diploma of Events.

My family has always lived here in Brisbane and we have an obsession with dogs (we have 6 in total!).

My favourite is of course my very own good boy, Floyd (Moodle). In my spare time you will often find me exploring gin distilleries and breweries tasting every possible new flavour. To counteract my love for beer and gin, I spend a lot of my time going to gym and playing hockey (which I have been playing for 19+ years). I have just done my first triathlon and hope to do more this year!

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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IPWEAQ UPDATES

MEET THE TEAM IPWEAQ LEIGH CUNNINGHAM

CRAIG MOSS

DR NEAL LAKE

Chief Executive Officer  Leigh.Cunningham@ipweaq.com

Director, Professional Services  Craig.Moss@ipweaq.com

Director, Engineering Practice  Neal.Lake@ipweaq.com

MARK LAMONT

Director, Information & Resources  Mark.Lamont@ipweaq.com

MONICA ROBERTSON

DAVID THOMPSON

Senior Manager, Events & Marketing  Monica.Robertson@ipweaq.com

Industry Engagement Manager  David.Thompson@ipweaq.com

SABRINA SCHULTS

TAMMI PETRE

LEXY ROHDE

Bookkeeper  Sabrina.Schults@ipweaq.com

Professional Development Manager  Tammi.Petre@ipweaq.com

Business Support Manager  Lexy.Rohde@ipweaq.com

JAMES PRICE

REBECCA SEK

SAVANNAH ROBERTS

Media Coordinator  james.price@ipweaq.com

Marketing Coordinator  rebecca.sek@ipweaq.com

Events Coordinator  Savannah.Roberts@ipweaq.com

CHLOE BEGLEY Administrator  Chloe.Begley@ipweaq.com

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ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

IPWEAQ UPDATES

MEET THE TEAM QLDWATER

DAVID CAMERON

DR ROB FEARON

DAVID SCHELTINGA

Chief Executive Officer  dcameron@qldwater.com.au

Director, Innovation Partnerships  rfearon@qldwater.com.au

Manager, SWIM  dscheltinga@qldwater.com.au

DR LOUISE REEVES

DESIRÉ GRALTON

NAOMI CARRAGHER

Program Research Coordinator  lreeves@qldwater.com.au

Manager, Communications  dgralton@qldwater.com.au

Project Support Assistant  NCarragher@qldwater.com.au

ANNA MEHONOSHEN

qldwater is a business unit of IPWEAQ

Water Skills Partnership Coordinator  AMehonoshen@qldwater.com.au

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022

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ADAC CONSORTIUM

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PRINCIPAL PARTNERS

ENTERPRISE PARTNERS

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SUBSCRIBERS PUBLIC WORKS TECHNICAL SUBSCRIPTION

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SUBSCRIBERS PUBLIC WORKS TECHNICAL SUBSCRIPTION

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YEARS sin

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INFORMS. CONNECTS. REPRESENTS. LEADS.

ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS

EPW reaches more than 11,000 members, industry partners and government decision-makers.

Our mission is to create a vibrant, vital, supportive community for those engaged in the public works sector which serves to enhance the quality of life for all Queensland communities.

We do this by advancing the skills, knowledge and resources available to those involved in the planning and provision of public works and services.

Our quarterly e-Journal, Engineering for Public Works is valued for its technical and industry-relevant content.

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Basegrade Stabilisation

Michael Kerr

Scott Young P 42-49

Engineering the Tropics P 44

Artificial Reef Transforms Sandy Substrate P 49

Artwork and editorial due by the 15th day of each month.

Shared Superintendency

SEQ Branch Conference

Recycling Facility & Bowen Sewerage Treatment Plant P 72-77

Wrap-up P 88

Engineered Road Crossings for Wildlife P 76

Why advertise in EPW?

Meet the Ives

Young Engineers of the Year

Member profiles P 24

- where are they now P 34-38

Mine Site Thrives Under Green Future P 59

Mareeba Shire Council

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Bridging the Gap P 44

Dr Louise Reeves Contaminants of Emerging Concern P 56-57

Bruce Highway—Cairns Southern Access Corridor—Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale

Connect with thousands of professionals delivering projects and services for state and local governments across Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Engineering for Public Works

Articles, reports, features and news on the public works sector with a focus on the engineering of our communities.

Over 300,000 digital impressions, more than 43,374 Reads and 632 Clicks

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