The winners of the 2019 CCF WA Earth Awards, Western Australia’s annual celebration of excellence in infrastructure, were announced at a gala dinner on Friday night at Crown Perth.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the high quality of the 17 Earth Awards finalists was testament to the skills and diverse capabilities of WA’s civil contracting industry. “The Earth Awards are all about showcasing our fabulous local industry, and we’ve certainly achieved that aim again this year,” Mr Graham said. “our judges had a huge task in trying to separate all these great projects and find the winners.

CCF WA President David Della Bona said it was an honour to welcome special guest Chris Tallentire MLA, who attended representing the State Government. “It’s fitting Mr Tallentire joined us for this annual celebration of infrastructure excellence, because 11 of the 17 finalists were State Government projects. The number of Government infrastructure projects in the Earth Awards shows how important Government works are to our industry – and it also suggests that these projects are often the most interesting and challenging, and that they bring the best out of our industry.”

The Earth Award for Excellence in Civil Construction – project value $30 million to $75 million went to Civmec Construction and Engineering for the Matagarup Bridge Arches and Decks Fabrication, Painting and Transportation. Steel fabrication and modularisation for the project was brought back to WA when the overseas fabricator was unable to complete the job after working on it for almost two years. With the project at significant risk, Civmec’s highly skilled and dedicated workforce was engaged to deliver the works within an extremely challenging delivery timeframe. Transporting the fabricated steel components from Henderson to the project site at Burswood represented a significant challenge, especially the massive arch modules.

Left to right: Chris Tallentire MLA; Civmec Fabrication Superintendent Angelo Campisi; Allwest Plant Hire Managing Director Ian Priday; CCF WA President David Della Bona

The Earth Award for projects valued from $10 million to $30 million went to BMD Constructions for the Bow River Bridge Upgrade. BMD constructed a new 249m-long concrete bridge, approach embankments and road, improving safety and enhancing flood resistance. The project was a cultural and social success due to BMD’s focus on meeting unprecedented targets for Indigenous engagement by supporting reconciliation and making valuable contributions to leave a lasting legacy within two Indigenous communities.

Left to right: Chris Tallentire MLA; BMD Constructions Site Engineer Thomas Hiles; CCF WA President David Della Bona

The $5 million – $10 million Earth Award was won by Downer EDI Works for the Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct Stages 1A and 1B Civil Works. Downer developed six commercial lots within the Fiona Stanley Hospital Precinct, a highly visible and heavily congested brownfields environment presenting a wide range of environmental, safety and stakeholder management constraints. A major challenge was extending the existing freeway drainage storage basin, which was bordered by the freeway and off ramps, with minimal access for the removal of excess material. The impact of the complexities and challenges that arose on the project was significantly minimised in part due to strong communications, planning and relationships.

Left to right: Chris Tallentire MLA; Miniquip Director John Fenton; Downer EDI Works Project Manager Rod Findlay; Downer EDI Works Project Engineer Jiri Jilek; CCF WA President David Della Bona

The $2 million – $5 million category winner was Degrey Civil with the Utah Road Rehabilitation Stage 1 project. Rehabilitation of the road would require high environmental, safety and quality standards and could not impact export operations. The surrounding mangroves and soft ground meant that putting diversions and side-tracks in place was not an option, so traffic had to be carefully managed. The Pilbara Ports Authority chose a Foam Bitumen Stabilised (FBS) basecourse pavement that lifted the bar on design criteria and construction compliance to levels not normally seen in WA. DeGrey Civil completed the project safely, to a high standard, on time and on budget.

Left to right: Chris Tallentire MLA; Alcolizer Technology CFO Shannon Bell; DeGrey Civil General Manager & Director John Swioklo; CCF WA President David Della Bona

The Earth Award for projects valued up to $2 million was won by Cape Utilities for the 450mm PE Wastewater Pressure Main Upgrade. The pipeline corridor passed through a Bush Forever site that is also a wetlands catchment. To minimise the need for clearing and disturbance of potential acid sulphate soil, Cape’s EcoPlough was chosen as the most environmentally friendly option to install the pipeline underground. Cape achieved a first for WA by installing a large diameter, high wall thickness PE pipeline with a high degree of accuracy. Through the constant diligence of all involved, the Cape team accomplished the complicated project through a highly important sensitive ecosystem with no environmental damage.

Left to right: Brooks Hire Service Operations Manager Lenore Brooks; Chris Tallentire MLA; Cape Chief Operating Officer Greg Hutchinson; CCF WA President David Della Bona

On the recommendation of the judges, a special Highly Commended award was presented to the Water Corporation, Georgiou Group and BG&E for the Ellenbrook Water Tank project. With a diameter of 91m and height of 13m, the 80 million litre Ellenbrook Water Tank is the largest tank in the southern hemisphere. In a first for Water Corporation, the Ellenbrook Tank incorporates a vertically tapered tank wall, enabling improved material utilisation without compromising on durability or functionality. The base slab was constructed in a monolithic 92m-diameter pour, with concrete continuously placed over an 11-hour period involving 110 personnel, four concrete pumps and 30-plus concrete trucks.

Left to right: Chris Tallentire MLA; Georgiou Senior Project Manager Johnathon Lestone; CCF WA President David Della Bona

The five WA Earth Award winners will represent WA at the National Earth Awards, to be presented at a gala awards night in Canberra on November 22.

CCF WA thanks our Earth Awards Gala Dinner sponsors FT Workforce; Dial Before You Dig; Lavan; TFI Tyres; Allwest Plant Hire; MJB Industries; Brooks Hire; Alcolizer Technology; CR Kennedy; Ledge Finance; Miniquip Hire; and AV Partners.