Leadership in construction

The Eighteenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction (EASEC-18) was held on 13–15 November 2024 at the Shangri-La Chiang Mai in Thailand. The conference was hosted by the School of Civil Engineering and Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University.

Fletcher Higgins Fiji Project Manager Tiago Ribeiro presented two technical papers - Bulu Bridge – Repairs and Overlay with Latex Modified Concrete Reinforced with Fibres, and Wainawi Bridge – 2 Stage Construction Methodology.

Facing the climate challenge demands leadership and collaboration across the entire industry. At the recent Carbon Crunch event hosted by Mott MacDonald, Brian Perry Civil Environmental and Sustainability Manager Rachel Blake represented the construction sector, highlighting the tailwinds and crosswinds in the journey towards decarbonization. It was an informative and thought-provoking event that delved into the path forward and the crucial imperatives we must address together to eliminate carbon from our future.

Due to a lack in historical evidence and as-built records, service investigation is becoming increasingly more important.

Locating services during planning processes for projects can stop service strikes, costly conflicts, redesigns and unsafe environments for our workers, including in some cases loss of life.

In this Lunch and Learn session, Geospatial Technician Briana Stemp talks about GPR benefits and service locating processes.

Fletcher Reinforcing constructs the prefabricated flared reinforcing columns for piers on the flyover above Reeves Road on the Eastern Busway Project.

The flyover is a major part of the project connecting the South-Eastern Highway with Pakūranga Road, reducing traffic on Pakūranga Road and Tī Rākau Drive, especially during peak times to make travel easier. The project is a team effort involving Auckland Transport, Fletcher Construction, ACCIONA, AECOM, and Jacobs.

Our Brian Perry Civil Wellington team planted a variety of flaxes and other native plants along the Takapu Stream next to their Tawa Yard. Senior Environmental and Sustainability Advisor Julien Huteau organised the event on the eve of Matariki with the Porirua City Council who provided the plants and dug the holes. The planting will provide better flood protection and enhance the mana of the stream.

This Lunch and Learn session was presented by Michael Backhurst, Senior Sustainability Advisor at Kiwirail and Emma Foulkes, Senior Project Manager - Sustainable Outcomes at Height Project Management.

Michael has been at KiwiRail for one year and has been working on embedding sustainability across the wider KiwiRail Capital Works programme. He has a background in waste management, mainly in local government and was also involved with the first two Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) ratings for the City Rail Link project.

Emma was a Project Engineer in Brian Perry Civil and completed a range of projects for us. She now works at Height Project management focusing on integrating sustainability practices in the construction industry.

Michael and Emma talked about some of the recent award winning work done for Kiwirail.

AI is rapidly showing its potential to uplift productivity across multiple industry sectors.

The AI Forum of New Zealand’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) Blueprint for Aotearoa New Zealand is intended to align with the New Zealand Government’s AI Principles and Roadmap and Callaghan Innovation’s work to encourage and support the adoption of AI in Aotearoa.

This paper presents a strategy to highlight current industry investments in AI in Aotearoa and help guide strategic investments over the next five years to support AI technologies. It proposes a mechanism to leverage existing industry initiatives and programmes to help drive results and achieve our shared vision.

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly showing its potential as a game-changing transformation tool across construction. From revolutionising project management, improving safety outcomes, and optimising construction processes these technologies will be reshaping the future of our industry. This session was originally hosted by CCNZ Auckland Branch, and the webinar looks to share this important session with members nationally.

Hosted by CCNZ Technical Manager Michelle Farrell, CCNZ presented a panel of local experts for an introduction to this technology, providing advice on how to get started, and an open Q+A session.

FletcherTech held a Tech Talk event in Penrose, featuring Exxovantage CEO Arnaud Daurat.

Arnaud spoke about the current abilities’ exoskeletons can impart on today’s workforce and what they can mean in the future as they become more accessible and commonplace. Benefits included increased safety, longevity, productivity and extending capabilities for those with limitations.

The FletcherTech Tech Talk series is designed to introduce contemporary and emerging ideas/technologies in an accessible format for Fletcher Building team members.

We’re using ‘Innovation Sprints’ to help solve business challenges and accelerate innovative ideas. The sprints help us to quickly come up with the right solutions in a short time.

Working together, our Operational and  Environment, Health and Safety group recently took this Agile approach to help keep our people safe. They organised a sprint focused on finding an engineering solution to manage the critical risk of our people being struck by mobile plant such as excavators, rollers, cranes, etc.

In just six weeks the team scanned the globe and came up with a solution which complements our Safe Work System for People Interface Zones – installing AI cameras on plant blind spots to clearly identify and locate people who inadvertently enter into a blind spot on an operational piece of plant so the operator can take appropriate action to prevent a potential harm event.

This solution has been installed on a variety of machines and sites where the risk is the highest, with more to come!

Safety culture on construction sites is a product of all inputs, and an aligned contribution between contractors, clients and design leaders plays an essential role in culture formation.

BPC offers our partners key tools from our Protect Safety Programme, explaining effective safety leadership, and how to hold impactful interactions that contribute to a positive safety culture. The Protect Programme is based on global best practice.

Training is delivered by BPC line leaders, with support from our construction Wellbeing, Health and Safety teams.

In this Tech Talk event held in Penrose, award-winning tech entrepreneur and internationally acclaimed Futurist, Melissa Clark-Reynolds spoke on the future and what it looks like for humans and well as AI, the future of advancing technologies such as robotics, virtual reality, bio tech and fin tech, their impacts, and how they change the way we live and the transact.

The FletcherTech Tech Talk series is designed to introduce contemporary and emerging ideas/technologies in an accessible format for Fletcher Building team members.

Subsidised staff transport on AT services make public transport the easy choice.

Fareshare allows employers to offer subsidised public transport to staff, on AT services, as an employee benefit which is exempt from fringe benefit tax. Subsidise either 25%, 50% or 75%, on weekdays only or 7-days.

Email to find out more: fareshare@at.govt.nz

About Fareshare

The City Rail Link (CRL) is being designed and constructed to the highest sustainability standards.

The CRL project aims to achieve sustainability excellence by being careful with the resources it uses, optimising its carbon footprint, avoiding waste and leaving a positive social and cultural legacy for Tāmaki Makaurau.

Visit the City Rail Link website

Opportunities exist with Firth to save water by increasing recycled water in concrete mixes.

Digital Engineer Jonathan Kubiak and Surveyor Bayley Smith discuss their work on the Coromandel peninsula using a LIDAR drone to survey road slips following the major weather events of early 2023, including Cyclone Gabrielle. This discussion was originally a FC Design Community of Practise quickfire presentation.

In our special Lunch and Learn session, Andrew Williams and Caitlin Tonner from the Brisbane Stantec office give examples of how sustainability outcomes are driven and embedded into projects in their region.  Andrew is a sustainability professional with 15 years of experience across many top tier engineering firms. Caitlin is a project technical lead with extensive infrastructure experience delivering ISC projects in Queensland.

Project Engineer Kyle Marshall explains how a bubble curtain has mitigated the environmental impact of marine piling at the Seaview Wharf project. Kyle talks about how the team took an off the shelf product and came up with a number of innovative improvements to suit project requirements. This was originally a Design Community of Practise quickfire presentation.