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Building a sustainable future: MTIA integrating sustainable materials on major infrastructure projects

Platinum sponsor of #ISCACONNECT 2019, the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA), sustainability vision is striving to use valuable resources efficiently and seeking opportunities to use sustainable materials across MTIA projects.

A recent example of MTIA’s sustainable resource approach is evident at the Wyndham Vale stabling yard, where 120 composite material sleepers were installed over a span of 80 metres.

These composite sleepers made from recycled plastic have a design life of 50-years, compared to timber sleepers with an average lifespan of around 14 years. Innovations such as this challenge the broader industry to strive for excellent social, environmental and economic outcomes.

Other benefits of using composite material sleepers include:

• Less plastic waste ending up in landfill – one tonne of discarded plastic produces 30 sleepers, which after a design life of 50 years, can be recycled again.
• Reduced greenhouse gases – composite sleepers require less energy to produce than concrete or timber sleepers, thereby producing less greenhouse gases.
• Creation of employment opportunities – through manufacturing and the collection, sorting and transporting of the waste material.
• Supporting locally manufactured content – as these composite sleepers are produced in regional Victoria.

Image: Composite material sleepers at Wyndham Vale Stabling Yard, made using recycled plastic.

Mernda Station

Another recent example of MTIA’s use of sustainable materials is at the new Mernda Station, built as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project. Here 90,000 tonnes of excavated and crushed basalt rock were reused for fill and in gabion basket walls at the new station, significantly reducing waste to landfill.

Image: Crushed basalt rock reused for walls at the new Mernda Station.

In the wake of the recent recycling crisis, MTIA is already looking to increase the use of recycled content across all of its projects and contribute to the circular economy.

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Who is Major Transport Infrastructure Authority? Learn more here

CRL saves one of Auckland’s heritage ‘old timers’

One of Auckland’s oldest pioneer homes has been saved from demolition by the City Rail Link (CRL) project and relocated 75 kilometres away in the historic Waikato community of  Rangiriri.

The 19^th century Kauri weatherboard cottage was built in Flower Street above the Mt Eden railway station where more modern offices and factories are now being salvaged and demolished for CRL.

“Relocating the cottage is a great outcome,” says Sarah Sutherland, Environment Sustainability Manager for the Link Alliance,  which is managing the Mt Eden demolition as part of its work to build the CRL tunnels and stations.

“Buildings like this are becoming less common, and Link Alliance and City Rail Link Ltd are  committed to protecting New Zealand’s cultural and historic heritage for future generations,” Mrs Sutherland says.

She describes the house as a “lovely example” of a typical late-19^th century weatherboard cottage.

The exact construction date is unknown. Some  records indicate the cottage may have been built 143 years ago, in 1876. Its first family moved in at a time when Queen Victoria was New Zealand’s head of state, we were still a British colony, our isolation was just coming to an end with the opening of the first telegraphic communications cable under the Tasman Sea to Australia, and there was no such thing as the New Zealand All Black rugby team.

The cottage was transported by road overnight to Waikato. Ward Demolition managed the relocation and Managing Director Peter Ward says the shift was completed smoothly.

“After all these years the cottage still has good ‘bones’  and all our dots around planning and the shift on the night came together perfectly to move it safely. Everyone’s come away with a good feeling that they’ve helped give the house a second life,” Mr Ward says.

The cottage is being “parked” temporarily before being moved permanently to the historic Rangiriri Hotel,  which was also built around the same time.  The hotel’s owners plan to restore the cottage and other similar homes as part of a historic-based redevelopment of their property.

“The Link Alliance and CRL Ltd are really pleased the cottage will get a new lease of life in its new location, and people will have the opportunity to enjoy it for many years to come,”  Mrs Sutherland says.

Buildings being demolished next to the Mt Eden station will allow the Link Alliance to use the cleared land as a staging area for the main phase of CRL construction.  The site will be used to launch a tunnel boring machine that will start excavating the twin rail tunnels between Mt Eden and central Auckland in early 2021, and to connect CRL with the existing Western rail line.

More information about the CRL project is available at https://www.cityraillink.co.nz

In 2018, Lendlease was the first construction contractor to establish a 3-year partnership with CareerSeekers, paving the way for over 100 refugee and asylum seekers to undertake internship opportunities within the business. Our partnership with CareerSeekers is a natural evolution of our strategy to attract new entrants to the industry and follows our ongoing partnership with CareerTrackers.

Over the last two years collaborating with CareerSeekers, 67 interns have supported Lendlease projects with 82% of eligible participants securing ongoing employment beyond their internship. We are proud of the impact we are driving within our projects and the opportunity we are providing for our people to contribute to our business and build themselves a better future. Hala Nader from our Environment and Sustainability team exemplifies this experience.

Hala Nader | Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator at Lendlease

Hala Nader is a CareerSeekers Intern who commenced with Lendlease Engineering in April 2018 after completing her 12-week internship. Originally from Syria, she left in 2015 due to the war and went to Iraq. After two and half years in Iraq, Hala and her family applied for humanitarian visas to Australia to escape the rising conflict in Iraq.

Hala and her husband and young daughter arrived in Australia in April 2017 ready to commence their new lives. Hala who has a degree in Civil Engineering with environmental background, joined the Environment and Sustainability team at Lendlease’s Level Crossing Removal – Caulfield to Dandenong Project in Melbourne where she added immense value and was a key member of the sustainability team. She has since commenced on the Level Crossing Removal – Southern Program Alliance Project to continue her career growth and onsite construction experiences.

Hala’s enthusiasm and continued quest to learn and grow in her career, and new country, acts as a symbol for the CareerSeekers program and the barriers it is breaking down.

Read more stories here.

“Thank you Auckland” says City Rail Link after tunnel walk

The City Rail Link project is thanking Aucklanders for their support after Sunday’s successful Walk the Tunnels open day.

Thousands of people walked the 600 metres through the first section of the twin rail tunnels adjoining the Britomart station in lower Queen Street.

“It was a tremendously successful and positive day and it was very clear everyone enjoyed themselves,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive,  Dr[i] Sean Sweeney.

“The City Rail Link is Aucklanders’ project, after all,  and it was great opportunity to open the door a wee bit and give them a sneak inside of what they can expect when the project finishes in five years.”

Dr Sweeney describes the large turnout as a big plus for the project.

“I want to thank everyone who came along – it was a great demonstration of support for our work and the engineering skills behind it.”

Dr Sweeney has thanked Auckland Transport for its support for the Walk the Tunnel event – the Britomart station was used as the entry and exit point for the underground walk.

“AT’s co-operation was a key part of a successful day.  They helped us make sure people got the best from the walk, while keeping the city’s train services running smoothly.”

CRL construction in lower Queen Street, suspended for the Walk the Tunnels event, has now resumed.

Construction of CRL will be completed in five years and Dr Sweeney says there will be other opportunities to welcome Aucklanders on site.

“We will have a lot more to show people in the years ahead, and we know from the feedback we received yesterday that there is tremendous enthusiasm to visit us again.”

More information about the CRL project is available at https://www.cityraillink.co.nz

ISCA PODCAST

ROB JOHNSON | INFRABUILD, FORMERLY LIBERTY ONESTEEL

In this podcast we talk about how key stakeholders in the infrastructure sector can work together to achieve better sustainability outcomes. In particular, we focus on how to better engage suppliers to achieve ambitious sustainability objectives for a project or asset.

We chat with Rob Johnson, InfraBuild Customer and Market Relationship Manager, about a range of sustainability-related topics including: how well industry has responded to procuring goods and services more sustainably; the best way for projects to engage the supply chain in supporting sustainability objectives; how asset owners, builders and designers can work more effectively with supply chain partners to drive better sustainability outcomes; and if sustainability is now a bigger consideration in how suppliers approach the development of new materials, processes and other offerings to the Australian market.

For more on how InfraBuild engages with its supply chain partners to deliver optimised sustainability outcomes, see www.infrabuild.com

ISCA Podcast

Glenn Hedges | EIC Acitivities 

This ISCA podcast looks at The economic benefits of applying an IS Rating to a project. Whilst the ratings’ benefits are understood to be connected with sustainability performance, the economic benefits for projects are often not as clear. To assist with this understanding, a recent study was undertaken on a newly completed project in South Australia, jointly funded by the Federal and South Australian Governments.

To talk more about this, we are delighted to have Glenn Hedges, Sustainability Principal at EIC Activities, which is a division of CIMIC. Glenn has a wealth of experience in sustainability, infrastructure, and environmental engineering and has worked on a range of infrastructure projects in his career. Glenn also has a long association with ISCA dating back to 2012.

Q & A with #ISCACONNECT Gold Partner: InfraBuild 

InfraBuild and ISCA Share The Same Sustainability Goals

What Does Sustainability Mean to InfraBuild?

InfraBuild (formerly LIBERTY OneSteel) understands it has an important role to play in promoting sustainable practices right across the construction supply chain.

We have over 100 years’ experience in the manufacturing, processing, distribution and supply of steel to Australia’s construction, manufacturing, mining and rural sectors. We’re Australia’s largest manufacturer and supplier of structural and reinforcing steel, including hot rolled structurals, pipe and tube, rod, reinforcing bar, wire products and rail.

As a key supplier and partner to the construction industry, with approximately 80 per cent of the steel we manufacture used in the sector, we’re ideally placed to take a leading role in driving towards sustainability in the built environment.

We have placed environmental considerations at the centre of our strategic decision-making by making sustainability one of our three Core Values of ‘Family, Sustainability, Change’. Under our new brand name, we’re undergoing a transformation process that allows us to harness integrated solutions that can reduce our carbon footprint, shorten the supply chain, upgrade skills, stimulate new technologies and deliver for our customers.

InfraBuild is one of #ISCACONNECT’s Gold Partner sponsors. Tell us about InfraBuild’s decision to join the conference as an event partner?

ISCA’s mission to improve the productivity of industry and communities through sustainability in infrastructure aligns with InfraBuild’s own strategic vision. Being a Gold Partner to the #ISCACONNECT conference demonstrates our firm commitment to sustainability. And it helps us establish strategic partnerships with companies looking to implement sustainable initiatives that can reduce water consumption, minimise waste, promote renewable energy sources and increase recycled content in the materials supply chain.

We’re proud to have been an early adopter of ISCA’s ISupply program by being one of the very first companies to be recognised in the ISupply Directory when it was launched in 2018. We see this as an important commitment to our role as a long-term responsible and sustainable supplier to Australia’s infrastructure projects.

We recently supported the development and release of version 2.0 of the IS rating tool, which recognises and rewards initiatives that further economic and social sustainability in infrastructure projects.

How is InfraBuild Taking The Lead on Sustainability?

InfraBuild takes a proactive approach towards delivering sustainable outcomes by striving for continuous improvements in our sustainability performance.

Our commitment to sustainability includes optimising the eco-efficiency of steel products through their lifecycle. This means increasing resource and energy efficiencies and increasing the use of renewable energy]in the manufacture and distribution of our steel products.

InfraBuild Recycling is one of the largest metals recycling business in Australia, supplying scrap steel to our manufacturing facilities in Victoria and New South Wales to reduce our reliance on limited resources and the amount of material going to landfill. In 2018, InfraBuild produced approximately 1.2 Mtpa of steel using recycled steel and scrap metal. In the same period, we repurposed 215,000 tonnes of waste products.

Of major benefit to our construction partners is that InfraBuild offers five Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its range of structural and reinforcing steel products – these EPDs provide transparent information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle.

You Have Some Interesting News to Tell Delegates About InfraBuild’s EPDs?

In mid-2019, InfraBuild undertook a review of its EPDs with the assistance of thinkstep to understand how they have evolved since they were first launched in late 2016. There have been a number of changes in the products covered by EPDs – and our analysis has produced some very exciting findings.

We look forward to reporting on the outcomes of our work at the #ISCACONNECT Conference this October.

What Does The Future Hold for InfraBuild?

We are planning and operating our business for the long-term and building a legacy for the future. Our GREENSTEEL Strategy helps inform that vision by outlining ways in which we can transform our operations and our industry by means of innovation and efficiency. We aim to promote greater use of recycled materials, operate facilities closer to our key markets and increasing the proportion of renewable energy we use in our manufacturing mix. At the same time, through our sister company SIMEC ZEN Energy, we will continue to invest significantly in renewable energy assets.

Ultimately, our goal is to support the construction sector through innovation, collaboration and sustainable business practices to enable the construction of increasingly sustainable cities made up of structurally efficient and sustainable infrastructure and buildings that citizens can use now and well into the future.

Find out more about Infrabuild here.