Civil sector ready to respond to restoration demands

Local contractors have the capacity to gear up and take on the repair works required in the wake of North Queensland's widespread flooding, according to peak group Civil Contractors Federation Queensland. Chief executive officer Damian Long (pictured right) said the North Queensland workforce was dynamic and local players should win a good share of the upcoming work opportunities as long as the projects were not bundled into overly large packages. He said the Department of Transport and Main Roads had been committed to trying to reduce the size of these packages. "Sometimes they're hamstrung simply because of the timing. If suddenly a lot has to be delivered in a short period of time, it forces their hand to package them up into larger size bundles," he said. "But ideally they would like to stage it over a longer period of time and at a size that the local guys can tick over quite well." Project re-prioritising and pricing pressure Premise executive director Patrick Brady said the floods had delayed projects already in delivery across the impacted area. However most of the larger projects would keep moving forward, having taken this time to allow catch-up of design phases. "Local and state authorities, and essential services have been in disaster management mode for the last week and a half, quite rightly prioritising resolving life-threatening situations and re-establishing essential connections (roads, rail, electricity) to allow residents to get through initial phases," Mr Brady said. "Obviously, other contractors have repurposed the equipment, capacity and capability within their organisations to assist where necessary in the above efforts. "Once the clean-up starts, this will also place an added load on those in the sector, with most authorities re-prioritising projects." Demand for fuel and other consumables to the sector, including hired equipment, would put upwards pressure on pricing, he said. "But North Queenslanders are not known for price-gouging, so this should not become a large issue." Bruce Highway blitz adds complexity to work flow Mr Long said responding to the required infrastructure restoration post-flooding bore added complexity for the civil sector due to the $9 billion in work being rolled out under the Bruce Highway Upgrade – Safety Package. The eight-year package, running from 2025-26 to 2032-33, aims to lift safety on the key Queensland transport corridor. The goal is to achieve a minimum three-star safety rating (out of five) for the entirety of the 1673km Bruce Highway. "That will get going, I would suggest, in the second half of this year," Mr Long said. "So there's going to be a lot of work on the Bruce Highway in addition to any flood damage as well." Related: Feds beef up Bruce Highway funding A key issue would be whether government funding mechanisms would allow damaged infrastructure to be built back better to give it more durability through successive wet seasons, he said. Rebuild with climate change in mind - IPWEA Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia chief executive officer David Jenkins said that, with extreme weather events becoming more prevalent in Australia and across the globe, that group firmly believe that any infrastructure that needed to be rebuilt should factor in climate change. It was also essential that these assets were maintained and their performance monitored, he said. "Long-term financial planning and funding strategies need to take into account extreme weather eventualities," he said. "We must adapt to a changing world, but at this time it is important to recognise the human cost and impact. Our thoughts and best wishes are with the communities of regional Queensland." Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government expected lost economic activity due to the Queensland floods to reduce GDP in the March quarter by about 0.1 per cent. "That might not sound like a lot, but at a time when growth is not especially thick on the ground in our economy, that is not inconsequential," he said.

Civil sector ready to respond to restoration demands

Industry Queensland

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