IPWEA has unveiled Australia and New Zealand’s most outstanding public works engineering projects and professionals at the inaugural IPWEA Australasia Excellence Awards.
The awards, sponsored by Ventia, highlighted the wealth of innovation, skill and dedication within the public works industry and commended practitioners who have gone above and beyond in the provision of infrastructure and services for their communities.
The winners were announced at last night’s Komatsu Grand Platinum Gala Dinner, held on the last day of the 2017 IPWEA International Public Works Conference.
Judged by a panel of industry experts, the finalists represented the industry’s best of the best, having already won their category from each Australian state and New Zealand in 2015-2017.
Western Australia’s City of Gosnells took out the top honour, winning the IPWEA Australasia Public Works Medal for Project of the Year 2017 for the Mills Park Redevelopment, which also won Excellence in Environment and Sustainability 2017 award.
The project included the construction of an ecologically sustainable community facility. In their comments, the judges noted that the facility, which was completed in October 2016, represents ‘world best practice in sustainable design’, as the only public building in Australia to be awarded six stars in the Green Star sustainability rating system.
"It is an outstanding effort to integrate natural and a multi-purpose, multi-functional built environment – six Green Stars says it all,” the judges concluded.
In the individual awards, City of Greater Geelong’s Vicki Shelton was awarded the IPWEA Australasia Public Works Leadership Medal 2017, Will Barton from Junee Shire Council was named Young IPWEA Emerging Leader Award 2017 and David Harris from City of Gosnells took home the IPWEA’s highest honour, the Keith H Wood Medal.
IPWEA CEO Robert Fuller said both the industry and communities should be encouraged by the calibre of the winners and finalists.
“The importance of great infrastructure in the health, wealth and happiness of our communities cannot be overestimated,” Mr Fuller said.
“Through these awards, we hope to encourage those who have strived toward greatness in the field of public works to continue to innovate and push the boundaries.
“These awards precisely embody the spirit and focus of IPWEA: supporting public works engineering professionals to reach their full potential for the good of their communities. Congratulations to all of our winners and finalists – you are officially the best of the best, and you’ve done your organisations, industry and IPWEA proud.”
Held in Perth August 20-23, the biennial 2017 IPWEA International Public Works Conference drew more than 500 delegates from Australia and New Zealand, in addition to 30 international delegates from 10 countries.
Congratulations to all of the category winners:
IPWEA Australasia Public Works Medal for Project of the Year 2017
Mills Park Redevelopment
City of Gosnells
Western Australia
Best Public Works Project 2017 Under $2m
Sumner Road Retaining Wall, Stage 4
Christchurch City Council and Fulton Hogan
New Zealand
Best Public Works Project 2017 $2m to $5m
Wyong CBD Drainage Upgrade
Central Coast Council
New South Wales
Best Public Works Project 2017 Over $5m
Te Ara I Whiti – The Lightpath
NZ Transport Agency and GHD
New Zealand
Excellence in Asset Management 2017
River Torrens Linear Park – Strategic Integrated Asset Management Plan
Tonkin Consulting, City of Charles Sturt and nine adjoining councils
South Australia
Excellence in Project Innovation 2017
TARDIS Software – making your rainfall and stream level data from Enviromon accessible and useful
Townsville City Council
Queensland
Excellence in Water Project 2017
Timaru District Wide Wastewater Strategy
Timaru District Council
New Zealand
Excellence in Road Safety 2017
City-wide Schools Traffic Safety and Parking Review
Tonkin Consulting, City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters and GTA Consultants
South Australia
Excellence in Environment and Sustainability 2017
Mills Park Redevelopment
City of Gosnells
Western Australia
Young IPWEA Emerging Leader Award 2017
Will Barton
Junee Shire Council
New South Wales
IPWEA Australasia Public Works Leadership Medal 2017
Vicki Shelton
City of Greater Geelong
Victoria
Keith H Wood Medal
David Harris
City of Gosnells
Western Australia
National Asset Management Award (NAMie) – for the best asset management paper presented at the conference
Ben Clark
City of Tea Tree Gully
South Australia
E.J. (Ted) Hooper Medal – for the best overall paper presented at the conference
Priyani de Silva-Currie, paper co-authored by Samantha Almeida
Calibre Consulting Ltd
New Zealand