Winners of the 2023 Engineering Excellence Awards
In 2023 we had many nominations for the Engineering Excellence Awards with all of a high quality standard. We celebrated those nominated at our Awards Gala Dinner on the 16th March 2023 where the winners were announced. See all of the projects nominated in the video below.
2023 Winners
Category 1A - Projects less than $500,000
Randwick City Council - Coogee Fallen Lifesavers Memorial
Judges Comments
The Lifesavers Memorial is a tribute to Australian lifesavers who lost their lives during active duty. The project was completed in two stages, with stage 1 completed in 2013 which included the statue surrounded by tiered sandstone seating and garden beds. Stage 2 commenced in 2021, this included an interactive touchscreen to search all Australian fallen Lifesaver servicemen.
Category 1A Highly Commended
Hilltops Council - Boorowa Skate Park
The Rock Regional Observatory
More Photos
Category partnered by
Category 1B - Projects Greater than $500,000 but less than $5 million
Shellharbour City Council - Dept Services Building Project
Judges Comments
The Services Depot Building Project came to life with the aim to provide an efficient, safe, inclusive and sustainable workplace with accessible facilities for all staff. The building brings together approximately 150 staff members from the Services Team. It successfully incorporates the challenge of integrating an indoor and outdoor workforce and includes meeting and training rooms, laundry facilities, break out spaces, hot desks and plenty of natural light.
Category 1B Highly Commended
Hilltops Council - Lambing Flat Chinese Tribute Garden
Ku-Ring-Gai Council - St Ives Showground Regional Playground
Bellingen Shire Council - Dangar Falls Track the Waterfalls
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Category partnered by
Category 1C - Projects greater than $5 million
Bega Valley Shire Council - Merimbula Airport
Judges Comments
$19.44M was spent in infrastructure investment at Merimbula Airport through the completion, extension and strengthening of the existing runway and the creation of a general aviation precinct. 2022 saw the culmination of over 5 years of planning by Council with the completion of critical infrastructure upgrades which will secure the future of Merimbula Airport. The project required innovative thinking from the initial planning and approvals phases through to the design and construction stage to manage the many environmental constraints involved in extending a runway into Merimbula Lake, a pristine tidal saltwater lake with high ecological, tourism and aquaculture values.
Category 1C Highly Commended
Fairfield City Council - Deerbush Park All Abilities Playground
Shoalhaven City Council - Boongaree Rotary Nature Play Park
Category partnered by
Category 2 - New or Improved Techniques
Sutherland Shire Council - Bate Bay Beaches Protection
Judges Comments
In 2022 several months of aggressive swells culminated in severe scarping of the beach, threatening public assets along the shoreline. Council responded rapidly to the severe conditions to protect and re-establish the shoreline and beach. The response included stabilisation of the seawall, an interim and final rock revetment wall at North Cronulla and erosion mitigation measures to ensure the shoreline will be more resilient to future coastal events.
Highly Commended
Glenn Innes Severn Council - Asset Management Initiative
Campbelltown City Council - Benefits of Infrastructure Assets Revaluation
Tweed Shire Council - Disaster Restoration Tracking Database
Category partnered by Streets Opening Coordination Council
Category 3 - Innovations in Water Supply & Wastewater
MidCoast Council - Redesigning switchboards for arc flash and incident energy reduction
Judges Comments
MidCoast Council recently designed new Sewage Pump Station Switchboards to reduce incident energy and the risk of arc flash to operators. The main improvements included an overlapping door arrangement which is mullion free, compliance in reducing incident energy. The need for a new standard switchboard design came about because existing sewerage pump station switchboards no longer met standards and did not address safety and operational concerns.
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Category Partnered by:
Category 4 - Workplace Health & Safety
Griffith City Council - Portable Platform Cemetery Burial Vault
Judges Comments
The Cemetery Team Leader suffered an injury at work lowering himself into a burial vault as part of his work. Most below ground vaults in the Griffith Cemetery are brick lined double vaults and access is required to complete preparation for burial. Council cemetery staff, WHS staff and the Council fitter welder devised a portable platform that could be lowered into a vault and provide access from either side to allow staff to safely completed their work.
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Category Partnered by:
Category 5 - Excellence in Road Safety Engineering
Bayside Council - Intersection of Harrow Road, Warialda Street, Rockdale Plaza Drive
Judges Comments
This project was a proactive improvement for traffic and pedestrian safety along Harrow Road, Warialda Street, Hegerty Street and Rockdale Plaza Drive. The route services several schools, open spaces and town centre on either side of the railway underpass. As part of this project, footpaths and pedestrian refuges were installed and upgraded at several locations and traffic priority controls were changed to improve traffic flow and safety of traffic in the area which provide more defined travel paths.
Highly Commended
Bega Valle Shire Coucil - School Zone Infrastructure Sub Program
Willoughby City Council - School Children Safety Wombat Crossing Program
Category Partnered by
Category 6 - Environmental Enhancement Project
Central Coast Council - Landfill Cell 4.4 Buttonderry Waste Management Facility
Judges Comments
Council has successfully completed the strategic planning, design and construction of a new landfill cell at its Buttonderry Waste Management Facility. The project comprises 750,000 cubic metres of void space with both a Geosynthetic Clay Liner and High Density Polyethylene Liner which meets the disposal needs for the next 4 to 5 years. Design and construction restraints included proximity of groundwater, riparian zones, boundary geometry and future coal mining operations.
Highly Commended
Georges River Council - Lower Poulton Park Naturalisation and Carpark Construction
Category partnered by:
Category 7 - Local Government Excellence in Road Safety
Central Coast Council - Road Safety Videos for Seniors
During COVID lockdown, Central Coast Council developed a series of road safety videos for older road users, enabling these vulnerable members of the community to access the content without being exposed to Covid-19. The series comprises eight sessions, each covering a different topic. Each session is between around four and nine minutes in length. The entire video series can be viewed at a time that suits the viewer.
Category partnered by
Category 8 - Multi-Disciplinary Project Management
Ku-Ring-Gai Council - Lindfield Village Green
Judges Comments
The Lindfield Village Green is a new 4,000m2 public open space in the heart of the Lindfield Town Centre. Council has transformed an open public car park into a place of destination with greenspace to improve vibrancy and liveability for the community. The precinct now consists of a 3-level underground carpark, cafe, water play features, tree lined paved walkways, and links to public transport. The project now provides an all-accessible facility which includes 2 architecturally designed lifts and walkways fully conforming to DDA requirements.
Category partnered by
Category 9 - The David Abbott Award
Faiza Bhuiyan - Project Manager, City of Canterbury Bankstown
Judges Comments
Faiza has delivered and is delivering many Tier one projects under the Capital Works program in addition to being the ward leader for the Bankstown ward - her projects have included the Jordan Springs Public school $50m using innovative modular construction methods. A proactive leader, strongly committed to collaboration and working closely with the local community. She also volunteers at IPWEA and is a member of the Women in Public Works panel team and provide guidance wherever needed.
Category Partnered by
Category 10 - Public Works Leader of the Year
Rob Burke - Asset Engineer LEMO, Eurobodalla Shire Council
Judges Comments
Rob showed an outstanding commitment to his community during very difficult and challenging times. Rob is also influential in his mentoring and commitment to growing the next generation with his exceptional leadership skills in the public works field. He has strong Engineering knowledge and expertise, and is prepared to help all those around him.
Category Partnered By:
Minister's Award
Griffith City Council - Griffith Regional Aquatic Leisure Centre
Judges Comments
Completed early 2021, the new 50m Olympic size pool delivers a compliant regional and state standard facility creating larger sporting facilities in the delivery of the best outcomes for the regional community. The new pool has been designed to cater for regional and state quality sporting events and is targeted at increasing participation, removing barriers to performance, attracting swimming carnivals, and providing greater recreational capability. There was a focus in optimizing the use of the concourse areas and green space. The pool included bleachers and shade structures which enhances the existing aquatic centre.