RANBURY ASSISTS IN ROADS RECONSTRUCTION FOLLOWING ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST NATURAL DISASTERS, THE 2011 QUEENSLAND FLOODS

A core objective of this program was to coordinate delivery of the statewide transport network program of flood damage works through the Department of Transport and Main Roads’ (TMR) districts in partnership with industry, local government and other government agencies. It was a program of relative high risk and complexity; reconnecting people, enabling vital re-supply to communities and aiding local, regional and state economic recovery and reconstruction.

This program was the Government’s mechanism respond to the unprecedented natural disasters that struck Queensland between 2010 and 2013.

A significant feature of the Transport Network Reconstruction Program (TNRP) was the coordination and integration for delivery of work previously identified in other programs. Coordination occurred where those works which were impacted by the in-scope events and where coordination with reconstruction works resulted in greater efficiencies and better value for money outcomes than if the works are undertaken separately.

This involved managing contracts which incorporated a small component of non-TNRP work, or complementary work to disaster works and delivered through the same contract. The complementary works were funded by other business programs (some examples are rehabilitation, SRS and Blackspot).

Transport and Main Roads (TMR) established Regional Project Offices (RPO) across Queensland to support TMR districts in the planning, design and delivery of works in their area. The RPOs are led by senior TMR staff and are resourced in part by private industry to ensure value for money in restoring our roads. Ranbury mobilised a team of 6 experienced and professional services personnel to two districts, South West and North Coast.

The TNRP program was one of the largest programs of work undertaken by TMR. Each region contained its own idiosyncrasies including geographic isolation (in the order 5,000km of roads in the South West Region alone) and geotechnical challenges for design and budget control (landslips and instability issues in the North Coast region).

Ranbury’s professional personnel actively engaged with TMR in utilising TMR’s existing systems where possible to provide speed and efficiencies in system responses. We assisted in the development and dramatic improvement of data integrity and consistency with timely and accurate reporting such that management decisions could be made based on both project and program wide determinants.

A system of change, contingency and management reserve control was introduced such that projects were funded progressively from a pool with contingency recycled to provide efficiencies in monetary terms.

Further, utilisation of Primavera P6 was drastically improved with a complete, integrated complement of project programs developed, cost loaded and tracked for performance on a monthly basis.

The program has been widely seen as a success – reconstruction works completed on time/budget with TMR systems integration improvement and upskilling evident as a positive legacy from the program, in addition to the physical reparation works completed as part of the program.

It was not only important to deliver the program but also to provide a supported completion and exit from the program. A planned and staged handover process was undertaken over many months in consultation with the client to ensure the regions were provided with the appropriate support in re-entering TMR Business As Usual operations.