Embracing flexible work and leading innovative practices to deliver large scale projects; how we build and transform land at the Port
Working on one of the largest reclamation activities in the southern hemisphere is no small feat.
Our Land Development team are managing the Port’s Future Port Expansion (FPE) area on Fisherman Island, creating new port land for our customers over the long-term.
It’s critical infrastructure that will help the Port and its economic contribution to Queensland, and it’s a challenge the team loves.
“Working at the Port of Brisbane, it's definitely the people that make the job, and the kicker is the work is really interesting,” said Project Manager, Clinton Chan.
From consultants to client side, the benefits of jumping in-house
Transitioning from a consultancy to working client-side has unlocked a world of benefits for our Interim Head of Land Development, Zen Ng, and Project Manager, Clinton Chan.
Zen reflected on his time as a consultant working with the Port before joining as a permanent employee, saying "when you’re a consultant, you come in at different stages of a project and generally only have to focus on one phase or aspect. When you’re working on the client side, you’re there from the beginning and get to see the project through, from feasibility to delivery of the work with a range of people along the way.”
Clinton agreed, emphasizing after his eight years as a consultant, he was excited to build his project management experience, working with contractors and consultants to drive a venture.
“The Port does a lot of interesting things, both really big projects and a lot of small ones at the same time; being in-house we get to drive these from the start. You’re also involved with a wide range of stakeholders you wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with if you’re only working on one part of the project, so you meet a lot of interesting people and learn a lot along the way.”
World class innovation on our doorstep
The team has worked on a number of major projects, including the construction of the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, road developments across the port precinct and the FPE.
And no two projects are the same. At around 224ha located at the northern end of Fisherman Island, the FPE is surrounded by a geotechnically engineered seawall and divided into a number of paddocks which are being progressively reclaimed over the long-term. Typically, material is progressively placed in the FPE and followed by ground improvement works to create land, completed under strict environmental management plans.
One technique the team uses on our FPE area is vacuum consolidation. While it’s a technique that’s only been used on a handful of reclamation projects in Australia, the Port’s incorporated it into its land development processes three times now.
“Vacuum consolidation is a unique technique where the pumps lower the atmospheric pressure of the system to accelerate the removal of excess porewater from the ground, avoiding the need for excessive surcharge material. We work with really challenging ground conditions, but using this technique means we can do things more efficiently and save hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of fill,” said Clinton.
The need to constantly maintain the FPE area gives the team the ability to be more flexible, another unique aspect for a critical infrastructure project.
“We work with our contractors to continually improve and develop our approach and techniques. We’re working with state-of-the-art machinery, like the purpose-built wick drain machine developed by our contractor, which is capable to install wick drains up to 48m deep. We have also worked with a local company to trial and refine a cutting-edge automated movement monitoring sensor with exceptional precision, adopted Accelerated Mechanical Consolidation technique at the FPE area, a method typically used only at mining sites, and we're also working with local universities to improve the way we develop land. Every day is different, you’re always learning and improving,” said Zen.
“And it’s not just building new land and new roads, we are assisting the business to deliver a variety of other projects as well, such as constructing hardstand areas for short-term windfarm and car storage. Currently, we’re also delivering the carpark expansion project at Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.”
“With sustainability a core focus across the business, we have incorporated recycled gravel and the reuse of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in our projects. Additionally, we actively repurpose materials from various projects and collaborate with different business units to drive continual improvements in sustainability at the port.”
A high trust, high rewards environment
The team works closely together from in the office and at home, appreciating the value a flexible environment gives to each other.
"The flexibility of our working environment has really enhanced our team dynamics and individual well-being, both personally and professionally," said Zen.
“We’re communicating constantly across the team, whether we’re in the office, onsite or working from home. We’re also quite flexible with when we work, I personally do my children’s school drop off which is really important for me. There’s always a school concert, a parent teacher interview etc., so ensuring our team has the flexibility means we can prioritise our personal lives and ultimately that improves our professional environment.”
“We’ve got a close team working together towards the same goals and we all trust we’re getting the work done, we have each other’s backs. I think flexibility is, culturally, really important, as long as we’re communicating, we’re all winning,” said Clinton.
People make the work
Whether they’re working with Port of Brisbane team members, contractors, or consultants, the team agrees it’s the people that make the work.
“Everyone at the Port, whoever you talk to, whether it's in our team, the broader infrastructure team, or another business unit altogether, everyone is eager to help if you need something. You just need to ask, help is always available,” said Clinton.
“Working at the Port of Brisbane, it's definitely the people that make the job.”