THIESS AUTUMN 2009

Imagine our Future

Celebrating 75 years

Directions is published by Thiess Pty Ltd. It is published with due care and attention to accuracy, but Thiess accepts no liability if, for any reason, the information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.Copyright Thiess Pty Ltd 2009. All rights reserved.

EditorMichael Lyons

Graphic design and production Oblong + Sons Pty Ltd

Contact directions@thiess.com.au

Head officeLevel 5, 179 Grey Street South Bank Queensland 4101T: + 61 7 3002 9000 F: + 61 7 3002 9689

Future OrientedWe shape sustainable outcomes that align with the needs and aspirations of our people, clients, partners, community and the natural environment.Directions is printed on Mega Recycled Silk – paper made from 50% recycled post consumer waste and 50% FSC certified fibre.

What was a modest earth-moving company is now a market leader in contract mining, civil and infrastructure construction, facilities management and services.

As we update you on the design and redevelopment of Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital – facilities that we’ll also manage for the next 28 years – you’ll see that more than ever, Thiess clients, like the New South Wales Government, are benefiting from our ability to offer the full scope of our expertise. Arguably, the most confronting challenge to business over the past three quarters of a century is the current global financial crisis. There’s no doubt that Thiess is in good shape. The diversity of our business has proven to be our strength, and this is reflected in our balance sheet and order book. Since the last edition of Directions, we’ve secured a billion-dollar extension to our 20 years of mining operations in Indonesia. We’ve broken ground on the $4.8 billion Airport Link, which we will operate and maintain from 2012 until 2017. We have also been selected as preferred supplier for the $300 million Ipswich City Infrastructure Project, a five year capital investment

program for major water and sewerage infrastructure. These and other ventures are long-term projects that require over-the-horizon vision and commitment.

Our greatest asset is the remarkable group of nearly 15,000 people delivering these projects. In our story on the City West Cable Tunnel, we introduce you to Zoe Cuthbert, a terrific young Thiess engineer, who is furthering our 50 years of tunnelling expertise and exemplifies the expanding roles that women can and do take with Thiess.

Protecting our people by keeping them safe in the workplace is, and always will be, our top priority. As you’ll read, ‘Fit for Duty’ is the tool our workforce is embracing to help achieve it.

Thiess still carries both the name of the brothers who proudly founded it, and their zeal to succeed by delivering on promises to clients. These days, our credo remains, ‘to do what we say we’ll do.’

We will continue to forge and enjoy strong relationships with our clients, alliance and joint venture partners to deliver great outcomes.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate all of our Thiess people that recently assisted in the Victorian bushfire disaster and Queensland flood relief efforts. We remain committed to investing in the communities in which we work and live, and together we look forward to the next 75 years with confidence and optimism.

I hope you enjoy this and future editions of Directions.

D K Saxelby

Managing Director Thiess Pty Ltd

Cover and concept: Thiess reaches back to 1959 to again congratulate Herb Kessler, Thiess superintendent of tunnelling on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Originally photographed at the breakthrough of the Tooma-Tumut tunnel.(Picture used and adapted with kind permission from the Kessler family.)

THIESSTHIESS AUTUMN 2009

Imagine our Future

Celebrating 75 years

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10Thiess turns 75IMAGINE OUR FUTURE

contents02 INDONeSIA MINING

04 SeCuRING IPSWICH’S WATeR SuPPLy

05 SyDNey’S INNeR-WeST ON DeTOx

08 ABu DHABI CLeANuP

09 SOuTH AuSTRALIA MILeSTONe

13 CONCReTe IDeAS, BeTTeR OuTCOMeS

12 TOGeTHeR IN THe PILBARA

14 ZOe’S GOT TuNNeL VISION

16 We’Re FIT FOR DuTy

19 eNeRGy eFFICIeNCIeS

20 ROyAL NORTH SHORe uPDATe

20 HINZe DAM

21 SHIeLD FOR WILDLIFe

Airport link attracts

international interest

Sydney train line opens

The Thiess brothers bought their very first company plane in 1947. Pictured from left are Captain Francis Finlay, Les and Cecil Thiess, and engineer Roy McMenemy.

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Ramping up coalproduction in

IndonesiaThiess has secured a US$1.52 billion contract extension for its mining operations at the Arutmin Indonesia mines in South Kalimantan.

Did you know?An average three metres of rainfall per year and the remote location of the mines in rugged country are just some of the challenges for Thiess employees working in Indonesia.

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The company has been operating both the Senakin Coal Mine in Kota Baru and the Satui Mine in Banjarmasin under an alliance agreement with mine owner PT Arutmin Indonesia, which is, in turn, owned by Bumi Resources.

Thiess Managing Director David Saxelby said, “The renewal of the contract is testament to Thiess’ performance and commitment to Indonesia.”

“The additional work provides a tremendous boost to our base workload for the future.

“The contract also further strengthens our relationships with Bumi Resources and reaffirms our competitive position in Indonesia.”

Thiess Indonesia’s operations commenced at Senakin in 1989 and at Satui in 1998, with both operations moved to a single contract in 2000.

The new agreement, which is an extension to the existing life-of-mine, covers an additional seven-year period.

Thiess will continue its existing scope of work, which includes mine planning, overburden removal, coal mining and transportation, and operation of the coal processing plants and barge loading ports.

Thiess Indonesia President Director Roy Olsen says operations on both sites will be ramped up over the coming months to increase production to 12 million tonnes of thermal coal and 120 million m3 of overburden each year.

The continuation of these long-standing mines secures work for more than 3,000 employees and subcontractors engaged across the sites.

The extension also means continuing economic prosperity for the surrounding communities, which provide a lot of goods and services to the mining operations.

Mr Olsen said, “The successful continuation of these projects confirms the client’s confidence in the capability of our entire team and extends our long term relationship with the Arutmin projects.”

The renewal of the contract is testament to Thiess’ performance and commitment to Indonesia.

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Delivering Ipswich’smassive master

water plan

As part of its strategic planning, Ipswich City Council has appointed Thiess to assist council with the planning and delivery of the $300 million Ipswich City Infrastructure Project (ICIP).

The project will deliver a five-year capital investment program for major water and sewerage infrastructure.

Developments and changes to the city already include the establishment of residential areas such as the Springfield master planned community, the expansion of Amberley Air Force Base, and the implementation of the Ipswich State Development Area as well as a range of industrial parks.

Speaking on the appointment, Ipswich Mayor Cr Paul Pisasale said the agreement will secure the city’s water infrastructure until at least 2026, and will include the construction of four sewage treatment plants and associated trunk mains.

“Works planned include capacity upgrades to Goodna, Bundamba and Rosewood sewage treatment plants and the construction of a new plant at Amberley to support growth of the RAAF Base and proposed nearby aerospace commercial and industrial development at ebenezer,” he said.

Thiess Qld General Manager David McAdam said the project may also include up to 15km of new trunk sewers in the Goodna and

Bundamba catchments to service Springfield and Swanbank and provide the first step toward linking Ripley Valley to the Bundamba Sewerage Scheme.

“The ICIP will achieve savings for council by having Thiess involved early in the planning and feasibility of projects,” Mr McAdam said.

“Other benefits will come from economies of scale on construction purchases.’’

“We look forward to delivering innovative and practical solutions to what will be a significant work program.”

Significant design work will be undertaken this year with construction expected to get underway soon.

Boasting a population of 160,000, which is set to double by 2026, one of Queensland’s oldest provincial cities is gearing up to meet unprecedented growth.

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The former Lednez/union Carbide site was home to chemical manufacturing plants for 60 years until the late 1980s.

The site became contaminated with organochlorine pesticides and dioxins when process lime from pesticide and herbicide plants and ash waste containing chemical residues were used for land reclamation.

When the adjacent Allied Feeds site accepted the waste for the same purpose, it too became polluted.

eventually, the contamination from these activities also impacted the surrounding waters of Homebush Bay.

The complex and carefully planned treatment operations began in mid-2006 and are due for completion in the first quarter of 2010.

Involving the heating of soil and sediment in a rotary drum to between 450°C and 550°C, the DTD process forces organic compound contaminants to separate from the soil as gas.

The gas is then heated to around 1,000°C in a thermal oxidiser and converted into carbon dioxide and water.

To prevent contaminants from reforming, the gas stream is rapidly cooled by water spray and any hydrochloric acid created during the process is removed by passing the gas through a fabric filter scrubber before it is released to the atmosphere.

It’s the first time the technology has been used in Australia on such a large scale.

Works at the Lednez/union Carbide site have included excavation, classification, backfilling and reinstatement of 450,000m3 of contaminated soil with 75,000m3 requiring treatment.

An additional 40,000m3 of sediment is being excavated from the adjoining Homebush Bay.

Works at the Allied Feeds site have involved the excavation and treatment of approximately 120,000m3 of material.

The DTD plant being used for the Lednez/union Carbide site was purpose-built for Thiess Services.

It has an elongated thermal oxidiser tower to maximise gas stream treatment time and improve the efficiency of contaminant destruction.

Thiess Services employs emission testing specialists to monitor the quality of the gas discharged from the DTD plant and to ensure emission levels meet strict criteria set by the project regulator, the New South Wales Department of environment and Climate Change.

environmental monitoring data is routinely shared with members of the Rhodes Community Consultative Committee who are acutely interested in having their neighbourhood made safe from the contaminated sites for the first time in decades.

At the Rhodes Peninsula in Sydney’s heavily populated inner-west, soil-remediation expert Thiess Services is using the latest in directly-heated thermal desorption (DTD) technology to transform two contaminated sites into an area suitable for the safe development of residential apartments and public open space.

It’s the first time the technology has been used in Australia on such a large scale.

Removing contamination fromthe heart of a big city

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Tunnelling inany language is

never boring

Did you know?Along with the giant TBMs, 11 roadheaders will also operate on Airport Link and the Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron).

The first was used in March to break ground, signalling the official start of tunnelling.

The roadheaders will excavate two mainline tunnels for the road and busway, along with tunnel ramps and will travel up to 35 metres underground at the deepest point.

Named Spiky in a local school naming competition, the 15-metre roadheader will progress about three to six metres each day.

each roadheader requires seven operators for each shift.

you can see a typical Thiess road header in action by visiting www.thiess.com.au

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Construction is now underway on Australia’s largest infrastructure project, the $4.8 billion Airport Link, Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and Airport Roundabout upgrade Projects in Brisbane. And it’s news that is attracting domestic and international interest from highly skilled workers wanting the numerous and diverse jobs on offer. For the majority of the positions it is work guaranteed until 2012.

If accepted, for some of the foreign applicants, coming to Australia will literally mean spending some of their time down-under.

A significant part of the project is the 11.8km of tunnelling that will need to be completed using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and a fleet of roadheaders.

The TBMs are imported from Germany and will be constructed underground. each will require a crew of 20 for each shift.

TBMs are used as an alternative to drilling and blasting methods in rock and conventional tunnelling in soil.

A TBM has the advantages of limiting the disturbance to the surrounding ground and producing a smooth tunnel wall.

One person very familiar with working with multinational tunnelling teams is Scottish born Harry Lyle (pictured), who began work on the project as its tunnelling operations superintendent.

Mr Lyle, whose father worked in tunnels for five decades, has 34 years of experience of his own.

Speaking to Directions, he said one of the reasons the Airport Link projects was attracting such interest was the reputation and track records of the partnering companies, Thiess and John Holland.

“They’re regarded as front-runners within the industry,” Mr Lyle said.

“Their work sites are known across the industry as being safe places to work because of the way we treat our people.

“We empower our teams so they can make a difference and be very proud of their achievements.”

Mr Lyle said he’s had a good career in tunnelling, and through the training and development of the Airport Link team he hopes that others will enjoy and be well rewarded in this challenging but never boring line of work.

We continually aim for the world’s best practice when it comes to safety.

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The $475 million agreement with the Centre for Waste Management Abu Dhabi will see Thiess Services Middle east – a joint venture company between Thiess Services and Al Habtoor engineering enterprises – design and construct a recycling facility to manage waste generated during demolition and construction works.

Throughout the city of Abu Dhabi, over 10,000 tonnes of waste is generated through demolition and construction works every day, and that figure is expected to grow significantly over the next 15 years based on major construction works planned for the region.

The plant is to be built at the Al Dhaffra landfill site, located approximately 70km south of Abu Dhabi city. At the plant, materials that can be recycled will be recovered and sold.

Thiess Services executive General Manager Michael Wright and Al Habtoor Leighton

Group Managing Director David Savage said they were delighted to secure the project and congratulated the Centre for Waste Management on implementing a best practice sustainable solution for the Abu Dhabi construction sector.

“It is a credit to our client to have the vision and determination to beneficially recycle construction waste, which would otherwise have gone to landfill,” Mr Wright said.

“The result will be to reduce the demand on virgin resources brought in from other locations in the united Arab emirates.”

Mr Savage said, “Abu Dhabi is taking its carbon footprint reduction strategy very seriously indeed with projects such as this and we look forward to enhancing environmental management within the emirate by providing the construction market with high quality recycled products.”

Construction of the crushing and demolition plant to be used on the site will commence in early 2009 and be completed within 12 months, with a further 14 years of concession operations.

Thiess Services Middle east was formed in early 2008 specifically to provide waste management, utilities management, contaminated site remediation and facilities management services in the united Arab emirates and broader Gulf region.

The joint venture brings together Thiess Services’ versatility as one of Australia’s most innovative and diverse environmental facilities and utilities contracting companies, and the strength of the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, which is one of the Gulf region’s leading construction and engineering groups.

Cleaning-up in Abu Dhabi

After more than 20 years at the forefront of waste treatment and disposal in Australia, Thiess Services has taken a major step into the international marketplace, being selected to manage a 15-year concession contract for construction and demolition debris for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.© iStockphoto.com/Klaas Lingbeek-van Kranen

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SA Premier Mike Rann with students from the Black Forest Primary School and Richmond Primary School during the “first through traffic parade”.

Thiess in South Australia has celebrated the opening of the $118 million Gallipoli Underpass, ahead of schedule and under budget.

A community event saw the work site opened for the day, giving the public a chance to take a first-hand look at the project.

More than 5,000 people toured the underpass, which is key to the South Australian Government’s plan to reduce congestion and improve safety along South Road, Adelaide’s busiest and most critical main arterial freight route.

Local primary school students were the first motorists to try out the new underpass, ‘driving’ the distance in car costumes made especially for the occasion. Thiess was a

strong supporter of the day, sponsoring a trivia competition about the project, in which local students competed for a $3,000 prize for their schools.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon also attended the celebration.

Mr Conlon recognised the outstanding work of the Thiess Leed joint venture, saying the event marked the continued impressive progress of construction on the project.

“The result is a credit to the team and another example of this government’s commitment to the state’s transport infrastructure,” he said.

The Gallipoli underpass is the first step in the South Australian Government’s plan to create a non-stop north-south transport link across Adelaide.

The result is a credit to the team.

Local kids first to testpremier underpass

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Thiess turns 75

1934 Two founding companies Thiess Bros and Horn & Thiess are registered in Toowoomba. Pat and Bert Thiess successfully tender for a road job at Kilkivan to remove 50,000 cubic yards of earth.

1960-1980 Thiess Holdings is awarded its first civil engineering contract outside Australia: a tunnelling job for the Hydro electric Scheme in New Zealand.

Thiess Peabody Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd, is established to operate the Kianga and Moura mines and export Queensland’s first coking coal to Japan.

Operations spread to South east Asia through a partnership with Petrosea to build the Sembawang dry dock in Singapore, one of the largest dry docks in the world. Later, back in Australia, the Talbingo Dam and Tumut 3 Power Station on the Snowy are completed ahead of schedule.

A proposal to merge with CSR is accepted by a majority of Thiess Holdings shareholders.

1940-1950 In war time, Thiess Bros is hired to complete a series of major construction projects including roads, military camps and emergency airstrips across the country.

The company successfully tenders for two contracts to remove the overburden at Blair Athol Coal Mine in Queensland and Muswellbrook Coal Mine in NSW, marking the beginning of Thiess’ long association with coal mining.

Post-war, the brothers purchase their first plane, an Arvo Anson, for rapid travel between projects, and they embark on their first rail project by undertaking earthworks for the duplication of the Longwarry-yarragon Line.

1940 A Brisbane newspaper dubs the Thiess brothers ‘the men who eat rocks and stones’, after new methods are used to complete the Heifer Creek Road Cutting – Australia’s deepest at that time.

Heifer Creek Avro Anson Salvaging scrap metal Toyota

Salvaging scrap metal in Papua New Guinea and The Philippines and shipping uS army plant and machinery back to Australia delivers a competitive advantage and the foundation for a future in coal mining.

The brothers later commence building dams, including the Bostock Dam in Victoria and Gara River Dam in NSW. Mount Isa Mines contracts Thiess Bros to construct the Corella Dam as well as water mains and roads.

Thiess Bros becomes Thiess Holdings after listing on the stock exchange.

The company sets a world tunnelling record by excavating 526 feet in a six-day week, as the first Australian company to be awarded a major contract on the Snowy Mountains Hydro electric Scheme. And the successful debut of the Toyota Land Cruiser on the Snowy later leads to the first Australian franchise and the beginning of Thiess Toyota Pty Ltd.

1950-1960

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IMAGINe OuR FuTuReThiess turns 75

Thiess Contractors and Australasian Correctional Management join to design, construct and manage the first privately operated prison in Australia.

In Indonesia, Thiess Contractors establishes the Balikpapan Training Centre to overcome a shortage of skilled local labour.

Thiess environmental Services commences a long-term relationship with Melbourne Water to provide maintenance for water mains and pumping stations.

Later, in a move that would herald a strong direction into the healthcare market, the company undertakes construction of the six-storey Acute Services Building, in NSW.

In the mid 90s, Thiess signed the first partnering agreement in the coal industry for

the design, construction and commissioning of the process plant and all infrastructure at the Mt Owen Coal Mine in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley. The subsequent contract to operate the mine extends for more than 10 years. The Burton Newlands and Collinsville mines soon follow.

Thiess environmental Services carries out rehabilitation of the Maralinga Nuclear Test Site and is appointed as the largest remediation contractor on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games site at Homebush Bay.

As part of the Sydney Olympics preparation, Thiess Contractors builds the Homebush Bay exhibition Hall, the largest dome of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.

1990-20001980-1990 Thiess Contractors Pty Ltd is formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings. Thiess Contractors secures a seven-year agreement with Brisbane City Council to operate eight landfill refuse disposal areas – one of Thiess’ first jobs in environmental services. Cleaning-up the Rum Jungle uranium Mine in the Northern Territory becomes the company’s first remediation contract. Thiess environmental Services is established and, further diversifying its business, Thiess Contractors builds its first prison in Victoria. Thiess designs and constructs the iconic tension membrane structures – the famous sails – as well as many of the pavilions for World expo 88 in Brisbane. Australia’s first immersed tube road tunnel is built as part of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, and PT Thiess Contractors is formed as part of a major expansion into Indonesia. Leighton Mining Projects Division is acquired and becomes its process engineering business.

Kianga-Moura Sydney Harbour Tunnel Balikpapan Homebush Remediation

Thiess Contractors is changed to Thiess Pty Ltd in recognition of the broader scope of services the group is now delivering.

Thiess is appointed in a joint venture with John Holland to design and construct Sydney’s Lane Cove Tunnel Project, the company’s largest ever design and construction project and build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT) project.

Thiess wins a contract to design and construct eastlink, Melbourne’s newest motorway.

Work commences on what will become the internationally acclaimed and multi-award-winning Bundamba Water Treatment facility.

Securing its first mining contract to establish

and operate Chitarpur Coal Mine, Thiess India becomes a reality.

Thiess is appointed in a joint venture with John Holland to build Brisbane’s Airport Link toll road, Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and the Airport Roundabout upgrade, Australia’s largest transport infrastructure project to date. Thiess, as part of the Infrashore consortium, is awarded the Royal North Shore Hospital Redevelopment project. The project is the largest of its kind for New South Wales Health. Thiess Services also secures a 28-year facilities maintenance contract for the hospital.

2000-2009

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While Thiess John Holland is building Airport Link, Thiess Services is working on the intricate task of relocating the electricity distribution grid.

Network onthe move

According to Thiess Services electrical Manager Rod Chalker, this means an extensive amount of planning.

The job will ultimately modernise the way power is distributed to the areas involved.

“Wherever the tunnelling is going, the electrical infrastructure is all being moved,’’ Mr Chalker said.

“Whole areas have to be moved. In many cases, we are getting rid of overhead powerlines and relocating them underground.

“Where powerlines are running down a major road, we are re-routing them along adjoining back streets.

“All works are completed on behalf of energex and delivered to their requirements and standards.’’

He said four crews of six people were working full time on the project, ramping up to more than 60 workers in April.

Thiess Services has held contracts with energex since 2003 to conduct operation and maintenance services, capital works and streetlight maintenance on the electrical distribution networks throughout Metropolitan Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

The company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thiess, is also installing new overhead powerlines at Loganholme and numerous works to move overhead powerlines underground throughout greater Brisbane.

PilbaraTogether in the Thiess has started work to expand BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s mine and mineral handling facilities at Yandi, located in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region.

The contract, valued at $133 million, follows the successful delivery of a series of projects by Thiess for the minerals giant.

The scope of work includes the construction and installation of bulk earthworks; concrete structures, water services and electrical services for the crushing, scalping, sampling stations, product screening facilities and coarse ore stockpile facility.

Once completed, a new stockyard facility will also house a stacker and reclaimer for stockpiling and reclaiming the processed product.

For the comfort of its workforce, BHP Billiton Iron Ore has also instructed Thiess to install services for a 1200-person village.

The new works are part of BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s Rapid Growth Projects.

To complete the job, Thiess is operating six fleets of 100-tonne excavators and 50-tonne dump trucks and will move 20,000m3 of earthworks per day.

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Did you know?Thiess Services used BlueScope Steel Sureline sub-transmission poles instead of common concrete for the relocation of 66kV powerlines along the route of the project.

Lighter and more versatile, the innovative solution allowed Thiess Services to relocate electrical infrastructure faster and more efficiently, with minimal disruptions to the local community.

Civil utilities Manager Steve Goodwin said elsewhere on the project new, heavily insulated cabling also reduced the cable’s safety exclusion zone from 10 metres to six on 11kV lines.

“That meant we were able to reduce the number of trees that we had to clear to put in the new overhead lines and the property owners appreciated that,’’ Mr Goodwin said.

Two revolutionary mobile concrete batch plants are proving highly efficient in the construction of the Pacific Highway between Coopernook and Herons Creek in northern New South Wales, much to the delight of Thiess’ plant engineers, who designed and built them.Thiess joined with Parsons Brinckerhoff and the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales to lay 9km of new dual carriageway and duplicate 24km of the existing major highway.

The project, which is the longest stretch of the Pacific Highway to be constructed as a single job, also includes 15 new bridges and 52 new culverts.

Normally, that would mean having to regularly disassemble, move and reassemble massive concrete batch plants along the way, a process that would normally take up to 10 days at a time.

Thiess machines can do it more efficiently, taking just four days and delivering up to 240m3 of high-quality concrete per hour.

According to Plant Manager Martin Bell, the plants are a mechanical work of art and the product of Thiess’ thirst for innovation and an idea tailored from concrete equipment specialists, Guntert and Zimmerman.

He says Thiess’ key objectives in designing and investing in these plants were to reduce cycle time to an absolute minimum and to optimise mobility by building them with the lowest number of components.

The plants have an extremely high capacity for water and cement handling.

Custom-built special features include large-capacity 1.8-metre conveyor belts and an active digital control system that uses weigh-belt feeders.

Constructed to meet Australia’s strict operating standards, the new machines are now part of Thiess’ formidable road building plant and are set to benefit future projects as well.

The project has created more than 500 job opportunities, with about 8% of staff employed from the local Indigenous population. The workforce is expected to peak at about 750 by mid-2009.

Concrete ideas deliveringbetter outcomes on roads

Often people pigeon-hole female engineers and think they are more reserved.

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Since 2007, Zoe Cuthbert has been seeing another side of a big city’s ‘underbelly’. The 24-year-old engineer, who joined Thiess straight from university, has been part of a highly skilled team constructing Sydney’s City West Cable Tunnel.

When completed next year, the $54 million project, which has been commissioned by energyAustralia, will carry up to one quarter of Sydney’s electricity well below the bustling CBD.

Zoe and her team have been spending up to 10 hours per day, working at times nearly 50 metres under some of the harbour city’s most famous landmarks.

The tunnel has a diameter of 3.75 metres and runs 1.6km from the site of a former warehouse in the inner suburb of ultimo to the city’s heart.

That’s where it surfaced on target and two weeks ahead of schedule in October.

As a Thiess tunnelling engineer, Zoe’s job has been to assist in keeping the 90-tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) on a precise track and moving forward efficiently and, above all, safely at about 80 metres per week.

Asked what set this avid surfer from Sydney’s Northern Beaches on a path to become a tunnelling specialist, Zoe told Directions that she had originally thought of being an architect, but a stint of work experience at a large engineering firm in year 10 totally convinced her that she likes to work hands-on.

“It seemed so much more interesting than just sitting and drawing,” she said.

After gaining as much engineering work experience as she could, Zoe completed a Bachelor of Civil and environmental engineering at Sydney’s university of Technology.

Aiming high but setting her sights firmly underground, she decided that Thiess, with its 50 years of tunnelling experience, offered some of the best opportunities, particularly for women in a usually male dominated profession.

“Often people are pigeon-holed into thinking female engineers are more reserved.”

But while women represent nearly 15% of Thiess’ 15,000 member workforce and the company has an affirmative recruitment policy to attract female engineers, Zoe somehow still found herself being the only woman working in the tunnel.

“Coming from an all-girls boarding school, it was a bit of a shock,” she laughs.

But she says the company’s strong values meant that working on shift with the guys was never an issue, and being part of a professional tunnelling team has presented some definite standout opportunities for her to further her career.

Meet Zoe Cuthbert A woman with tunnel vision

Recently, the project took home the environmental engineering excellence Award at the Australian engineering excellence Awards (AeeA) held at Parliament House in Canberra.

The AeeA acknowledge and celebrate Australian engineering, and are a culmination of the state-based excellence awards.

At the Queensland ceremony, Bundamba AWTP Stage 1A initially received the engineering excellence Project Management Award.

The Bundamba AWTP is also one of the five finalists vying for the prestigious 2009 Australian Construction Achievement Award (ACAA), which will be announced in May.

Awards continue to flow

for Bundamba

The Bundamba Advanced Water Treatment Plant (AWTP) Stage 1A has confirmed its status as one of the most significant civil projects in Australia, winning yet another industry accolade.

Our eastLink Project in Melbourne, which was delivered in June 2008, is also nominated for an ACAA, making us the only company to have more than one nomination.

At the Alliancing Association of Australasia Awards in October, the TrackStar Alliance, which is delivering more than $800 million worth of rail infrastructure projects in Queensland, won the Team of excellence Award while its Alliance Manager, Mike Zambelli, received the Alliance Manager of the year Award.

What’s more, our NSW building team recently received the Master Builders Association’s excellence in Construction Award for Health Buildings (>$100 million) for the Westmead Hospital upgrade, which was completed two months ahead of schedule.

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‘Fit for Duty’ is an important part of Thiess’ occupational health and safety management system, covering a range of issues including physical and mental health, fatigue management and the use of drugs and alcohol.

In Victoria, Thiess is part of the West Gate Freeway Alliance working to upgrade the West Gate Freeway section of the $1.39 billion M1 upgrade, the largest state funded road upgrade in the state’s history.

Thiess is one of the Alliance partners, along with Baulderstone, Hyder Consulting, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and VicRoads.

On this project, consultation with the workforce, industry representatives and alliance partners has resulted in a procedure – the first of it kind in the state – which outlines team member obligations in presenting themselves for duty and carrying out their work in a manner that does not compromise the health and wellbeing of themselves, their workmates and the general public.

“This is not only about drugs and alcohol,” said Alliance Safety Manager, Dean Bingham.

“Fatigue, life stresses, illness and injury also have the potential to alter a person’s judgment and performance in the workplace, increasing their exposure to unacceptable levels of risk.”

“education and support must remain the key components of the approach, everything else flows from there”.

In South Australia, Thiess is part of a joint venture constructing the Gallipoli underpass, one of the first civil construction projects in the state to introduce a drug and alcohol-free worksite policy.

Pre-employment, pre-induction and random workplace testing is carried out using saliva-testing for drugs and breath-testing for alcohol.

A positive reading will see a worker stop work, not being permitted to return until a negative reading can be achieved.

The worker will also be warned that any further positive test results in the following

six months may result in site access being permanently revoked and/or employment being terminated.

If in doubt, a worker can request a voluntary ‘self test’, off-the-record.

If a positive reading is returned, no disciplinary action is taken; the worker simply leaves the site until he or she can return fit for duty.

The plan provides access to a comprehensive prevention, counselling and rehabilitation support system, including an employee assistance program and confidential counselling service.

“We spent a good three months talking with our workforce and coming up with a plan we were all happy with,” said Health, Safety and environment Manager Noel Grinham.

“We discussed the different forms of testing available, agreed on the testing regime and consequence matrix and we asked for feedback on communication materials to ensure the plan was clearly understood.

“This is not about catching people out; it’s about raising awareness through education, helping our staff understand the link between drugs and alcohol, and health and safety.

“We’re encouraging people to think about safety ahead of time – personal safety and the safety of their workmates too.”

Before you startare you really fit for duty?

We’re encouraging people to think about safety ahead of time – personal safety and the safety of their workmates too.

Whether they are constructing state-of-the art hospitals, digging tunnels deep underground, mining for coal, or planning one of the country’s next major engineering projects, Thiess needs to know that every member of its workforce is fit for duty.

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Throughout the catastrophe, personnel from the company’s Water utilities Division worked closely with alliance partner Melbourne Water to clear threatening debris from aqueduct channels, construct fire breaks and extinguish affected “hot spots” in water catchment areas.

Immediately afterwards, electrical crews from Victoria and Queensland were diverted to assist energy provider SP AusNet by rebuilding the 22km backbone of the main power lines from Flowerdale to the area north of Kinglake.

In Marysville, one of the towns hardest hit by the disaster, crews went to work on reconstructing the entire distribution network.

Thiess Services executive General Manager Michael Wright praised his employees for their teamwork and dedication to safety in responding to the emergency.

He also thanked long-term clients ergon energy and energex for supporting the relief effort.

Thiess Services crews work amongst the devastation to reconstruct the backbone power lines between Flowerdale and the area north of Kinglake.

Thiess Services personnel have been on the ground as part of rebuilding operations following Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfire disaster.

Recovering fromBlack Saturday

18

The first train on the new Epping to Chatswood Rail Line (ECRL) rolled into Macquarie University Station in February to the delight of Sydney commuters.

Thiess and Hochtief worked on the eCRL as part of a fully integrated joint venture.

It was the largest publicly-funded project underway in New South Wales at the time and the first heavy rail line to be added to the network since 2000.

NSW Premier Nathan Rees said the impressive new link would continue to create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

“This is an impressive piece of major public transport infrastructure,” he said.

“Over 12,500 people worked a combined total of 13 million hours on this project, drilling the tunnels, putting down the tracks and fitting out the stations.

“They deserve to be congratulated on a job well done.”

The $2.35 billion project, which started in 2002, includes 12.5km of underground passenger rail line with underground stations at Macquarie university, Macquarie Park and North Ryde.

The eCRL will provide capacity for about 12,000 extra passengers a day on the CityRail network.

Did you know?Most of the rock excavated for the tunnelling works was removed via a conveyor system through the tunnels, with almost 100% being reused or recycled.

Other aspects of the project included the design, construction and commissioning of rail systems such as permanent way, signalling, electrification, ventilation, communications, fire services, walkways, noise mitigation and other services.

New South Walescelebrates

new rail line

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Controlling CorporationLeighton Holdings Limited ABN 57 004 482 982This report contains data on the Thiess energy use �nancial year 2007/08 and provides information on the outcome of our energy ef�ciency assessment conducted between March and December 2008.

Thiess Energy Ef�ciency Opportunities Report 2 0 0 8

As part of Thiess’ focus

to develop sustainable

solutions for Australia’s

low carbon future, we

have published our first

energy efficiency

Opportunities Report.

Being energy efficient

Thiess was one of the first mining, construction and services companies to publish such a report, which has identified four major initiatives that will allow us to save 150,800 GJ/annum, 10,600 tonnes of CO2-equivalent with a simple payback period of less than two years.

The four initiatives will also improve operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs and potentially reduce the number of vehicles required to complete our work.

Thiess Greenhouse and energy Manager Gabriele Sartori said the estimated energy savings would total approximately 1.7% of the company’s annual energy use.

“The assessment was conducted using a representative assessment methodology that was developed in close consultation with the Department of Resources, energy and Tourism, ensuring that it met the intent and key requirements of the Federal Government’s energy efficiency Opportunities (eeO) Program,” she said.

The representative assessment was carried out within Thiess’ Australian Mining business unit, which accounts for more than 85% of the company’s energy consumption.

Australian Mining Area Manager Scott Winter said the assessment process identified 206 energy saving initiatives, which were amalgamated into common streams resulting in 46 opportunities to carry forward in the assessment.

“Of these, four are being immediately implemented and a further 42 are being

investigated and will be implemented once they can be accurately measured and become financially feasible,” Mr Winter said.

The four current initiatives include:Improving payload management• Fitting automated systems to diesel-•powered lighting plants to ensure that operation occurs only during periods of low light Improving plant idle time •management, and Reducing the idle time on turbo •fitted vehicles from five minutes to a suitable shorter period of time.

“Thiess’ involvement in the eeO Program has provided us with a systematic approach to assess and further optimise our mining operations,” Mr Winter said.

“This approach has helped us to save energy and reduce greenhouse emissions, costs and time without compromising production.”

The Department of Resources, energy and Tourism verified Thiess’ EEO Report in December 2008.

20This marks the start of the largest health capital works project in New South Wales.

The 10,000m2 Community Health Building is scheduled for completion in early 2011.

The major component of works is the 95,000m2 new acute care building, which is scheduled for handover in late 2012.

Refurbishment of an existing building, construction of a 23,000m2 multi-level carpark, roads and final landscaping will be the last stages of the redevelopment.

The contract includes a 28-year facilities management component for Thiess Services.

In preparation, Thiess Services is progressing with the mobilisation of interim services to the hospital.

This will include the establishment of asset management systems, the introduction of maintenance procedures and recruitment of health services personnel.

Did you know?you can take an animated walk-through and preview of the new-look Royal North Shore Hospital by visiting the project pages at www.thiess.com.au

Royal North Shore Hospitalredevelopment latest

Completed in 1976 and providing a storage capacity of 42.4 billion litres, the Hinze Dam, which supplies Queensland’s burgeoning Gold Coast and surrounds, had to be increased to a capacity of 161.7 billion litres in 1989 in order to meet demand.

Ten years later, Thiess, as part of the Hinze Dam Alliance, is 2.5 years into the third upgrade, which will see the dam wall raised from 93.5 metres to 108.5 metres and increase water supply to 225 million litres per day.

The extra capacity will provide improved water security, decrease the number of properties vulnerable to flooding in the Nerang Catchment, and improve reliability for the region’s water supply.

January saw the completion of the cut-off wall six weeks ahead of schedule. Other milestones achieved to date include completion of:

Grouting on the saddle dam•

The lower intake tower and bridge support•

The 1440 diameter water main cutover •and outlet conduit

The stilling basin concrete, and •

The main embankment foundation and •placement of rock fill back to original ground level.

The project is on track for completion in 2010.

With a rapidly growing population and the threat of future droughts, security of water supplies continues to be a priority.

Dam project reinforcesa piece of critical infrastructure

Work is well underway to redevelop Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital as part of the InfraShore Consortium.

Crikey!

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As part of the Queensland Government’s $19 billion South East Queensland Rail Infrastructure Plan, the Caboolture to Beerburrum Track Duplication Project runs through a number of areas populated by native fauna.

To assist in minimising any potential hazards to local wildlife, Thiess as part of the Trackstar Alliance has teamed up with Steve Irwin’s famous Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Warriors.

With the help of experts from the zoo’s ecological Services unit (eSu), eyes are constantly on the lookout for possums, gliders, bats, goannas, snakes and any other animals that might accidentally get in the path of the huge task of straightening and duplicating nearly 14km of rail line.

As development takes place, the eSu’s wildlife spotters and catchers are on the job, inspecting the site ahead.

After evaluating the area – a process which can at times halt even the biggest of machines – they carefully trap and relocate any animals to safety.

Those found sick or in need of medical treatment are transported to the zoo’s renowned Australian Wildlife Hospital for immediate vet assessment and professional help.

Trackstar Alliance has also adopted The Wildlife Warrior’s Draft Code of Practice for Spotter/Catcher Professionals to ensure that when it comes to managing the habitat, world best practice extends to more than design and construction.

The unique and successful partnership between construction and conservation is also providing the possibility of better researching the effects that industry related land clearing can have on wildlife.

As part of this, post release monitoring of the animals using radio telemetry has been proposed in order to provide the best possible chance of survival for native fauna.

TrackStar is an alliance between Thiess, QR Limited, united Group Infrastructure, Connell Wagner and Maunsell AeCOM. In addition to implementing the Queensland Government’s South east Queensland Infrastructure Plan, the Alliance is also conducting power strengthening works for QR COALRAIL.

Trackstar and Warriors form

a shield for wildlife

THIeSS DIReCTORy

CORPORATe OFFICeLevel 5, 179 Grey Street South Bank QLD 4101 Ph: +61 7 3002 9000 Fax: +61 7 3002 9009

AuSTRALIAN MININGLevel 7, 189 Grey St South Bank QLD 4101 Ph: +61 7 3121 8500 Fax: +61 7 3121 8710

QueeNSLAND Level 7, 189 Grey Street South Bank QLD 4101 Ph: +61 7 3121 8500 Fax: +61 7 3121 8710

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WeSTeRN AuSTRALIA/ NORTHeRN TeRRITORyLevel 19, The Forrest Centre 221 St. Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 Ph: +61 8 9214 4200 Fax: +61 8 9214 4244

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INDONeSIA Ratu Prabu 2 Building JL TB Simatupang Kav 1B Jakarta 12560 Indonesia Ph: +62 21 2754 9999 Fax: +62 21 2754 9800 Web: www.thiess.co.id

INDIA 5B,RDB Boulevard Block eP & GP Sector-V, Salt Lake Kolkata - 700 091 West Bengal, India Ph: +91 33 4010 5300 Web: www.thiess.in

www.thiess.com.au