Concrete NZ's First Conference Awards Evening a Resounding Success in Rotorua

The inaugural set of Concrete NZ Conference Awards, held during the 2022 Conference at Energy Events Centre in Rotorua saw an array of concrete industry participants celebrated for their technical expertise, customer service, diversity & inclusion practices, health & safety behaviours, as well as efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.

Jackie Clarke, entertainment maverick, dazzled the crowd during the 2022 Concrete NZ Conference Awards.

The 2022 Conference Awards kicked-off Concrete NZ's new awards framework that will see two annual awards events designed to enhance opportunities for celebrating achievements in the concrete industry.

The first set of awards remained part of the established annual Concrete NZ conference formal dinner, and was primarily inward facing, appealing to Concrete NZ members across all the Sector Groups and the Learned Society.

America's Cup 36 Hobson Wharf Extension project in Auckland.

This award is given in recognition of a producer’s involvement in a project or initiative that demands uncompromising commitment to customer satisfaction. The challenges associated with each entry, and the solutions to overcome those challenges, are evaluated to determine the award winner.

Through a combination of early engagement and mutual trust with the Wynyard Edge Alliance (WEA), Busck Prestressed Concrete was able to commence specialist mould building and liaison with Pacific Steel at an early stage to avoid delays and minimise wastage.

Busck’s relationship with North Port was key to the project’s precast elements being delivered by barge from its Marsden Point yard, located near Northport Whangarei, into the Auckland Viaduct. By using sea transport around 64,000 kilometres of road transport were diverted, and 561 inner-city truck movements avoided.

Six barge loads transported a total of 8,800 tonnes of precast, pile casings and pile rebar cages to the Hobson Wharf worksite. A seventh load delivered a further 1,070 tonnes of wave break elements.

The judges saluted Busck’s (and their project partners) experience, capability and willingness to innovate, not to mention the ideal location of its Marsden Point yard in Whangarei, which saw the extra mile taken and delivery made ahead of schedule.

Kurt Bennetto of Busck Prestressed Concrete receives the Extra Distance Award from Rod Fulford.

KiwiRail's Pile Upgrade on the Petone to Upper Hutt line north of Wellington.

Due to access difficulties, a standard truck-based pouring solution would not suffice on this project, so Higgins Concrete developed a purpose-built, rail-mounted, concrete mixing bowl to efficiently lay foundations for 965 new steel poles along the Petone to Upper Hutt rail line north of Wellington.

Built by Waikato-based Technical Welding Services, the mobile unit was designed to KiwiRail’s stringent safety standards and was transported along the tracks by a KiwiRail-supplied hi-rail trailer and a hi-rail tug unit.

Concrete was moved from a standard concrete truck to the mobile unit via concrete pump, while wash out was managed using a water truck that took contaminated water back the local plant's treatment ponds.

The judges commended this innovative solution, which helped pour up to 2,000 cubic metres of concrete for the steel pole foundations over 18-months, noting that sometimes the most effective solutions appear the simplest.

Scott Ferguson of Higgins Concrete receives the Extra Distance - Highly Commended Award from Rod Fulford.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's Te Ara a Toa (Bridge 20) on Transmission Gully north of Wellington.

This award is given in recognition of a producer’s involvement in a project or initiative which calls for innovative solutions to meet a challenging architectural vision or engineering requirement.

At 27 kilometres in length, Transmission Gully is a key part of the Wellington Northern Corridor. Twenty-five new structures have been built along the route, the largest of which, Te Ara a Toa (Bridge 20) over Cannons Creek, stretches 230 metres in length and sits 60 metres above the valley floor.

The technical challenges associated with designing and building a long, high, curving bridge that is aesthetically pleasing yet able to withstand a 1 in 2500-year seismic event required an innovative approach, particularly in terms of concrete mix design.

Due to the size of the foundation blocks and the bridge piers, pier heads and deck the thermal characteristics of specialist low heat of hydration concrete mixes had to be thoroughly investigated during the design stage.

The judges were extremely impressed with Allied Concrete's exhaustive commitment to detail, the outcome from which is the showpiece concrete structure on one of the most significant new roads in New Zealand.

Blair Olynsma of Allied Concrete receives the Technical Excellence Award from Rod Fulford.

Mike Botherway of Higgins Concrete and Krish Amirthalingam of Firth Industries receive the Health, Safety & Wellbeing Award from Concrete NZ Chair Dene Cook.

This new award category acknowledges organisations and individuals that have demonstrated innovation and leadership in helping to improve health, safety and wellbeing in the concrete industry.

Higgins Concrete and Firth Industries have prioritised a wellbeing programme for all staff as an extension of their core Health and Safety policies.

Prompted by a growing understanding that the wellbeing of people is a significant health & safety issue, accentuated by pandemic disruption.

Extensive research led both companies to enter a partnership with Mentemia (now “Groov by Mentemia”), the basis of which is a workplace and community platform to enhance individual wellbeing.

Adopting a holistic approach to truly embed mental wellbeing as the default way of working, the programme consists of three stages – Launch, Build and Stick – with Mentemia’s 6 Pillar Surveys used to ensure long-term entrenchment.

A key component is the Mentemia App, which offers interactive tools that were valuable in helping staff work virtually, manage lockdowns and return to work.

Follow-on Lead, Show and Care modules enable leaders to support themselves and their people, at work and home. This framework is complemented by regular Temperature Checks that assess the programme’s effectiveness.

The judges acknowledged the foresight of Higgins Concrete and Firth Industries in choosing to work with Mentemia, an organisation co-founded by Sir John Kirwan and Adam Clark, with clinical management by Dr Fiona Crichton. Through this type of work, health & safety has evolved to include wellbeing, and normalise mental health care across industry.

Firth Industries and Higgins Concrete partnership with Groov by Mentemia.

Firth Industries' “Name of the Game” Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives.

This award acknowledges organisations and individuals that have made a genuine commitment to advancing their culture by embracing:

• Diversity as the presence of difference within a given setting; and
• Inclusion, which relates to individuals with different identities feeling and being valued within that setting.

Firth Industries is proud of the many cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles of its over 700 staff, believing that a workplace where differences in gender, gender identity, age, race, nationality, sexual orientation and physical ability are welcomed and included.

As part of Fletcher Building, Firth Industries:

• supports equal employment opportunities,
• has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination, harassment and victimization
• cultivates a culture of inclusion; and
• empowers those that act in accordance with the Inclusion and Diversity Policy.

Example of Firth Industries' efforts include:

• Rainbow Tick accreditation
• Participation in Fletcher’s ‘Whakatupu Māori Leadership’ programme
• Support for English as a second language staff
• enhanced parental leave allocation; and
• the Women of Firth programme

Firmly committed to diversity and inclusion, the judges congratulated Firth Industries on the huge strides they have made in meeting the needs of its staff, suppliers and customers, by making everyone feel more connected, and in turn have improved brand reputation while boosting productivity.

Kent Andrews of Firth Industries receives the Diversity & Inclusion Award from Concrete NZ Chair Dene Cook.

Golden Bay for its Waste End-of-Life Tyres Project, Portland, Whangārei.

Another new category in 2022, the Carbon Reduction Award acknowledges those organisations that have undertaken initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint, and in turn help the concrete industry achieve its 2030 vision and 2050 target.

Golden Bay used 25,000 tonnes of tyres to replace 27 percent of coal in cement manufacturing during the first full financial year after commissioning.

Diverting over 3 million waste tyres from landfill in the first 15 months of operation has equated to a carbon reduction of 20,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

As well as carbon reduction, there is a significant decrease of waste to landfill, a lower risk of uncontrolled tyre stockpile fires, as well as a drop in international transportation emissions from the export of waste tyres.

Noting that in addition to the 27 percent substitution of coal for waste end-of-life tyres, Golden Bay also substitutes a further 20 percent with biofuel wood waste to achieve an overall alternative fuels substitution of around 50 percent, the judges applauded this visible initiative as leading the way for the concrete industry's decarbonisation journey.

Gian Raffainer of Golden Bay receives the Carbon Reduction Award from Concrete NZ Chair Dene Cook.

2022 Conference Awards

• Honorary Membership

• Outstanding Contribution Award

• Conference Awards

• Concrete Industry Apprentice of the Year

• Plant Audit Scheme Excellence Awards

• Learned Society Concrete Student Prizes