NSW - CCAA Innovation Awards 2017 

CCAA’s NSW Innovation Awards were conferred at the Construction Materials Industry Dinner, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on 1 September 2017.

This is the 39th occasion that Awards of this kind have been presented in NSW and CCAA was pleased to welcome the Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, the Hon Melinda Pavey MP, as this year’s guest speaker.

“With over 280 guests in attendance and 33 entries submitted across the three awards categories, the heavy construction materials industry continues to demonstrate an outstanding commitment to innovation in environmental management, health and safety and community leadership”, Todd Hacking, NSW State Director said.  

 A summary of all New South Wales entries is available here.

    

Environmental Innovation

There were nine high calibre entries and the judges had a tough time splitting them. In the end they decided to award both a winner and a highly commended award.

Winner: Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd – Northern NSW Concrete Plants – Concrete Recycling Program
Holcim’s Northern NSW Concrete Plants have come up with an innovative use for concrete washout waste across its five concrete plants in the region, allowing for concrete waste to be re-used as a recycled product instead of going to landfill. Working with the EPA and a local civil contractor, Holcim has approval to use concrete washout waste that is blended with clean fill as an engineered fill for supply to local civil and infrastructure projects in Northern NSW, such as the Woolgoolga to Ballina section of the Pacific Highway.


Simon Johnson of Holcim receiving the Environmental Innovation Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight

Highly Commended: Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd – Albion Park Quarry – Kaya Sand Plant
Holcim Albion Park Quarry has installed new crushing and screening plant, known as the Kaya Sand Plant, to produce fine manufactured sand, equivalent to sand from natural resources. The Kaya Sand Plant utilises on site material, previously treated as waste or crusher dust, which is processed it into high quality manufactured sand. The Kaya Sand Plant produces materials that can be used at up to an 80% replacement for natural sands, compared to the 25% allowed for other manufactured sands. This innovation utilises waste materials while also decreasing Holcim’s reliance on natural sand resources.


Natalie Hansen of Holcim receiving the Highly Commended Environmental Innovation Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight

Health & Safety Innovation

This award recognises excellence in developing and implementing an innovative solution to an identified health and safety issue. 

There were 19 excellent entries in this category and it is clear for the second year in a row that CCAA members are investing heavily in ensuring that all of our employees make it home safe. In recognising this the judges decided to issue two Highly Commended Awards.


Winner: Boral Australia – 10 x 4 Agitator Truck with Improved Roll Stability
Boral, in conjunction with Mack and Cesco, has designed and built a new 10x4 agitator truck with improved roll stability, providing drivers with a greater margin of safety on the road. The 10x4 configuration has evolved and improved an earlier 8x4 configuration truck design looking at this issue.  Key design improvements include, a much thicker and stiffer truck chassis, a more robust suspension system with a 22% increase in roll stiffness, deletion of the transit mixer sub-frame and lowering of the bowl, lower profile tyres and a new approach to attaching the mixer to the truck. These innovations have lowered the centre of gravity by 150mm and resulted in measurable improvements in roll stability.


Rob Wood and Merv Rowlands of Boral Australia receiving the Health & Safety Innovation Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight


Highly Commended: Hanson Australia Pty Ltd – Molong Quarry – Canica Anvil Change-Out
Vertical Shaft Impactor Crushers suffer from high wear and require frequent change out of heavy liners, known as anvils. This is a manual handling task that requires some use of force and/or heat treatment. To eliminate these risks, the team at Molong Quarry have modified the ring that houses the anvils by slicing it at one location, fitting a flange to either side of the split, and using a set of bolts to reconnect the ring. When the bolts are undone the ring is simply able to spring apart, releasing the force holding the anvils together.


Chris Cooke of Hanson receiving the Highly Commended Health & Safety Innovation Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight


Highly Commended: Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd – Dubbo Quarry – Retractable Screen Dust Covers
The process for removing the dust covers on screens at many quarries can pose ergonomic and fall hazards through manually handling cumbersome dust covers on elevated work platforms. Dubbo Quarry has devised a new cover, inspired by the operation of truck tarping systems. The covers are able to be easily retracted by unhooking the latch and allowing the cover to release and roll back to its resting position. To re-cover the screen, the operator simply pulls the cover cord, similar to pulling a blind, and then hooking the latch into position.


Alasdair Webb of Holcim receiving the Highly Commended Health & Safety Innovation Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight

Community Leadership

This award recognises an exceptional contribution a CCAA member has made in enhancing the public perception and standing of the heavy construction materials industry. 

This is the first time the Community Leadership Award category has been presented in NSW and the judges were very impressed by the entries received.


Winner: Boral Australia – Marulan South – Stakeholder Engagement Planning Program
Boral’s two Marulan South operations have implemented a comprehensive program of stakeholder engagement, with the objective of being not just a good corporate citizen, but an active member of the local community.  The community has been directly involved in the development of Stakeholder Engagement Plans for these operations and Boral reports back regularly on commitments made. Through these plans, Boral has played an organising role in the Marulan Kite Festival and the creation of the Heritage and Sustainability Project looking to establish a regional heritage trail. Boral also sponsors and participates in a number of other community events as part of these plans.


Angus Shedden and Sharon Makin of Boral Australia receiving the Community Leadership Award from the Minister for Roads Maritime & Freight

Sponsors

Finally, a big thank you to the Construction Materials Industry Dinner sponsors for helping to make the event such a success. 

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