rail authorities

Australian Road Authority Tenders: constructing sustainability comparison tools

By Prof Russell Kenley, Professor of Mangement, Swinburne University of Technology, Dr Toby Harfield, Research Fellow - Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre, Swinburne University of Technology, Dr Palaneeswaran Ekambaram, Senior Lecturer - Faculty of Engineering & Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology

Australian state road authorities plan, manage and oversee the delivery of safe, efficient and integrated transport systems for sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes in Australia. However, each state has unique administrative structures, guidelines and requirements for implementing the principles of environmental and ecological sustainability. This diversity means that standard methodologies to enable comparison of construction tenders in relation to claims of greenhouse gas emissions is currently lacking.

As approximately $4.6B will be spent annually on road construction to 2013–14, it is imperative that methods to qualify, calculate, and assess sustainability claims in construction tenders for infrastructure projects be developed. That is the aim of this study.

The conference presentation will focus on mapping activities, roles and responsibilities for road construction tenders within each state. These maps are expected to provide points of adaptation for new sustainability methodologies utilising procurement assessment criteria.

The outcome of this study is expected to be one set of empirically devised prototype tools to enable road and rail authorities, and construction companies, to fulfil their sustainability obligations. It is expected that the findings will be integrated into state road construction tendering processes. It is also assumed that standard methodologies for comparison of tenders will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during infrastructure construction in Australia.

Prof Russell Kenley, Dr Toby Harfield, Dr Palaneeswaran Ekambaram
Taking Care of Business: Sustainable Transformation Conference
Radisson Resort, Gold Coast – May 21 & 22, 2012