Local government representatives were among the more than 2500 attendees at infrastructure industry Expo, CIVENEX, last month.
The 61st CIVENEX, an initiative of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia-NSW Division (IPWEA-NSW), was held at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds on May 18-19.
The Chief Executive Officer of the IPWEA-NSW, John Roydhouse, said exhibitors came from industries as diverse as Civil Construction, Outdoor Design, Plant and Machinery, Materials Handling, Software, Communications, Supply, Lease & Hire, Technical Services, Water Issues, Waste Management, Fleet, Maintenance and Road and Drainage construction.
He said CIVENEX saw a strong representation from the public sector and there were several government and government-linked bodies among the exhibitors, including the Department of Roads and Maritime Services and Dial Before You Dig which assists all callers in pinpointing underground utilities to prevent expensive rupture of serve lines.
The workplace health and safety regulator, Safework NSW, provided advice about current program, products and projects, including eligibility for rebates to companies to improve workplace safety.
“Many attendees marvelled at the major construction works they passed on the way to CIVENEX, notably the gargantuan steel frames erected to build the North West Railway and the new housing areas opened up along the route that will encourage the public to use a rail system that will offer a train every four minutes,” said Mr Roydhouse.
The new Richmond CIVENEX site allowed broader areas for the suppliers of earthmoving equipment to display their latest models, which are always a major showpiece.
The second day of the conference featured an auction by Pickles Auctions. Hundreds of contractors, farmers, tradies and others congregated at lunchtime for the auction of heavy equipment and large and small bulldozers, which allowed them to purchase capital items at a discount.
A new feature at CIVENEX this year was the seminar program, which discussed subjects ranging from sustainable public infrastructure development, worker safety and maximising productivity in fleet usage, to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) advising industry on avoiding inadvertently breaching regulations when dealing with local and state governments.
