Leadership in construction

The ICE Knowledge Hub is a digital platform by the Institution of Civil Engineers that offers expert insights, technical guidance, and case studies in civil engineering. It supports professional development through articles, videos, and podcasts on topics like safety, sustainability, and infrastructure delivery. 

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This Power BI dashboard centralises settlement monitoring into a single, interactive view, bringing together data from multiple instruments and external sources. With real-time visibility of settlement trends, fill progress and environmental factors, teams can quickly identify risks, make informed decisions, and keep projects moving with confidence.

By combining battery-powered tools with integrated dust extraction, this innovative system captures dust at source, improving air quality, reducing environmental impact and enabling safer, more efficient drilling. Developed on site for complex conditions, it also streamlines installation by delivering clean holes ready for immediate use.

Our team designed a custom vibrating screed to maintain dimensional tolerance across a 25-metre-diameter tank base with strict levels and tight timeframes. By engineering a tailored system that could rotate from the centre and adjust height in real time, the team improved accuracy, reduced manual handling, and enabled safe, efficient self-delivery on site. It’s a practical example of innovation driven by people who understand the challenge and create smarter ways to get the job done.

Bringing contractors into a project early can dramatically improve cost, schedule, and sustainability outcomes for infrastructure projects.

In this Lunch and Learn session, Brian Perry Civil's Paul Botha shared insights from a six-year PhD journey exploring Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and its impact on New Zealand’s horizontal infrastructure sector. His research, drawing from real-world lessons from post-earthquake rebuilds, asks: When is the ‘optimal’ time to engage contractors? Can ECI help reduce NZ’s carbon emissions that come from construction?

Paul's research has produced a practical framework for industry – grounded in both academic rigor and industry experience – that shows how ECI/Pre-Construction Services (PCS) can deliver better project outcomes and a lighter carbon footprint.

In this Lunch and Learn session, Brian Perry Civil's Hayden Chapman discusses the Silverstream Pipe Bridge project. Hayden outlines its innovations, key moments, lessons learned, and guidance for future projects.

The Silverstream Pipe Bridge, located in Upper Hutt, Wellington region, is a resilience project for Wellington Water that safeguards a critical bulk water pipeline crossing the Hutt River and the Wellington fault line. The pipeline supplies 100% of Porirua’s drinking water and about 40% of Wellington City’s, so ensuring its integrity during extreme floods and earthquakes was paramount. 

Higgins Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm Stage 2 project team is driving sustainability by implementing hybrid power solutions across the site. By integrating solar panels with battery management systems and diesel generators, they’re dramatically reducing the carbon footprint and diesel dependency.

Stage 2 is part of the wider Mercury NZ’s Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm. Stage 1 was completed in November 2023 with 10 turbines generating 43MW – enough to power 20,000 homes. Stage 2, now under construction, will add 36 new Vestas V136-4.3MW turbines, boosting total capacity to 198MW and generating enough electricity to power approximately 93,000 homes each year. The turbines feature a hub height of 88m and blade tip height of 150m. Stage 2 also includes a new 4km transmission line connecting to the Transpower network, and a new substation to support full generation.

In this Lunch and Learn session, BPC Senior Geotechnical Design Engineer Baqer Asadi and Geotechnical Engineer Taniela Napa'a talk about a new method BPC has been using to check the integrity of cast in place (bored) piles.

Bringing projects to life before they’re built, our 4D visualisation capability creates clear, detailed digital rehearsals, showing construction sequencing, methodology and site impacts in real time. It helps our teams, clients and communities better understand how we’ll deliver safely, efficiently and with minimal disruption.

Harnessing live weather data and industry expertise, Higgins is improving how and when work gets done. Using tailored forecasting tools and real-time insights, teams can plan ahead, respond to changing conditions on site, and make smarter, more confident decisions. This innovative approach reduces rework, lowers risk, and helps deliver better outcomes for people, projects, and the environment.

The National Infrastructure Pipeline (Pipeline) is New Zealand’s national dataset of infrastructure initiatives providing transparency on investments and activity to maintain, renew, and improve the infrastructure we all rely on. This important evidence base includes thousands of projects and programmes at various stages of planning, commitment, and delivery from central government, local government, and private sector infrastructure providers.

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In this Lunch and Learn session, Commercial Manager Nicky Leman and Systems Coordinator Annie Kang discussed Fletcher Construction's new Subcontractor Prequalification process. They explained why Fletcher Construction introduced a unified prequalification system for contractors, how it works, and what benefits it brings, followed by a Q&A session addressing practical concerns.

Liveable Streets South Rural, the team from Higgins and HEB who look after the roads in South Rural Auckland for Auckland Transport, is turning waste into opportunity. In 2021, the team faced a challenge with discarded road edge marker posts (EMPs). By 2025, thanks to a partnership with WasteXpert and Plastics Recycling NZ (PRNZ), a joint venture between Waste Management New Zealand and Aliaxis New Zealand, over 1 tonne of EMPs have been diverted from landfill — nearly 100% of what was collected!

The team at Liveable Streets cleaned and sorted the EMPs, in bins provided by WasteXpert. These are then sorted into collection bins. The EMPs were soaked, cleaned, dried, and then transported to PRNZ for recycling. This initiative avoided 143 kg CO₂-e emissions and showcased how innovation can drive real environmental impact. The recycled material is now being repurposed into new products at Aliaxis facilities across New Zealand.

It's a great example of systems that work!

In this Lunch and Learn session, Project Engineer Kyle Marshall presents a detailed account of the Brian Perry Civil project's scope and innovative work methodologies implemented by the team to successfully deliver this challenging project for the Department of Conservation in Wellington Harbour.

This Coast and Ports Paper outlines the environmental and ecological strategies implemented during the Seaview Wharf piling project in Wellington, New Zealand, with a focus on protecting marine life and the Waiwhetu Aquifer. It details the collaborative development of mitigation measures—such as acoustic monitoring and bubble curtains—to manage underwater noise and safeguard biodiversity during construction.

This report from Te Waihanga explores how New Zealand’s construction sector can improve project outcomes by adopting better contracting practices. Drawing on interviews with 26 industry participants, it highlights persistent issues with contract selection, working relationships, and dispute resolution—particularly around the widespread use and modification of NZS 3910. The findings offer practical insights and opportunities for more collaborative, transparent, and effective infrastructure delivery across the country.

This discussion paper from Te Waihanga outlines how New Zealand can improve infrastructure delivery by moving beyond traditional, lowest-cost procurement models. It introduces seven principles—ranging from systems thinking and digital transformation to integrated teams and value-based delivery—that help public sector clients become more sophisticated and outcomes-focused. The report draws on international best practices and local case studies to offer a roadmap for achieving better infrastructure results, greater efficiency, and long-term value.

This case study highlights the rapid reconstruction of the SH25A Taparahi Bridge in Coromandel following severe storm damage in early 2023. It showcases how emergency provisions, collaborative procurement, and accelerated delivery enabled the bridge to be completed in under 12 months—unlocking significant economic benefits for the region. The document offers valuable insights into fast-tracked infrastructure delivery and lessons for future resilience planning and project execution.