The purpose of the North West Queensland Flood Warning Infrastructure Network (FWIN) Project is to analyse existing flood warning infrastructure, and work with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and local communities to identify high priority locations requiring additional flood warning infrastructure capability.
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) is currently working with 28 Councils to deliver a $8 million FWIN Project to support recovery following the 2019 North and Far North Queensland Monsoon Trough disaster event. This project is part of the $242 million Category C and D Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) package jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments. The project covers three areas of operation: Far North Queensland; North West Queensland; and Townsville and surrounds.
The North West Queensland FWIN Project area of operation includes 12 local government areas: Boulia, Burke, Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Croydon, Diamantina, Etheridge, Flinders, Longreach, McKinlay, Richmond and Winton.
Michael Eddie from CurryPM has been engaged as the Project Manager for the North West area of operation, and is overseeing the delivery of assets for the 12 Council areas covering North West Queensland from the South Australian border, to the Gulf, to the Northern Territory border and across the Great Dividing Range.
CurryPM and QRA are working together with an aligned desire to make the FWIN project a success.
As the funding body, QRA have taken a hands-on role in supporting quick decision making regarding project variations, and have promoted learning across the wider program. One such initiative includes chairing fortnightly Project Manager catch-ups to ensure the best outcomes for the project.
Former CurryPM Project Manager Frank Plozza successfully used SurePact in the initial site inspections, and under Michael Eddie’s lead, CurryPM continues to utilise the SurePact solution now that field work is underway.
The rural and remote nature of the site fields and the tight timeframes for deliverables, as well as the need for quick decision making when connectivity is not always available, all add to the complexity of this undertaking.
In particular, Eddie highlights the requirement for structure in the information that has been collected.
“Key information can be easily buried and exacerbated by staff changes,” he says. “We did not necessarily realise the number of complexities we were going to have along the way… the biggest pain point has been the digital data locations (coordinates). We have lots of different sorts of data, which come in different formats such as reports, maps or graphs. This data needs to be easily accessible and presented in one place.”
That one place is SurePact.
Once set up, SurePact’s tracking systems keep track of changes, with high levels of detail to ensure that information remains up-to-date and changes have been noted.
“When contractors are on rural job sites, they need to rely on data to ensure FWIN structures are being put in the correct locations,” Eddie says. “The easy mistake of typing in the wrong latitude and longitude coordinates or getting digits around the wrong way can massively impact project deliverables.
“With no cell reception and hundreds of kilometres in play, contractors have to make on-the-spot decisions, relying on the information they have and logical decision making skills. When out in the field, it is too late for a re-do. With SurePact, this data can be checked against previous inputs and create assurances before the contractor even starts.”
Eddie and Juan Carrasco, CurryPM Project Engineer, are currently revamping CurryPM’s use of SurePact to better stay on top of the range of data needed for the successful completion of the FWIN project.
“Moving forward, workflows and delegations will be put in place in SurePact to ensure the right checks are being carried out, at the right time, by the right people,” Eddie says. “SurePact maps those checks to give correct information to those out in the field who need it.”
In spreadsheets and documents, there are no such control mechanisms.
“SurePact challenges the old system of spreadsheets and lengthy email chains that do not have the inherent security of process checks, meaning things fall through the cracks,” Eddie says.
“We are working with SurePact to enable these workflow controls to be locked in.”
With 12 Councils and over 70 sites involved in the delivery of FWIN, a single source of truth is essential.
“The biggest benefit will be the workflowing of information to streamline our procedures, which is particularly important when working with so many stakeholders,” Eddie says.
“With all parties using SurePact, it gives us an immediate picture of where things are up to, rather than relying on email and phone call check-ins.
“The workflow information is reliable and provides a level of assurance, which will create efficiencies and speed up the process for all those involved moving forward with the project.”
