ACT-based civil engineering and construction company Huon Contractors has steadily expanded its scope of operations in the years since its establishment in 2003, having grown from its beginnings as a single specialised crew to encompass a multi-skilled staff across dedicated teams capable of taking on multi-million dollar projects.
Huon derives its name from the Huon pine, which it advises is found on the west coast of Tasmania and is one of the longest-living species on the planet, with it stating the distinctive traits of the pine – comprising a timber that is stable, durable and easy to work with – symbolise what it is trying to achieve within the company.
Along these lines, Huon Director Anisha Sachdeva told EEM that Huon – which comprises a core team of civil engineers, site supervisors, foremen and senior leading hands, including five foremen who have been with the company since its establishment – “prides itself on the quality of our work and the strong relationships formed with our clients”.
“Huon’s team is diverse and has extensive experience, which makes us the number one choice for our clients, suppliers and subcontractors,” Anisha, who joined Huon in 2010 and who subsequently became a director in 2015, commented.
“Huon has 60 staff spread over our engineering, field, safety, mechanical maintenance and accounts teams.
We specialise in major land development projects, technical and complex infrastructure, subdivisions, major road, bridge, intersection and car park works, works within live waterways, civil works on building sites, sports fields and landscaping works, as well as high-risk civil projects.”
This breadth of expertise and skills is serving to keep Huon busy, with it currently undertaking major land development projects at Googong NH2 in NSW, close to the ACT border, and at Ginninderry stage 1 and 2 in the ACT. In addition to this, Huon is also carrying out work on the extension of Taxiway Bravo at Canberra Airport.
Anisha pointed to the use of GPS technology – which in recent years has been integrated across the Huon fleet– in undertaking each of these projects, describing the technology as playing an ‘integral’ role.
“Huon’s fleet incorporates the latest technology to keep ahead of the field,” she said. “Huon utilises GPS technology to increase production and deliver projects on time and budget for our clients.” GPS also allows critical services to be mapped, increasing safety in working around live services.
“Huon has also been able to increase production and promote survey efficiency with machine control. This reduces the time required to undertake each task and in turn has a beneficial impact on the costs of the project. Equipment advances have also increased site safety and reduced detrimental effects on the environment.”
Over the past nine years, C.R.Kennedy, the exclusive distributor for Leica Geosystems in Australia, has been taking care of Huon’s GPS requirements, comprising the supply of GPS technology and its installation across the company’s fleet, including excavators, graders and compactors, along with looking after Huon’s service and maintenance needs.
Anisha said a major factor in Huon’s ongoing relationship with C.R.Kennedy has been its customer service and troubleshooting capabilities, highlighting C.R.Kennedy’s “personal service and prompt response to any technological problems that arise”.
C.R.Kennedy NSW/ACT Machine Control Sales Representative Stefan Moos, who has been with the company for seven years, also pointed to the strong relationship between Huon and C.R.Kennedy, with Huon in recent years having integrated a number of different technologies across its fleet, targeted at enhancing its work efficiency.
Stefan said that among these technologies, Huon has invested in Leica iCON iXE3 Excavate 3D systems, providing for advanced 3D excavator machine control, along with Leica iCON iCG60 SmartAntenna supervisor kits, aiding positioning on construction sites.
He pointed to the values that Huon has sought to foster as a company at an internal level as also having an impact externally, with the potential to strengthen its business relationships.
“Huon has a fantastic business culture, based on respect, loyalty and trust with their employees, which I believe also permeates through to their suppliers,” Stefan said.
“It has been a great working relationship and a real joy supplying machine automation solutions to Huon, helping to increase its productivity, safety and efficiency.”