Millions of dollars in business was transacted at Australia’s premier infrastructure industry Expo, CIVENEX, held at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds on May 18-19.
More than 2500 people attended CIVENEX to meet and talk with representatives from more than 200 companies represented in the new, larger display area at Richmond.
The major exhibition sites housed infrastructure companies including Wacker Neuson, Damlier trucks, ATOM Lasers, Caterpillar dealer WestTrac, Hino, Saferoads, Vermeer Equipment, Hako, Hatz Diesel, JPH Equipment and Veolia.
The myriad of companies that supply Australian Local Government and the Federal, State and Territory Public Works Departments and their affiliated bureaucracies, along with major contractors attended CIVENEX which was opened by the Federal Member for Macquarie, Louise Markus.
Mrs Markus outlined the Turnbull Government’s support for infrastructure projects run by all levels of government and noted the employment generated by such projects in her area, initially by the direct employment of workers in the North West and elsewhere, but also the spin offs generated by the extra money injected into local communities.
CIVENEX is an initiative of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia-NSW Division (IPWEA-NSW), which has a 108 year history of leadership in infrastructure development.
The NSW Government recognised the leadership in State and national infrastructure of CIVENEX by supporting the Expo through use of the State logo in all promotions of this state significant event. The Department of Roads and Maritime Services was also a major exhibitor.
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, reflecting the current huge outlays, especially by the NSW Government, on infrastructure.
“Many attendees marveled 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.”
Sydney’s railway system also played a part in CIVENEX 2016. Soon after the arrival of trains at nearby Clarendon Station the queues at the entry gate would grow, especially on the second day which brought the greatest crowd.
“Moving CIVENEX to a peak infrastructure investment area was fortuitous as people arrived at the gate aware of major projects and so could see why events such as CIVENEX are crucial to ensure optimum communication between the component groups in the Australian infrastructure mix,” Mr Woodcock said.
“In 2016, CIVENEX again showed it is the place to do business with both exhibitors and visitors excited by the innovation and this investment in public infrastructure,” he said.
A new addition to CIVENEX was the seminar program which included addresses on Sustainable Public Infrastructure Development, maximising productivity in fleet usage, worker safety and avoiding inadvertently breaching rules on dealing with government which could lead to fines or in the extreme, to imprisonment. (See ‘Seminars’ below)
Mr Woodcock said every stage of an infrastructure plan was covered by CIVENEX exhibitors, whether it was the consultants involved in identifying a need and planning the response, the surveyors who are first into the fields being developed or the construction teams and their contractors and suppliers right down to the landscapers who at the end of a project restore the greenery.
The new Richmond CIVENEX site allowed broader areas for the suppliers of earthmoving equipment to display their latest models which are always a major show piece. For 61 years, CIVENEX has been the ‘go to’ Expo not just for suppliers and buyers along the infrastructure chain in New South Wales, but right across Australia.
A feature of the second day of CIVENEX was the auction run by Pickles Auctions. Hundreds of contractors, farmers, tradies and others congregated at lunchtime on May 19 for the auction of heavy equipment, large and small bulldozers, which allowed them to purchase capital items at a discount.
A new feature CIVENEX this year was the seminar program which enhanced the flow of information to industry members, especially from the government sector.
Seminar speakers discussed subjects ranging from Sustainable Public Infrastructure Development, worker safety, maximising productivity in fleet usage to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) advising industry on avoiding inadvertently breaching rules on dealing with government which could lead to fines or in the extreme, to imprisonment.
[colored_box color=”blue”]For more information visit www.civenex.com[/colored_box]