Construction Sciences gives back to local communities through Inland Rail
Inland Rail is creating benefits and opportunities for businesses, big and small. For a national company with regional project offices, like Construction Sciences, working on Inland Rail has provided an opportunity to invest in and upskill staff while helping to revitalise local economies.
Construction Sciences Area Manager Ryan Leeson said while the business is no stranger to working on major infrastructure projects, Inland Rail is a unique opportunity to deploy multidisciplinary teams from multiple offices and purchase additional specialist equipment for field and lab works.
“Construction Sciences has worked on both the Narrabri to North Star and North Star to NSW/Queensland Border projects undertaking geotechnical investigations and utilities surveys,” Mr Leeson said.
“The multidisciplinary nature of our work to date has allowed our geotechnical, environmental and utilities divisions to upskill teams in adjoining disciplines.
“Working on Inland Rail has enabled us to continue investing in and upskilling our staff as we grow our construction materials testing lab in the Darling Downs, which was downscaled following the completion of the Toowoomba Bypass project.
“The need for specialist testing has allowed us to educate a number of our trainees in laboratory testing as part of their training and key competencies.
“It has also provided a great learning curve for several of our undergraduate engineering staff to gain exposure to working on a complex, national infrastructure project.”
It’s not just businesses working on the project who are directly benefiting from Inland Rail. Flow on effects are being realised in regional towns right along the alignment.
“At the peak of our work on the North Star to NSW/Queensland Border project, we had up to 12 staff members staying in Goondiwindi and spending money with local businesses like motels, restaurants and mechanics,” Mr Leeson said.
“I was born and raised in Goondiwindi, so the opportunity to return to my hometown for a project like Inland Rail is very rewarding, particularly in the current climate.
“My advice to other local businesses is that investing in upskilling your staff with relevant rail competencies and spending money in regional towns has the potential to pay dividends,” he said.
