SMEC Projects of the Year 2006

The 2006 Project of the Year awards were presented at the annual SMEC Awards Dinner held in Old Parliament House in Canberra in
November.

Project of the Year Awards were introduced in 2003 to recognise technical or management excellence at the project level. One award is
presented for each of the company’s principal regions of operation. From 2007 the number of awards will be expanded to include South

Asia which was created as a principal region in July 2006. The 2006 winners were:

Australia
Westlink M7 Motorway, Sydney

M7 photo courtesy Brett Boardman

The 40-kilometre $1.5 billion motorway, largely designed by SMEC, was opened by the Australian Prime Minister in December 2005. It links three existing motorways to provide rapid transport around the western edge of Sydney. The project includes 17 major interchanges, 144 bridges and structures and numerous local roads. The project has also received the 2006 Engineering Excellence Award in the
infrastructure category from Sydney Division of Engineers Australia and the prestigious Bradfield Award for the most signifi cant project in all categories. In the national awards of Engineers Australia it received the Gold Award of Merit.

International East
ASEAN Energy and Systems Policy Project

This project was funded by AusAID, the Australian Government agency responsible for the aid program, as part of the ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Program. The objective was to improve the planning capability of energy agencies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Energy policy studies were developed for each of the participating countries together with a regional energy model. Particular attention was paid to environmental and social issues. The project team was provided by SMEC and its associates, Intelligent Energy Systems and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).

International West
Phulbari Coal Project, Bangladesh

For several years SMEC has been providing environmental planning and social impact assessment services for the proposed Phulbari coal mine in north-western Bangladesh, about 300 kilometres from
the national capital of Dhaka. The mine will eventually become one of the world’s largest coal mines. SMEC has also recently provided additional services in infrastructure planning related to the complex groundwater environment. These include mine dewatering and aquifer injection, water supply and
wastewater drainage.

Related section:

Past recipient Project of Year winners