“Everything we do has to be planned,” says Ventia Quality Manager Shane Craven.
“Every small detail needs to be scheduled, particularly on a site like this where we are interacting with an active service.”
Careful planning and close collaboration are central to Ventia’s work on Unitywater’s Burpengary East Treatment Plant upgrade, where new treatment infrastructure is being delivered within a fully operational live environment.
The project involves the addition of new assets while maintaining uninterrupted service from the existing plant. This challenge places sequencing, risk management and operational engagement at the forefront of delivery.
The essential upgrade work will include:
Navigating existing infrastructure while delivering new assets requires meticulous planning to ensure there is no disruption to operations.
According to Richard Thomas who is the construction manager on the upgrade project, strong collaboration with operators has been critical to ensuring production continues safely throughout the upgrade.
It’s a fine art, and the operators do a great job. They’re working really well with the project team. We’re building a new plant within the old, while trying to maintain production.
While the project spans several years, The timeframes quickly compress as interdependencies emerge. Each new element must be delivered in order, making milestone planning essential.
“We do have our milestones and critical dates. To bring one structure online, you need another structure first. Everything has to come on in a certain sequence,” Thomas said.
“Working around a brownfield site is complex. Anyone with experience knows that building new infrastructure around existing assets is a major challenge but it’s one that our team is meeting.”
Transparency has been a priority. Ventia has established regular engagement to keep stakeholders informed of daily activities and emerging risks.
To support continuous improvement, the project team has also developed a lessons learned register, capturing insights from early delivery stages and sharing them to inform future works.
The Burpengary upgrade demonstrates the value of rigorous planning and collaboration when delivering complex infrastructure in live, brownfield environments where success is determined well before the first build even begins.