Engineering Excellence 2006

Khalifa Stadium
Khalifa Stadium in Doha. Photo courtesy Arup

Sea Cliff Bridge
The stunning Sea Cliff Bridge north
of Wollongong

North Head Recyled Water Plant
North Head Recyled Water Plant.
Photo courtesy Sydney Water


Australia’s largest urban road project, the Westlink M7 is a major engineering feat that is changing the way people travel around western Sydney. The new motorway, which includes a 40-kilometre shared path for cyclists and pedestrians, has been recognised in this year’s Engineering Excellence Awards with the prestigious Bradfield trophy honoring the ‘best of the best’.

The Westlink M7 is one of six outstanding projects selected from the awards to feature in the Engineering Excellence 2006 exhibition. This year’s exhibition is perhaps the most diverse yet, showcasing engineering feats from Sydney’s western suburbs to the Persian Gulf.

Two projects featured in the exhibition show how engineers are tackling the challenge of water scarcity. At North Head in Sydney a new recycled water plant is producing about two million litres of treated water for use in sewage treatment operations. And in south-western NSW shallow Barren Box swamp, the main drainage site for the fertile Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, has been deepened and divided into cells to cut the amount of water being lost to evaporation.

The exhibition also includes the dramatic overhaul of Doha’s Khalifa Stadium, the main venue for the recent Asian Games, that was spearheaded by a team of engineers from the Sydney office of international firm Arup; the stunning Sea Cliff Bridge north of Wollongong; and Sydney inventor Tony Pike’s elegant solution to the problem of wobbly cafe tables.

This exhibition is brought to you in association with Engineers Australia, Sydney Division.

helicopter
Tony Pike's FLAT invention has the potential to provide a stable surface
for everything from cafe tables to helicopters. Image courtesy Fluid
Locking and Adjustment
Technologies Pty Ltd

The Light Horse Interchange
The Light Horse Interchange, part of
the Westlink M7, under construction. Photo by and reproduced courtesy of
Brett Boardman