Downer has held the preceding hybrid state highway maintenance contracts for the last 15 years, together with its professional services supplier, MWH.
The latest contract is under a new model, Network Outcomes Contract (NOC).
The $86m contract starts on 1 July, and is part of a national Transport Agency initiative to improve the efficiency of road maintenance through the engagement of a single supplier for each highway network on a performance-based contract. “Contract tenure will be based upon Downer achieving a number of monthly and annual performance measures which evaluate the efficiency, responsiveness and quality of their work,” said Ian Duncan, the Transport Agency’s southern business unit manager.
The contract covers routine maintenance and operation of the 773km state highway network, signage and markings, resurfacing, pavement rehabilitation, winter maintenance, and incident response.
Downer’s Coastal Otago NOC team, led by Paul Jamison, comprises about 45 staff from Downer, MWH, SouthRoads, McDonough, and Buxton Consulting. They will be based from Downer’s regional office in Green Island, Dunedin, with a secondary office in Oamaru and depots and machinery/ storage yards in Balclutha, Tapanui, Lawrence, Milton, Middlemarch, Palmerston, Otematata, and Omarama.
“The Coastal Otago state highway network is one of the largest in the country, stretching from its northern extent at the Waitaki River to the Lindis Pass summit, inland to Raes Junction, and south to the boundary between Otago and Southland south of Waipahi,” said Ian Duncan.
He says that this new contract model has the potential to deliver better operational outcomes and more efficient maintenance.
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