Richard de Cani, chief officer for global business and markets at built environment consultancy Arup.
Global consultancy Arup is ready to add a helping hand to infrastructure development, and to the skills base for the major projects, writes Graham Skellern
The success of New Zealand’s long-term infrastructure plan is inextricably linked to an equally successful and productive skills and workforce programme, says a leading global consultant.
Richard de Cani, chief officer for global business and markets at built environment consultancy Arup, says New Zealand, like other countries, has significant infrastructure investment needs.
Through its infrastructure plan, the New Zealand government is presently looking at how to fund and deliver the billion-dollar major projects.
“Part of the discussions about involving global investors and the supply chain should be how to attract and retain a skilled and specialist workforce, both locally and from overseas,” says de Cani.
“When you are talking about infrastructure development, you think about long-term skills shortage. The type of infrastructure required, whether it’s new build or retrofit, is more complex, and all types of engineering skills are in demand. This includes digital capability for artificial intelligence and data sourcing, skills we didn’t need 10 years ago.”
De Cani says there is a need to upskill existing communities through a targeted skills programme in a partnership between the public and private sectors. A programme, over 10-20 years, can be developed locally for the benefit of the country, and not just involve importing skills.
Senior executives and those with specialist skills are part of a globally mobile workforce who travel to work on projects. However, countries like New Zealand also need to develop a local workforce to both maintain infrastructure once built, and move on to the next project.
“There needs to be a multi-pronged approach looking beyond a single project and working with the private sector to understand the long-term needs and changes in skills.
“Take the Auckland second harbour crossing, for example. It’s a project that needs multi-disciplinary engineering - civil, geotechnical, environmental. You can develop a set of skills and move on to the next project, which will be slightly easier, cheaper and quicker to do because the capability exists locally.”
A multi-pronged approach should include an audit or review of infrastructure skills (to accompany the new Infrastructure Plan), and industry-led vocational training.
De Cani says people often assume it’s the job of the government to fix the skills shortage. “What we learnt in the UK was that the government can’t fix it on their own.
“The Government sets the policy, guidelines and initiatives, and the private sector gets involved with (on-the-job and vocational) training and employing the new skills that match the long-term infrastructure plan.”
De Cani says a new growth sector in the UK has been offshore wind generation in the North Sea. Twenty years ago, there were no windfarms and now they produce 30% of UK’s power, the second-largest installed capacity worldwide.
The investment into that infrastructure included adjusting the training for young people and equipping them to work at height and in a marine environment – skills like (underwater) welding and electrical engineering to maintain the offshore wind turbines.
The young people in the coastal towns of north-east England, suffering from unemployment, saw the opportunities and took advantage of them, says de Cani.
“The plan provided the opportunity to address areas of deprivation and poverty. The programme over 10 years identified the new skills and involved the public and private sector working together to establish training colleges and develop local capability and certifications.
London’s Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA), set up initially to develop specialist skills for CrossRail, continued beyond the completion of that mega project to train workers for other large infrastructure projects.
“In New Zealand, you are looking at city and regional deals. There are many of them in the UK and the deals have been used to fund investment in skills in local areas which benefit from the economic growth.”
De Cani says it’s important to take control of the investment agenda and establish certainty in the infrastructure pipeline. “If it’s uncontrolled, overseas investors can bring in their own workforce, do the development and then take the workforce away. Where is the community benefit in that?”
He says New Zealand is an attractive destination for people to live and the country’s unique topography and geotechnical conditions offer interesting work for infrastructure professionals. But the country is a long way away.
“The approach to infrastructure has been stop-start, and there’s a wariness about the country’s ability to stick with a long-term plan.
“If it’s only one project, then the big contractors will consider whether it’s worth their while going there. Global companies need to look beyond one project – it’s all about having confidence in the long-term plan.”
De Cani says New Zealand’s draft Infrastructure Plan shows the pipeline of projects that would extend beyond the three-year political cycles. Skills are mobile and New Zealand is competing globally due to growing infrastructure demands and net-zero transition commitments.
He says there’s delays with a number of infrastructure projects in the United States because of changes to government funding, and New Zealand can benefit from that volatility.
“Arup is committed long term to working in New Zealand on a wide range of infrastructure. We can add our expertise and experience and help guide the infrastructure development.
“New Zealand faces similar challenges to other countries and we are using our network of clients and relationships to highlight the New Zealand opportunity.
“Arup has introduced a more unified regional operating model in Asia Pacific which allows greater workforce mobility and enables skilled staff to work seamlessly across borders,” says de Cani, who has 30 years’ experience in planning and consulting including delivering the long-term transport strategy for London.
The type of infrastructure required, whether it’s new build or retrofit, is more complex, and all types of engineering skills are in demand.
Arup has been operating in New Zealand for more than 30 years, and has 100 staff working out of offices in Auckland and Wellington. They can draw on support from the Asia Pacific network with its 30 offices and 6400 staff members.
The global consultancy, with advisory and technical expertise across more than 150 disciplines, was founded by British-born engineer and philosopher Ove Arup, who was the design engineer for the iconic Sydney Opera House.
With a total 18,500 staff in 95 offices around the world, Arup’s engineers, architects, environmental specialists, data scientists and others have planned, designed and influenced the future of the built environment in more than 160 countries.
New Zealand has tapped into Arup’s global expertise in large-scale infrastructure projects. Arup supported the Ghella Abergeldie Joint Venture (GAJV), the contractor responsible for delivering Auckland Watercare’s nearly-completed 16km Central Interceptor project, which connects the Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant to Point Erin in Herne Bay.
Arup provided detailed design services to GAJV, including tunnel lining and shaft support systems, drawing on its international tunnelling experience.
The global consultancy also brings to New Zealand the benefits of its experience and industry networks developed in designing ambitious transport projects like the Oresund Link, a joint road and rail link that crosses international shipping lanes to join Sweden (Malmo) and Denmark (Copenhagen), and includes the second longest bridge in Europe.
There’s also the Presidio Parkway, a section of US Route 101, which serves as San Francisco’s gateway to the Golden Gate Bridge and was reconstructed to address deterioration and earthquake vulnerabilities.
De Cani says, “We work at the front end of design on projects around the world, and there is an interesting curiosity about what is happening New Zealand with its high level of ambition [in infrastructure development].”
Arup is an advertising sponsor of the Herald’s Infrastructure report.