In continuing with my established theme of beginning each Councillor’s Report update with a quotation or saying, the above comes from an article by Suze Orman, that I recently read, about the pitfalls of success.
Though the article had no direct bearing or relevance to Trenchless Technology, the saying stuck in my mind. In all facets of the life of an organisation – or our own lives, for that matter – we have experienced success in the face of adversity, risk and criticism.
Unfortunately, we all have to navigate our way around the dogs, whether they are external critics, competitors, bureaucracies, red tape or colleagues who seek to undermine us. It is reasonable to expect the yapping to increase along with your success.
Whilst the barking is unlikely to stop, it can be tuned out. Ultimately, the elephant will keep walking while the dogs are barking. It’s not a bad mantra to keep focused on your goals, your identity and the things that matter rather than being distracted by the noise.
Now that the smoke and noise of the New Year fireworks has cleared, we can start to see another exciting year unfolding.
Since the last update, the Victorian state election has been held and, as expected, the incoming Labor government has started to put its stamp on the development of new infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether the East West Link will proceed past its infancy. Given the intense scrutiny the project is under, it seems unlikely.
Unfortunately, we are seeing the short-sighted political game that all sides of politics play in the funding and development of infrastructure in this country. In my opinion, politicians don’t have a role in long-term planning and development of key infrastructure.
Despite, minor setbacks, our industry will continue to grow in Victoria due to other new infrastructure investments, regional growth and urban consolidation, all driven by population growth and the never-ending cycle of ageing infrastructure.
As previously reported, it is forecast that Victoria will have a population of 10 million residents by 2051. The impact on existing infrastructure will be immense and necessitate the renewal of existing assets, construction of new assets in existing urban areas and asset relocation to accommodate new projects such as regional rail links, the lowering of rail crossings, urban consolidation, the establishment of satellite business precincts in the outer suburbs and the urban renewal of Fisherman’s Bend near Port Melbourne.
These projects will see a steady program of renewals and several large trenchless projects such as pipe jacks, horizontal directional drills and tunnels.
I’m looking forward to No-Dig Down Under at the Gold Coast in September. The deadline for abstract submissions is now closed and it looks like we will have many good quality papers presented at the much-anticipated event.