Four continents. Fifteen countries. Thirty-one years of experience and counting.
It’s a resume Rob Carr Managing Director David Curtarello describes as typical of an expatriate embedded in the construction industry.
That said, it’s no less impressive. Curtarello got his career start in Germany with VINCI’s Campenon Bernard firm, before he moved to Africa to manage projects within the stable for Sogea-Satom building roads, bridges, water infrastructure and airports, often in what he described as “extraordinarily challenging environments”.
He worked in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania, in central Sri Lanka, on a huge wastewater supply project, and Qatar, where he helped complete key facilities before the World Cup in 2022 and also a personal “peak project” — the Formula 1 racetrack.
“What that breadth gives you is a kind of commercial and operational resilience that you simply can’t learn in a classroom,” Curtarello told Trenchless Australasia.
“You learn to manage risk in environments where the rulebook doesn’t exist yet, to build teams from scratch, to negotiate with governments, and to keep projects moving when conditions are against you.”
Not only can he draw from that deep well of international experience when it comes to the challenges and complexities of microtunnelling, Curtarello also understands the significance of being part of a global group, with Rob Carr a subsidiary of Soletanche Bachy which is, in turn, owned by construction giant VINCI and how best to leverage that relationship for the benefit of the business locally.
“Another advantage of working internationally and also for big groups is I can also bring a link to VINCI Group our shareholder and to build partnerships with sister companies where projects are getting bigger and we need larger expertise in microtunnelling,” he said.
Curtarello takes the reins at a pivotal point in the history of Rob Carr as it scales up into bigger projects and JVs such as the Ironbark Joint Venture on the Thornleigh Pipeline Duplication and the North West Wastewater Connection for Sydney Water.
With water and wastewater infrastructure investment in Australia at a generational high, the core opportunity for growth at Rob Carr remains strong according to Curtarello.
“Our position as a market leader in microtunnelling means we are well placed to capture a meaningful share of that,” he said.
“Beyond the core, there are several areas we’re focused on: going to new geographies with our recently signed first contract in Adelaide. The resources sector, particularly in Western Australia, is another area of ongoing activity for us, as evidenced by our work in Kalgoorlie. Also, there’s a growing demand for increasingly large diameter capability, which signals that the scale of what the client needs is increasing, and we have started partnerships with Tier 1 or Tier 2 contractors to move to these larger and more complex projects.”
The sheer volume of infrastructure being built in Australia is another reason for an optimistic outlook.
“All cities are growing very quickly with very big projects,” said Curtarello.
“These are very technical projects. Microtunnelling is a technical job and doing it in Australia is an exciting challenge. I’m motivated every day waking up.”
With that said, fuel and critical materials supply are a real pressure point across the industry at present. Curtarello acknowledges Rob Carr is no more immune to these obstacles than any other business in the industry.
“Our operations are energy intensive whether that’s operating TBMs, pumping systems, cranes, transport and our works typically require us to supply critical materials that are also affected by same,” he said.
“So, any sustained disruption to supply or sharp movement in price flows directly into our projects.”
A threefold approach has been undertaken to combat the impacts of the current fuel crisis.
Contract structures must properly reflect risk allocation for fuel, energy and critical material costs so that Rob Carr avoids carrying exposure that isn’t appropriately priced.
The best possible terms must be secured with suppliers to ensure strong lead times; and, most importantly, operational efficiencies need to be maximised.
“We’re looking at how we run our equipment, how we schedule our work, and where we can reduce consumption without compromising delivery,” said Curtarello.
“The broader energy transition is also on our radar. How we power our equipment over the next decade will look different to what has been done in the past.”
Most businesses covet the kind of brand equity Rob Carr enjoys in the market. Curtarello believes it comes down to one primary factor: surety of delivery.
“Rob Carr has been operating since 1989 and has built its reputation project by project, client by client,” he said.
“In this industry, you are only as good as your last job, and our track record at Rob Carr over 37 years is exceptional.”
There’s another important dimension to this: people.
“The knowledge base in this business whether that be from our tunnelling crews through to our engineers, project managers, and senior managers, is genuinely hard to replicate,” said Curtarello.
“That institutional knowledge is the foundation of the brand. My role is to make sure we protect and build on that legacy, while also evolving the business to meet future infrastructure demands.”
Newly refurbished facilities were unveiled in Brisbane earlier in the year.
The design process was collaborative with team members consulted for their input before going out to tender in the market.
Top level senior managers from Soletanche Bachy’s Singapore office were on hand to cut the ribbon.
Curtarello said the investment was necessary to offer better working conditions for the team and those they will look to onboard through growth.
“It’s fit-for-purpose not only for the company but to give a good working space to our current team and our future tenants we expect to attract,” he said.
“We are recruiting more people, and we are improving our yard capacity and improving the workshop and the maintenance of our 30-plus tunnelling machines.”
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