SCIRT, Beca win Resource Management Law Assn Project Award

SCIRT and Beca win RMLA Project Award

SCIRT and Beca have won this year’s Resource Management Law Association (RMLA) Awards in the Project category.

The award aims to recognise projects that make a significant contribution to the development of best practice and the implementation of the Resource Management Act’s purpose and principles*.

The winning project is a multi-criteria assessment tool, developed by Beca and SCIRT to select preferred rebuild options for the city’s earthquake damaged roads, bridges, fresh water, wastewater and storm water networks.

The tool was developed to ensure resource management principles are taken into account early on in the design process for rebuild schemes. It had to provide a transparent, consistent and measurable process to justify the identification and eventual selection of the preferred rebuild options.

The RMLA judging committee called the tool “an innovative, pragmatic and practical solution, developed under extreme time and emotional pressure.” To create the tool, the team came up with objectives and broke them down into a series of measureable outputs, providing an easy-to-use checklist that can be evaluated objectively for aspects such as project objectives, the effective provision and delivery of services, economic (non-cost) issues, and the ability to coordinate works with other projects.

According to Beca senior planner Catherine Carter, one of the most valuable aspects of the project was working together with the wider SCIRT team to make it happen. “The tool was developed in collaboration with all stakeholders - asset owners, design team leads, planning, communications, sustainability, contracts manager, architect - through a series of five workshops. Everyone got a say in developing it further so we could come up with a practical result. It has been successfully used to weight options for example, for the Antigua boatsheds footbridge rebuild. This meant that heritage values were recognised and weighted accordingly.

“What makes this weighting tool particularly powerful is that it can be used for any project that requires a multi-disciplinary approach – where economic, social, cultural and environmental factors all have a bearing on the final outcome.”

*The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. This means managing the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources so that people and communities can provide for their social, economic, and cultural well-being and for their health and safety. It recognises the national importance of the natural character of the coastal environment; outstanding natural features and landscapes; significant indigenous habitats and vegetation; public access to waterbodies; Maori culture, traditions, ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and taonga; historic heritage; and recognised customary activities.

ENDS

© Scoop Media