Innovating Existing Infrastructure
Annual Conference
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In many projects completed for smaller rural councils, the budgets are lower and the perceived value of the existing equipment is higher. This means that there is often a driver to re-use existing plant where possible. However, re-furbishing, re-using or replicating existing plant comes with many risks and pitfalls. It is important to identify these risks prior to selecting an item for re-use as rectifying these issues later in the project may lead to unacceptable increased costs. Some of the issues which will be discussed are:
It is key to understand what is important to the client and ensure this is incorporated throughout the project. This can include identifying opportunities for re-use and potential cost savings throughout the whole project life cycle. It is also important to be able to assess the costs and benefits of re-using certain items vs installing new.
In recent projects undertaken, a great amount of time and analysis has been invested into re-using existing infrastructure in new and innovative ways through re-use, refurbishment and retrofitting. This paper will discuss common reuse upgrades and the issues and advantages associated with these. Additionally the paper will detail a number of recent case studies where innovative optioneering studies and refurbishments have been completed to reduce the overall project cost.