Last week, Council awarded the $3.5 million construction contract for the Bair Street development to a local firm, BJ Earthmoving. This is an amazing achievement for the local firm and is a win for the local community. 

Image by DJ Ludlow from Pixabay

Local 5th Generation Boy Shows the Big Construction Firms The Road Ahead on Bair Street
Last week, Council awarded the $3.5 million construction contract for the Bair Street development to a local firm, BJ Earthmoving. This is an amazing achievement for the local firm and is a win for the local community. As shown on Council’s website, Council has awarded 38 contracts worth a total of $25 Million of works since Jan 2018 and BJ Excavations has remarkably won 7 of those with a total value of $6.3 Million or 25% of the total value on offer.

BJ Earthmoving started out as another earth moving firm not dissimilar to others in the Shire but that is where the comparison stops. Although their website shows they service small to medium sized earthmoving projects, from remediation/rehabilitation works and bulk earthmoving, to road works, subdivisions and waterways that has not stopped them taking on the might and power of firms such as Fulton Hogan, Jarvis Norwood Constructions, and Downer Utilities Group.

A look at these firms reveals the giant killing abilities of the local firm in its efforts to successfully compete over the last 3 years gaining the lion’s share of Council contracts. 

Downer Utilities services Australia and New Zealand with market capitalisation of $2.9 Billion dollars and employs 53,000 people. 

Jarvis Norwood Constructions is another major civil engineering firm specialising in State and Federal Government works such as bridge and road construction, precast concrete, marina and wharf construction and supply, installation, and removal of sheet piling. 

Fulton Hogan work in Australia and New Zealand and with a workforce over 8000 complete works across a range of sectors, including roads and transport infrastructure through to utilities and resources. You will be familiar with their road crews working around our and other Shires on road repairs and renewals.

Example of Fulton Hogan Work
Example of Jarvis Norwood Constructions Work

The list of works gained by BJ Earthmoving in this period is:

Streetscape Redevelopment – Bair Street Leongatha-$3,531,350.67

Construction of Sealed Asphalt Car Park – Toora Pool-$248,508.70

Leongatha and District Netball Association Courts Redevelopment-$720,665

Loch Streetscape – Victoria Road Reconstruction-$634,802.79

Supply and Construction of Sheds at 5 Transfer Stations-$514,800

Urban Street Reconstruction Works-$479,814.50

Urban Street Reconstruction Works-$234,146.70

The “also rans” were successful in the following contracts bids:

Jarvis Norwood-Construction of Timms Road Bridge and Associated Roadworks-$595540, and the Ruby Arawata Road Bridge-$684751

Downer Utilities-Relocation of Electrical Mains and Upgrade of Street Lighting – Bair Street, Leongatha-$1446369

Fulton Hogan-Provision of Bituminous Surfacing and Associated Services-$1244190.41

Council approved of a procurement policy at the August Council meeting which they claim will make it easier for local contractors to gain work against those that come from further afield. With this additional assistance from Council policy we perhaps have not seen the best of BJ Earthmoving so far.