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WHAT WE DO

CEA offers the most advanced skills at the intersection between people, plant, process and production rates. We have a reputation for contributing measurable performance improvements, cost savings and program gains on projects, even when our role is to help teams stem loses and get back on track.

 

Clients seek us for our deep knowledge of engineering principles, vast practical experience and specialist technical design expertise. Whether it’s in the scoping, detailed design or construction phases, we pride ourselves on delivering to the highest standards. Our team works with all members of a project’s delivery team including owners, design firms, contractors and subcontractors. We ensure accurate, timely and practical advice and input.

 

Our range of services include:

  • Design

    • Haul road designs

    • Temporary works designs

  • Delivery strategy

    • Earthworks strategies

    • Mass haul strategies

    • Haul road management

    • Project spaceproofing

    • Construction methodology development and reviews

    • Cost forecasting audits

    • Civil and mine improvement programs

  • Coaching

    • Civil principles for new engineers and foreman coaching

    • Magnet mass haul software training

    • Bulk earthworks principles and practices training

    • Road auditing and crash investigation training

  • Reviews and investigations

    • Forensic crash investigations

    • Tender constructability reviews.

EARTHWORKS STRATEGIES

Led by our Principal, Steve Davidson, CEA is among the most skilled and knowledgeable earthworks engineering providers. We develop or advise on optimum earthworks strategies, balancing personnel, plant and desired production rates with a project’s real risks and opportunities. This draws on everything from soil and rock mechanics to mass hauls to haul roads to fleet selection to methods and materials management to monitoring and productivity tracking.

MASS HAUL
STRATEGIES

Tender teams regularly call on CEA for first principles mass hauls, including our expertise in Magnet for complex projects. During delivery, we are often brought in to calculate impacts and solve issues from design or geology changes, equipping projects to select the best course of action. Then, whether once or regularly, we position projects for success via our improvement solutions and independent reviews of forecasted cost-to-completion against field realities.

HAUL ROAD DESIGN & MANAGEMENT

For civil and mine sites, our technical road design expertise, strong practical skills and extensive knowledge of standards offer a powerful combination. Using Autodesk’s Civil 3D, we go beyond purely designing a haul road to knowing its volume and using horizontal and vertical profiles to accurately simulate truck movements. This delivers more than a mere construction value. It enables us to balance up-front and lifetime costs based on desired productivity and true plant limitations.

PROJECT SPACEPROOFING

As project sites get tighter, with sometimes extreme constraints, our spaceproofing gives vital assurance to project leaders. We look beyond 2D plans to consider projects in 3D including road levels, access and egress points, operating envelopes and headroom – all in line with intended construction methods. With our extensive knowledge of plant practicalities, we help projects identify critical issues and balance site realities with desired production rates.

TEMPORARY WORKS DESIGNS

Our team’s expertise in design through to in-field construction methods and management mean we deliver robust temporary works designs. We address required standards alongside the practicality, cost-efficiency and fit-for-purpose demands that are so vital during delivery. Our temporary works design services span ramps, roads, pads, minor concrete works and stormwater drainage, supported by specialist advice for projects to optimise the value of temporary works.

FORENSIC CRASH INVESTIGATIONS

Using road engineering principles and the physics of vehicles, our mine site crash investigations help site owners, operators and key stakeholders know why an incident occurred. We employ techniques developed by police services for public roads, combined with our knowledge of heavy-industry vehicles and site practices. The result is clarity around the factors and engineering issues that lead to a crash and measures to improve future safety outcomes.

COACHING &
TRAINING

We currently offer four coaching and training packages. The first is coaching for new engineers and foreman to strengthen their skills in developing forecast cost-to-completion reports and pressure-testing those to improve accuracy, value and problem-solving capabilities. We offer two classroom-style training programs – in bulk earthworks principles and practices, and Magnet mass haul software – complete with manuals and practical exercises. Finally, we offer road auditing and crash investigation coaching.

MINE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS

Our tailored mine improvement programs help mine owners and contractors identify practical solutions to achieve a step change in operational excellence. Through observation and team engagement, we review a wide range of mine functions. The resulting programs then respond to specific client objectives and a mine’s lifecycle, while considering the challenges and opportunities a site team is facing. With ‘hurdle rates’ to define success and establish accountability, results are quickly seen.

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