What defence procurement teams should look for in a critical infrastructure contractor
Defence procurement teams should prioritise four things when assessing a critical infrastructure contractor.
DCE’s freight and logistics capability is not a support function. It is the reason DCE can mobilise to a remote site.
Most contractors in remote Australia face the same constraint. They can do the electrical work, or the civil scope, or the mechanical installation, but getting the people, the plant, and the materials to a remote site on time and under budget requires logistics coordination that few are equipped to manage in-house.
The result is subcontracted freight, delayed deliveries, and a project schedule that depends on third parties who have their own priorities.
Prime movers, low loaders, Hiab crane trucks, Unimogs, side loaders, off-road support vehicles, and the civil plant to support earthworks and foundations, all owned and operated by DCE. The screw pile rig goes on a DCE vehicle. The switchboard is lifted by a DCE Hiab. The crew travels in DCE equipment. One team, from the depot to the site and back.
Heavy haulage for oversized plant and equipment across remote and varied terrain.
On-site lifting without external crane hire, the Hiab goes where the job is.
All-terrain support that reaches sites where conventional trucks cannot operate.
Excavators, rollers, and loaders transported and operated by DCE crews.
Articles, technical guides, and project perspectives.
Defence procurement teams should prioritise four things when assessing a critical infrastructure contractor.
In head-to-head comparisons against poured concrete footings, screw pile foundations have delivered total foundation cost reductions of up to 54% on remote sites.
Off-grid power systems are removing the biggest constraint on remote mining: the cost and risk of running everything on trucked-in diesel.