Aml 081219

22 December 2008 Company Announcements Office Australian Securities Exchange Limited Level 4 20 Bridge Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Re: Quarterly Update November 2008 Further to our letter dated 6 November 2008 attaching a copy of the Chairman’s address, CEO’s presentation and accompanying press release, please find attached a copy of our Q1 First Quarter Update 08/09, including highlights from the Annual General Meeting. This is now in a printed format and will be mailed to shareholders today. Yours faithfully, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED A. J. MOIR Company Secretary

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LEIGHTONQ1 First Quarter Update 08/09

Leighton Holdings Limited

In this issue Report from the 2008 AGMThis quarter’s fi nancial highlightsOur balance sheet strategy explainedFeature article: Building the VisionUpdates on 11 current projects

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HINZE DAM STAGE 3 IN

QUEENSLANDThiess, as part of the Hinze

Dam Alliance with Sinclair Knight Merz, URS and

SEQWater, will deliver the Hinze Dam Stage 3 project.

This project will see the existing dam wall raised by almost 15m to double

the dam’s existing capacity to 309,700 mega litres

(about 820,000 Olympic sized swimming pools).

The dam supplies water to the rapidly growing Gold Coast region of Australia which has recently been

subject to one of the worst droughts on record.

Ironically, the dam will also signifi cantly lessen

the potential damage from fl ooding in the Nerang River catchment when

heavy rainfall does occur. Thiess brings a wealth

of dam construction experience to the project. Since 1954 the company

has built more than 70 dams and 24 of these have

been in Queensland.

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FEATURE ARTICLEBUILDING THE VISION

Extract from “Building the Vision:

Infrastructure to underpin our export

economy”, a presentation to the

Australian Davos Connection:

Infrastructure 21 conference in

Brisbane on the 7th October

2008 by Wal King, CEO of

Leighton Holdings Limited

and President of the

Australian Constructors

Association.

22008 AGM REPORT

David Mortimer AO,

Chairman, and

Wal King AO, Chief

Executive, recently

updated shareholders

on the Leighton Group’s

performance in 2007/08

and the longer-term

outlook.

3Q1 HIGHLIGHTS

Key performance indicators for the

fi rst quarter of 2009 fi nancial year.

PROJECT FEATURES

Projects featured this quarter:

10 Aviation Services

12 Sydney Desalination Plant

14 Melbourne Airport T2E

16 Deer Park Bypass

18 Ipswich Motorway Projects

20 Duralie Coal Mine

22 Coopernook to Herons Creek

24 Hinze Dam

26 Waste Services

28 City West Cable Tunnel

30 National Portrait Gallery

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6BALANCE SHEET STRATEGY

“Scott Charlton CFO, outlines some of the recent fi nancial initiatives aimed at supporting the Leighton Group’s strategy.”

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nference in

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CEO of

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26 Waste

28 City W

30 Nation

Leighton Holdings Limited is the parent company of Australia’s largest project development and contracting group. The Group’s companies provide construction, mining and operation and maintenance services to the infrastructure, resources and property markets. The Group is the world’s largest contract miner and its companies are active in Australia, Asia and the Gulf region.

Produced by Communications, Leighton Holdings LimitedDesigned by Frost*Design, SydneyPrincipal Photography by Kraig CarlstromAdditional Photography by Karl SchwerdtfegerPrint Management by MixIncPrinting by Geon

Leighton Holdings Limited ABN 57 004 482 982Head Offi ce472 Pacifi c HighwaySt Leonards NSW 2065 AustraliaT: +61 2 9925 6666F: +61 2 9925 6005www.leighton.com.auE: leighton@leighton.com.au

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PEOPLE STORY

INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT UPDATE

The Leighton Group is implementing an indigenous participation policy to further build on the record of our Operating Companies in encouraging the participation of indigenous Australians in our projects both through direct employment and through working with indigenous businesses.

We currently have approximately 500 indigenous employees throughout our operating companies, including Leighton Contractor’s 50% owned Ngarda Civil and Mining in Western Australia.

The key principles of the policy include recognising and valuing Indigenous people, their land, culture and heritage, and supporting Indigenous participation across our projects and operations.

We will partner with governments and communities to promote education, training and employment opportunities for indigenous people.

As part of this commitment the Leighton Group has joined the Australian Employment Covenant, a joint initiative between business, the Federal Government and indigenous communities to break the cycle of welfare dependence through the provision of job specifi c training programs, workplace mentoring and real employment outcomes.

Leighton Holdings are also supporters of the Indigenous Australian Engineering Summer School, which provides a forum for young Indigenous Australians, who are under-represented in the engineering profession, to be exposed to the challenges and career opportunities that working in engineering brings. The Summer School includes visiting a range of engineering projects and meeting with other young engineers to understand the variety of work that engineers do.

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2008 AGM REPORT

AT LEIGHTON HOLDINGS’ 47TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN SYDNEY ON 6 NOVEMBER 2008, CHAIRMAN, MR DAVID MORTIMER, REPORTED THAT THE COMPANY HAD ACHIEVED A 35% INCREASE IN PROFIT AFTER TAX TO A RECORD $608 MILLION FOR 2007/08. As at 30 September 2008, work in hand had increased to $35.3 billion and

since then the Group has won around $2.4 billion worth of work.

“The Leighton Group has reported another strong year with excellent returns for

shareholders based on our diversity, momentum and strategic initiatives. Dividends were

increased by 32% to 145 cents per share and the Group reported an average return on

shareholders funds of 43%,” said Mr Mortimer.

“Total revenue for the 2008 fi nancial year, including joint ventures and associates, was up

22% to $14.5 billion. The Group’s 2008 result was based on good contributions from a number

of large construction projects in Australia and the Gulf, another solid property development

performance and the contract mining of iron ore and coal in Australia and Indonesia.

“The 2008/09 fi nancial year has also started positively for the Group with total revenue for

the fi rst quarter to 30 September 2008 up 32% to $4.1 billion. Our core operating businesses

remain strong and the Group has generated a profi t attributable to members (unaudited) of

$105 million, an increase of 7% on the prior fi rst quarter,” said Mr Mortimer.

“The fi rst quarter results have been negatively impacted by the deterioration in listed asset

values and we expect the profi t result for the 2008/09 half year to be similar to the previous

half year after taking into account current asset pricing.

“We still expect an increase in revenue for 2009 of around 15% and an increase in net profi t

after tax for the 2009 fi nancial year of 15%. The result is of course subject to the vagaries of

the market and the impact that could have on asset values,” he said.

A summary of fi nancial information for the fi rst quarter of the 2008/09 fi nancial year is

shown below.

Chief Executive, Mr Wal King, said in his presentation to shareholders that the

Leighton Group was well positioned to ride through the current fi nancial market turmoil

and emerge stronger.

Continued over →

David Mortimer AO, Chairman, and Wal King AO, Chief Executive,

recently updated shareholders on the Leighton Group’s performance in

2007/08 and the longer-term outlook.

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

DAVID MORTIMER

CHAIRMAN

Approved items of business from the AGM The following items of business, as set out in the Notice of Meeting dated 1 October 2008, were approved by shareholders at the AGM:

Receipt of the Financial Reports and Reports of the Directors and Auditors;

Adoption of theRemuneration Report; and

Election of Directors: − DS Adamsas− Dr B Lohr.

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Profit before tax$million

56 72 102

126

130

04

05

06

07

08

Work in Hand#

$million

1252

3

1500

1

1804

8

2348

8

35

35

2

04

05

06

07

08

Total Revenue$million

1746

2343

2860

3118

41

06

04

05

06

07

08

Profitattributable to

members$million

38 51 76 98 105

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Q1HIGHLIGHTSThe 2008/09 fi nancial year has started

positively for the Group

30 Sept 2008 30 Sept 2007 %

$’000 $’000 Change

Revenue – Group 2,932,762 2,247,288 31%

– Joint Ventures and Associates 1,173,148 870,812 35%

Total Revenue 4,105,910 3,118,100 32%

Value of Work in Hand# 35,351,845 23,487,735 51%

Profi t before tax 129,614 126,384 3%Income tax expense (25,315) (27,540) (8%)

Profi t after tax 104,299 98,844 6%

Profi t attributable to minority interests 702 (836) 184%

Profi t attributable to members 105,001 98,008 7%

Balance Sheet informationTotal assets 7,211,062 5,442,408 33%

Total liabilities 5,015,371 4,195,508 20%

Net assets 2,195,691 1,246,900 76%

Net tangible assets 2,071,631 1,160,765 79%

Net tangible assets per ordinary share ($) $6.95 $4.72 47%

Number of employees* 40,759 29,495 38%

* Excluding Al Habtoor associated companies# Includes the Group’s share of Joint Ventures and Associates

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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“We have great foundations and the right ingredients for success. Our longer term outlook is positive based on a

record level of work in hand, a strong position in our core markets, continued growth in those core markets and the

implementation of a range of strategic initiatives to underpin long term growth,” said Mr King.

“Investment on infrastructure is forecast to stay at historically high levels fuelled by existing funding commitments

and boosted by the bringing forward of many national infrastructure projects by the Federal Government. Spending

on transport and water projects in the capital cities and on a number of major hospitals will provide a solid base for

increased activity levels.

“A recent highlight was the award to Thiess John Holland of the $4bn Airport Link project in Brisbane which includes a

6.7 kilometre multi-lane toll road. In October, Thiess was also awarded a $721 million contract to design and construct the

Royal North Shore Hospital Project, the largest-ever health Public Private Partnership undertaken in New South Wales.

This project includes a facilities management contract worth $400 million over the 28 year concession,” he said.

“In Victoria, two consortium including Thiess and John Holland have recently been shortlisted to tender to design,

construct, fi nance, operate and maintain the new $3 billion Desalination Plant Project, the largest in Australia, as a

Public-Private Partnership.

“International demand for iron ore and coal, particularly from China and the rest of Asia, is expected to support the

resources market. Export volumes are likely to continue to expand and increased work in hand, from new work awarded

to the Group over the last 12 months, should see contract mining revenues grow,” said Mr King.

“Thiess recently secured a $260 million contract extension for coal mining and pre-strip overburden removal at the

Curragh North Mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. In October, Thiess was also awarded a 5 year, $1 billion contract for

the development and operation of two coal mines in East Kalimantan,” he said.

“Property fundamentals remain sound however credit tightening is impacting investor confi dence and activity levels in

the property sector are therefore expected to slow in 2009.

“The Group is geographically diverse with operations spread across Australia, New Zealand, East and South-East Asia,

the Indian sub-continent and the Gulf. Fuelled by oil and natural gas revenues, the Gulf is enjoying a construction boom

which should continue to off er the Al Habtoor Leighton Group numerous opportunities. The Group’s other Asian markets

should continue to grow,” said Mr King.

“We are confi dent that 2009 will be another strong year for the Leighton Group and we’re well positioned in the longer

term. We’ve got the strategy, the structure, the fi nancial resources and the people in place to facilitate the continued

growth of Leighton,” he said.

The 2008 Annual General Meeting archived webcast, Chairman’s Address and Chief Executive’s Presentation are

available at www.leighton.com.au

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01 Duralie Coal Mine,New South Wales, Leighton Contractors

02 South Middleback Ranges Iron Ore Mine, South Australia, Leighton Contractors

2008 AGM REPORT CONTINUED

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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THIESS IN CONSORTIUM TO DELIVER NEWSOUTH WALES’ LARGEST-EVER HEALTHPRIVATE PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP (PPP)

The New South Wales Government reached fi nancial close in October with the InfraShore Consortium (InfraShore), led by Thiess and ABN AMRO Australia, on a contract to deliver the Royal North Shore Hospital and Community Health Services Project. Infrashore will centralise the acute clinical services currently spread across the hospital to create an integrated hospital offering ease of access for patients, families and visitors while supporting effective patient fl ow and minimising travel times.

InfraShore brings together the expertise of leading infrastructure providers including Thiess (Sponsor and Design and Construction Contractor), Thiess Services (Facilities Management – building, plant and equipment maintenance etc), ABN AMRO (Sponsor and Financier), and ISS Facilities Management (Catering, cleaning, security personnel etc). Thiess Managing Director, David Saxelby, said that Thiess will achieve revenues of $721m in the design and construction phase and $409m over the 28 year concession period.

“Thiess brings solid experience and success in delivering state of the art hospital infrastructure. We look forward to working closely with our partners to deliver a world class facility that the people of New South Wales will be proud of for a long time.”, Mr Saxelby said.

Thiess General Manager NSW/ACT, Brendan Donohue, said the project would be delivered in four stages and re-affi rmed Infrashore’s pledge of maximum consultation and minimal disruption to hospital functions.

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US$280M PRIVATE PLACEMENT COMPLETED

In October, Leighton successfully completed a US$280 million multi-tranche private placement of Senior Unsecured Fixed Coupon Notes in the United States.

Leighton’s CFO, Mr Scott Charlton, said that the Private Placement was undertaken to replace some existing Australian debt facilities and to better match US$ dollar liabilities with some of the companies US$ denominated assets, thereby helping to hedge the Group’s exposure to currency fl uctuations. The Private Placement also signifi cantly extends the maturity profi le of the group’s core debt facilities.

Mr Charlton said, “The Private Placement has a mix of maturity terms ranging from 5 years (US$111 million) to 7 years (US$90 million) to 10 years (US$79 million) and was taken up by 10 US based institutional investors. Despite extremely diffi cult fi nancial market conditions at the time the transaction was being established, the transaction was well received by US Private Placement investors, enabling the offering to be increased from an initial size of US$150 million to US$280 million,” he said

“The Private Placement was led by RBS and HSBC, two of the Group’s relationship banks, who provided great support and advice in helping to complete the transaction in volatile times,” said Mr Charlton.

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BALANCE SHEET STRATEGYScott Charlton CFO , outlines some of the recent fi nancial initiatives aimed

at supporting the Leighton Group’s strategy.

THE LEIGHTON GROUP MAINTAINS A VERY ACTIVE APPROACH TO ITS CAPITAL PLANNING, TARGETING TO HAVE THE RIGHT FINANCIAL RESOURCES IN PLACE TO TAKE US THROUGH THE NEXT FEW YEARS. Capital planning is an integral element of strategic planning and we are diligent in matching up our aspirations with our fi nancial resources,” said Mr Charlton.

“The Group’s strong fi nancial base is a core element of our strategy, driving growth through selective equity stakes, acquisitions and funding capital intensive activities such as mining. The best business partners are attracted to the Group; they understand that our ability to deliver goes hand in hand with the fi nancial strength we bring. Project investors are encouraged by Leighton’s commitment to sharing development risk by taking equity stakes, and clients understand that the guarantee of our fi nancial strength makes us a better partner,” he said.

“Ultimately a strong balance sheet is a source of competitive advantage and with our active capital planning program we always look to ensure that we have our fi nancial resources in place before we need to use them.

“In the last six months, a number of capital planning initiatives have been completed. We have substantially increased the capacity of our balance sheet with the $700 million equity entitlement off er. This off er was well received by the markets with the proceeds to be used to invest in mining plant and equipment and to repay the existing Leighton Notes (see story below).

“The Group’s bonding capacity has been increased to over $3.6 billion which provides substantial headroom for the Group to bid further work. This bonding is often required to give assurance to clients that projects will be satisfactorily completed. Performance bonds are secured by the Group’s balance sheet,” said Mr Charlton.

“A new $520 million working capital facility has been put in place through a 3 year syndicated loan facility, that was underwritten by three of our Australian relationship banks. The Group has also put in place a new 2 year, $150 million facility with another Australian relationship bank and has raised US$280 million through a US private placement which replaces some of our Australian borrowings (see side bar). In addition, the Group is in the process of increasing its operating leases facilities to take on new equipment leases.

“These measures all form part of the Group’s capital planning that aims to ensure we have the right fi nancial resources in place to take us through the next few years,” said Mr Charlton.

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

SCOTT CHARLTON

CFO

The Leighton Group has been very successful in building a strong fi nancial base over a number of years. This fi nancial strength is fundamental for a contracting organisation, which is required to fund bonds and guarantees, working capital and signifi cant investments in plant and equipment.

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COMPLETION OF RIGHTS ISSUE

FURTHER INVESTMENT IN MINING EQUIPMENT

In September, Leighton successful completed the fi nal component – the Retail Entitlement Offer – of its 1 for 14 accelerated pro-rata entitlement offer (Entitlement Offer) to shareholders to raise approximately $700 million.

Leighton’s CFO, Mr Scott Charlton said that he was very pleased with the high level of interest and participation in this Entitlement Offer, from both institutional and retail shareholders.

“The successful completion of the Entitlement Offer strengthens our ability to grow the Group’s contract mining activities that are expected to create further value for our shareholders,” said Mr Charlton.

“Leighton will use the net proceeds of the Entitlement Offer to invest in plant and equipment which will primarily be used to grow the Group’s contract mining activities in Australia, Indonesia and India. The Leighton Group is currently the world’s largest contract miner and is keen to take advantage of the opportunities arising from strong global demand for iron ore, coal and other minerals.

“This year we will invest around $1.2 billion in mining plant and equipment, again making us one of the largest purchasers of Caterpillar equipment in the world. We have a very large fl eet and are confi dent of putting this to good use over the next few years,” said Mr Charlton.

The net proceeds of the Entitlement Offer will also be used to redeem the Leighton Notes on 1 December 2008, which have a total face value of $200 million.

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03LEIGHTON FOURTH QUARTER UPDATE

“THE GREAT CHALLENGE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA WILL BE TO FACILITATE DELIVERY OF INFRASTRUCTURE OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. The vision of Australia’s place in the world is not as a transport hub or the centre of the fi nancial world. It is as a resource-rich nation positioned at the edge of growing markets that are hungry for our exports.

The mining boom will continue to be driven by demand from China and India and other parts of the world. It has fuelled private investment in new mine, rail and port infrastructure and provided the revenue base for governments to further invest in infrastructure

Despite the additional capacity, resource producers have struggled to meet demand, especially for natural gas and iron ore. This is due primarily to planning approvals for new projects, skills shortages, long lead times for capital equipment, and rising material and fi nancing costs.

Infrastructure constraints have led to a decline in Australia’s share of world production and are damaging our competitiveness. The underspend is signifi cant with estimates ranging from $320 billion to $770 billion over the next 10 years.

I have long been concerned that we deliver infrastructure in arrears in Australia. Current planned infrastructure is aimed at addressing the problems we have now. But there does not seem to be enough emphasis on delivering infrastructure with excess capacity or to meet the longer term challenges of climate change.

I agree with Infrastructure Australia’s premise that the development of our infrastructure to improve our standard of living must not come at the expense of our environment and our social objectives. But I also believe the move towards a carbon constrained economy must not come at the expense of jobs and our standard of living.

There are still many technical issues to resolve and business needs to work closely with the Government if the emissions trading scheme is to start as planned in 2010. We need incentives for investment decisions that are being made now to be directed towards low-emissions technology and behaviour.

This is where Infrastructure Australia has a vital role – objective evaluation.I would suggest that Infrastructure Australia follow the lead of India, China and the

Middle East and declare Special Economic Zones around export infrastructure where it can be coordinated and even fully funded by the Federal Government. In practice, this could cover areas such as the Pilbara, North West Shelf, Hunter Valley, Bowen Basin and Port Augusta.

The Government could take over responsibility for planning and delivering key infrastructure, potentially buying out the States and charging users a fee or providing more incentives for the private sector to make long term investments.

The Australian construction sector has the capability to meet the challenge. To ensure better delivery of Australia’s future infrastructure requirements, we need:

– An eff ective national infrastructure pipeline to provide certainty– Certainty of projects from conception to delivery, with better information at the tender phase. – Proper allocation of risk to those who are best placed to bear it. – A nationally consistent PPP framework.

I look forward to some innovative and compelling solutions from Infrastructure Australia. And to leadership, commitment and courage infl uenced by recent events from our governments.”

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Delivering infrastructure requires

leadership – particularly when the

approaching “credit ice age” off sets the

politics of global warming in the short

term. Governments need to invest in

infrastructure to support the potential

of Australia’s resource base for both a

prosperous and sustainable future.

The focus should be on enhancing

Australia’s competitive advantage based

on its natural resources and geographic

proximity to emerging economies.

WAL KING

RECENT PRESENTATION

This article is an extract from “Building the Vision: Infrastructure to underpin our export economy”, a presentation to the Australian Davos Connection: Infrastructure 21 conference in Brisbane on the 7th October 2008 by Wal King, CEO of Leighton Holdings Limited and President of the Australian Constructors Association. A full copy of the presentation is available on the company’s website at www.leighton.com.au

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10LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

SERVICES RANGE FROM RECEIVING AND DISPATCHING AIRCRAFT, CHECKING ENGINES, MINOR AND LIGHT MAINTENANCE ON THE AIRCRAFT WHEN THEY’RE IN TRANSIT THROUGH TO HEAVY MAINTENANCE ON AIRCRAFT WHICH MAY INCLUDE FULL STRIP DOWNS, REBUILDS AND FULL INSPECTIONS, ALL USING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY. JHAS can service, maintain and transit aircraft through airports in Sydney,

Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and many of the smaller regional airports throughout Australia.At 30,000 m2, and incorporating two hangars, the JHAS main facilities

in Melbourne are some of the largest in Australia. Nine aircraft can use the facilities at any one time. The smaller of the two hangars is able to hold fi ve narrow-bodied aircraft such as 737s or A320s, while the larger hangar is one of the few hangars in Australia that can house nearly all of an A380 – the new large four engine aircraft that Airbus have recently launched.

JHAS’ clients include Qantas, Jetstar, Tiger and Virgin. Being a service provider means that day-to-day relationships with clients must be closely maintained with work on aircraft always undertaken as a partnership with the aircraft owner. JHAS has achieved long-term relationships with the major Australian carriers by being fl exible and responsive to their needs. Maintenance checks can be booked in at short notice and currently there is capacity for up to 750 man hours per day to be spent on narrow bodied aircraft and up to 1200 man hours per day on wide bodied aircraft in their facilities. JHAS has expansion plans for other major airports including facilities at both Perth and Brisbane, where overnight maintenance operations are expected to commence within the next twelve months.

JHAS off ers their employees fl exible hours in a salaried arrangement with attractive pay conditions. Employees like the fl exible environment JHAS off ers where work-life-balance is important. The biggest challenge for operating an aviation maintenance business in Australia is that labour costs are substantially higher than those in Asia. Australian carriers, though very focused on the total cost of operating the aircraft, know that servicing in Australia to the highest possible quality standards with very rapid turn around times is a competitive proposition.

The major occupational health and safety issue faced in aviation is the frantic pace at which work is undertaken. Aircraft have relatively short periods of time available to have large amounts of work done. With up to 70 or 80 people working on an aircraft at any one time, it can be a tight, diffi cult environment. Some of the processes undertaken in aviation servicing involve the use of hazardous materials. As a result a signifi cant amount of work goes into handling those materials safely including wearing the right personal protective equipment and having the right safe work method statement.

Airport regulations tightly control how to walk or drive around an airport while operating aircraft are in the vicinity as ‘Jet wash’ from operating jet engines is a particular risk. All drivers require special licenses. Ensuring that everyone goes home safely at the end

of their work-day is extremely important to JHAS.There are also clear environmental regulations for aviation

maintenance and airport services despite being a relatively straightforward business. Quarantine materials, waste oils, cleaning solvents and other chemicals have to be appropriately handled and disposed of to ensure that there is no environmental contamination.

The John Holland Group has brought signifi cant planning expertise to aircraft maintenance activities and as a result JHAS is setting a new standard for the aviation industry. Clients judge the performance of JHAS by the organisation’s timeliness and their quality of service. When aircraft go back into operation, JHAS tracks serviced vehicles for the fi rst ten fl ights with the expectation that these aircraft will deliver absolutely top performance.

JHAS sees further opportunities for growth going forward and expects employment within the Melbourne facility to double over the next few years. One of the main goals is to engage in long-term contracts for heavy maintenance with the major domestic airlines. Recently a three year contract with Tiger was secured, a contract for fi ve years with the Department of the

Defence and a contract for fi ve years for Virgin’s fl eet maintenance has been signed. JHAS are very excited about this growth and expect to become the largest Australian provider of international line maintenance and ramp services over the next couple of years.

JOHN HOLLAND

AVIATION SERVICESJohn Holland Aviation Services (JHAS) is Australia’s largest

independent aviation maintenance organisation. Based at the

Melbourne Airport precinct in Victoria, Australia, they off er a wide

range of services to international and domestic carriers.

ANDREW HENDERSON

GENERAL MANAGER, JHAS

I’m a professional mechanical engineer with an MBA. I’ve got about 25 years worth of experience in the manufacturing and maintenance environments. I’ve been involved in aviation for the last two and a half years and started the acquisition of Ansett Aviation Services two years ago.

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12LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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JOHN HOLLAND ALONG WITH VEOLIA WATER, WILL DESIGN, BUILD, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN THE PLANT FOR 20 YEARS. THE DESALINATION PLANT WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 250 MILLION LITRES OF WATER A DAY. John Holland and Veolia Water signed the project contract on 18 July 2007. Shortly thereafter, the tender team (including as many as 130 designers from the Design Joint Venture of Sinclair Knight Merz and Maunsell) moved to

Kurnell with the construction team and construction activities commenced. Since project inception, the senior management team has realised the importance of establishing a well-bonded team. ‘Blue Water’ gave the team a theme and some challenging project goals to work towards.

The biggest design and construction project undertaken by Sydney Water since Warragamba Dam, it is a very complex, multi-disciplined project. There are some very diffi cult components to the project: drilling risers approximately 250 to 300m off Kurnell’s coastline in a high surf zone; tunnelling 2.5km for each of the inlet and outlet tunnels with tunnel boring machines (TBMs); and the construction of the processing facility. The desalination plant will take seawater through the four inlet structures on the sea bed at a very low velocity into risers and along an inlet tunnel into the pre-treatment area. Here the water moves through a coal and sand fi lter, similar to those installed at Prospect Reservoir to remove solids like sand and sediment. Water is then forced into pressure vessels and through membranes where drinking water is extracted from the salt water by the reverse osmosis process. This water is chemically treated to standards that meet the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and NSW Health requirements, similar to the way dam water is treated with such things as fl ouride.

A third of the water is converted to drinking water and deposited into the drinking water tank. The other two thirds containing all the salt, are returned back out to sea,

through the outlet tunnel and risers where it is diff used through the outlet structures. The returned salty water is diluted to the same temperature and salinity as the inlet water, within 50m to 75m of the outlet structures. From the plant at Kurnell, a new pipeline (not part of the BWJV project) will take the water under Botany Bay to hook up to Sydney’s water supply system at the inner city suburb of Erskineville.

Two German Herrenknecht TBMs with a total value of $20m are creating the inlet and outlet tunnels. The TBMs will segmentally line the tunnels as they move along under the Pacifi c Ocean to a point past the last of the four risers on each of the inlet and outlet tunnels. At that point the back-up carriage and conveyor system behind the TBM heads will be removed and sold for around $1m to $1.5m in salvage value. The motors and heads of the machines will be left buried at sea behind a concrete wall; the segmental lining making it impossible to extract the heads.

Sydney Water put in place a $10m incentive scheme for safety performance on the project, however, as BWJV feels that safety is not a profi t issue, any incentive dollars will be put back into the project. In order to ensure that this project achieves a good safety outcome, BWJV with funding from Sydney Water, has instigated the ‘Lead the Way Program’. The program is based on John Holland’s Passport to Safety Excellence Program, a business wide initiative to ensure the safe delivery of projects. The program is being rolled out to employees and all project subcontractors to emphasise the importance of safety.

The facility sits on a 30 hectare site adjacent to Caltex’s Kurnell refi nery. BWJV is responsible for a 15 hectare conservation area adjacent to the project site where populations of endangered grey-headed fl ying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), and green and golden bell frogs (Litoria aurea) live. BWJV must also protect the marine environment around the risers which is home to a population of endangered weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). There are environmental offi cers in all areas of the project, marine, tunneling and plant to ensure the safety of this sensitive geography.

One area of special environmental focus for the project is site dewatering. Water is pumped into the conservation area and its quality is closely monitored to meet specifi cations set by the Departments of Planning and Environment. The project has a keen interest in becoming part of the local community, particularly as Veolia Water, our project partner will operate and maintain the facility for 20 years.

BWJV’s community participation initiatives have included helping to upgrade the local public school. The project team was approached by the school to see what it could do and a modern Out Of School Hours (OOSH) centre has since been created. The reaction of parents and teachers has been very positive.

JOHN HOLLAND

SYDNEY DESALINATION PLANTJohn Holland is a major partner in the Blue Water Joint Venture (BWJV).

In June 2007, the Sydney Desalination Plant Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of

Sydney Water Corporation) chose the BWJV to construct the Sydney

Desalination Plant at Kurnell in Sydney, Australia for the New South

Wales State Government.

JOHN BARRACLOUGH

PROJECT DIRECTOR,SYDNEY DESALINATION PLANT

This is a dynamic, multi-faceted project. As well as the complex and varied construction works, there are also political sensitivities. Our attention to all aspects of this project, sees an energy and vibrancy on our three sites to get things done well and effi ciently. This project has a great deal of respect for both the environment and community and is a vital part of Sydney’s viability in these challenging times of global warming.

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Currently John Holland’s project team numbers approximately 45 on T2E. As most have not worked together previously, the

development of a strong project culture has been a priority toensure the project’s delivery to the client’s expectations of timeand quality. Project 1 is very close to delivery, Project Gates isin the fi eld and well advanced, and Project 2 has just commenced.

Safety performance is the team’s number one focus. At an airport both safety and security are heightened issues as they potentially aff ect airport operations. The client is passionate about safety management and utilises a balanced safety scorecard system across all active projects which are independently audited every month. John Holland’s active T2E projects have achieved results in the high 90s – a great result for everyone concerned. Melbourne Airport has extensive safety induction processes which are now integrated into John Holland’s health and safety induction. A series of safety workshops involving the client have been conducted and there is a quarterly safety award scheme for project construction workers.

Construction work around aircraft has the potential to create unusual hazards where everyday debris can become extremely dangerous. The project team has to be very conscious to ensure debris does not get wind blown and into aircraft engines, so all project bins are covered and there is a rigorous site cleaning regime.

The number of construction workers on this project will peak at about 400, but over the life of the project there could be as

many as 2,500 inducted onto the project. This means a considerable amount of safety training and site access processing, as the majority of John Holland’s work at T2E is done air side.

Airports make unique construction sites. All construction workers and vehicles must go through a security gate before being escorted by work safety offi cers to the site offi ce to obtain security passes. From there, they are escorted by bus across taxiways to the various work sites. Just getting to the work site can be diffi cult with aircraft having right of way and inclement weather adding complications.

The T2E contract was awarded in October 2007 and is scheduled to be concluded inDecember of 2011. The majority of the work will be carried out over the fi rst two years. The balance of the works which require considerable reconfi guration of the existing retail facilities will be staged over some 24 months.

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TRAFFIC THROUGH MELBOURNE’S AIRPORT IS TARGETED TO EXPAND AT A RATE OF ABOUT 14% PER ANNUM AS A CONSEQUENCE OF AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC AIRPORTS MELBOURNE UNDERTAKING THE T2E. The fi rst project, (titled Project 1), is an expansion of the airport’s baggage handling facilities and a retail expansion adjacent to the airport’s existing south baggage handling hall. Commenced in November 2007, work will be completed to meet peak Christmas demands. Project 1 involves a signifi cant

area of the airport’s operations, impacting on the inbound baggage handling room and a very busy air side road. The number of baggage laterals that could be closed as works progressed was limited so all of this work had to be staged, requiring a high degree of planning. During the work a number of problems were uncovered and successfully resolved including rock; an existing sewer; existing aviation fuel lines; contaminated soils; as well as some building footings that didn’t match documentation. John Holland’s robust risk management process allows the project team to take corrective measures in these situations: regular risk assessments with the client and project team workshops are essential.

The second project (titled Project Gates) involves the extension of the existing gate lounge satellite building with a new cross concourse and pier to accommodate an additional fi ve new gate lounges. The new gate lounges will feature 10m high windows with views across the airfi eld. In conjunction with the building works, surrounding aprons and taxiways have to be upgraded.

The third project (titled Project 2) is a further expansion of the airport baggage handling facilities together with a signifi cant retail expansion on the north side of the existing building. This project has required John Holland to investigate value management initiatives to speed up construction and overcome tight site access issues. Keeping manufacturing processes off site as much as possible greatly helps. The incumbent design solution for Project 2 was a post tension concrete slab solution, that is being converted into a total precast concrete design solution, minimising the amount of time construction workers spend on site and providing program and cost effi ciencies.

JOHN HOLLAND GROUP

MELBOURNE AIRPORT T2EThe Melbourne Airport Terminal Expansion Project (T2E) involves

three separate projects to increase the number of arrival/departure

gates and to expand baggage handling and retail facilities at the

airport. John Holland was awarded the T2E managing contractor role.

MARK CEDDIA

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

My father had a small sub-contracting business, so I had an interest in building through my family experience. I enjoy the creative side of building things and standing back at the end of the day and seeing what has been created. I like to take on a challenge and once I commit to taking on a challenge I like seeing the job through and that means being interested in what my staff do and helping them achieve their goals.

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16

THE WESTERN HIGHWAY IS THE MAIN ROAD LINK BETWEEN MELBOURNE AND ADELAIDE IN AUSTRALIA AND CARRIES OVER 70,000 VEHICLES PER DAY THROUGH DEER PARK. The Deer Park bypass received funding to circumvent a section of this highway with a history of near-and-fatal-crashes leading to at least one fatality a year. The new road will signifi cantly reduce traffi c congestion around Melbourne’s expanding outer western suburbs, bypassing 20

intersections and 6 sets of traffi c lights. Once completed, the bypass is anticipated to reduce travel times by up to 15 minutes during peak periods.

Although the project is being delivered under a design and construct contract for VicRoads, certain alliance contract characteristics have been adopted under what is being called a ‘one team environment’. Working from the same offi ce, alongside the Leighton Contractors staff , VicRoads is a part of the construction process. Previously, if VicRoads required clarifi cation on an issue, Leighton Contractors would have to issue a written communication to VicRoads who would review it and then have to return an offi cial written response. If the response was not positive, then the procedure would be repeated until an agreement was made. However, on this project, meetings between appropriate VicRoads and Leighton Contractors parties can resolve issues quickly. Documentation confi rming the agreed outcome is uploaded onto the system to complete the process and accommodate probity requirements.

Work started on site in March 2007 and currently, structures works are about 90% complete. Deer Park Bypass features 14 bridge structures. 123 precast concrete beams have been manufactured for use in these bridges in a joint venture between Leighton Contractors and a local Melbourne manufacturer. A specially fabricated large steel box girder spanning the inbound and outbound lanes of the Western Ring Road intersection is being manufactured in Newcastle. Six kilometres of 6m high noise walls and 27 sign gantries are also currently under construction.

The bypass requires 2.46 million m3 of earthworks, 246,000m3 of pavement and 192,000 tonnes of asphalt.

The earthworks critical path follows the complex intersection at the Western Ring Road. One signifi cant area requiring excavation near the Western Ring Road alone contained over 200,000m3 of dirt. The use of belly dumpers rather than trucks and trailers makes the placement of pavement materials safer.

For the past 30 years VicRoads has used a standard asphalt pavement design on its projects. VicRoads agreed to use local material from the nearby Boral quarry in the asphalt pavement layers and cement treated materials, resulting in cost savings while adhering to performance requirements.

Traffi c management is the most signifi cant safety issue on the project, particularly on the Western Ring Road which carries about 3000 cars per hour. Concrete barriers and ‘gawk screens’ have been installed to protect both workers and drivers. A strong safety culture has been fostered through regular on-site safety meetings. The entire workforce is encouraged to come up with safety suggestions through the project’s ‘Shout Awards’, which is run totally by the employees and has resulted in a number of excellent safety initiatives.

Dust suppression is a major issue for the Deer Park Bypass project. Responding to Victoria’s water shortage, the project team has sunk four bores along the length of the alignment to supply water for spraying haul roads and other construction uses. Local councils may be able to use the bores for ongoing environmental maintenance and irrigation after the project’s completion. Furthermore, some parts of the project run very close to residential and commercial properties, so noise and

vibration levels are constantly monitored and a community relations team regularly interacts with neighbours to ensure that any issues are quickly dealt with.

Another major environmental concern for the project is its potential impact on a number of endangered species including the Striped Legless Lizard, the Pale Swamp Everlasting, the Golden Sun Moth and the Spiny Rice Flower. Before the project commenced, a full survey of the site was undertaken to identify and relocate these species. With the assistance of Parks of Victoria and local councils, new protected habitats have been set up for them.

As a result of all parties working together as one team, the project has become extremely streamlined. Shared goals for time, cost and safety are motivating everyone so highly that the project is set to open ahead of schedule.

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS

DEER PARK BYPASSVicRoads contracted Leighton Contractors to design and construct

Melbourne’s 9.3km Deer Park Bypass in December 2006. This four

lane dual carriageway will run from the Western Highway at Caroline

Springs to the Western Ring Road in Sunshine West.DAVID TEAGUE

PROJECT STRATEGICSUPPORT MANAGER, VICROADS

I had a pre-conceived idea of construction contractors, and I’m sure the guys at Leighton had their own preconceptions of VicRoads – sitting up in an offi ce somewhere. It’s really encouraging that both parties came together and decided that there had to be a better way to get the project built and meet both parties’ objectives. I think Deer Park Bypass is a perfect example of what can be achieved.

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18LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND IS LEADING AUSTRALIA’S INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE, FUELLED BY A POPULATION INFLUX. In Brisbane’s south western suburbs the Ipswich Motorway is undergoing a signifi cant upgrade to cater for greater numbers of road users and to improve road safety for the estimated 80,000 commuters who use this road every day. This section of the Ipswich Motorway has had 15 fatal accidents over the past 10 years.

IPSWICH MOTORWAY UPGRADE – WACOL TO DARRA Leighton Contractors has joined with Queensland’s Department of Main Roads, BMD Constructions and Arup and Maunsell Australia in the SAFElink Alliance to deliver the Ipswich Motorway Upgrade – Wacol to Darra project. Given the large number of infrastructure projects in Queensland, the Alliance has made strategic sub-alliances with key suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure availability of resources.

The SAFElink Alliance name was chosen to express the importance placed on the Alliance’s core value of safety– one of the key components of the project since its design phase. A behavioural-based project safety program empowers the workforce to take responsibility for their own health and safety, and enables them to refuse to undertake unsafe work. A random drug and alcohol testing program has also been introduced.

In a community initiative, SAFElink is engaging with the nearby Borallon Correctional Centre to erect a training facility for 10 inmates to acquire certifi cates in basic construction skills to become labourers. One inmate is currently working on the project and another four, due for release by Christmas, will be

LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS

IPSWICH MOTORWAYPROJECTSThe Queensland Department of Main Roads has awarded Leighton

Contractors two major projects on this stretch of road, namely the

Ipswich Motorway Upgrade – Wacol to Darra project and the Ipswich

Logan Interchange project.

MARTIN WOOD

SAFELINK ALLIANCEMANAGER

What motivates me at Leighton Contractors is delivering on our promises to our clients and seeing the personal development of people on the project as they grow and move into more senior positions and learn the skills necessary for delivering at these higher levels.

WACOL TO DARRA UPGRADE COMPRISES:

• Widening 5.5kms of the Ipswich Motorway to six lanes between Gailes and Darra

• Upgrading the Centenary Motorway from Sumner Park Road to beyond Boundary Road Bridge

• Bridgeworks and new pedestrian and cyclist paths

• Earthworks and bridgeworks for the Darra to Springfi eld rail line, passing through the Centenary Highway interchange

• 26 bridges to be constructed along the project

• New multi-level interchange with Centenary Motorway – the largest interchange in Queensland

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off ered positions. The Alliance has also designed a new ‘anti-gawk’ screen designed to hide roadworks from motorists’ peripheral vision and reduce driver distraction and potential crashes. These are being manufactured at the Correctional Centre. Since their introduction other alliance projects within the corridor are using the screens.

The project’s environmental impacts include traditional dust and noise amelioration, and the need to relocate specifi c fl ora and fauna. A number of waterways crossing under the Ipswich Motorway are also fauna crossings. In partnership with the local Bremer Institute of Tertiary and Further Education (TAFE), students are cultivating locally collected indigenous seeds to rejuvenate the disturbed waterways once construction is complete.

IPSWICH/LOGAN INTERCHANGE Leighton Contractors has been awarded a fi xed price, design and construct contract for the Ipswich/Logan Interchange project, expected to be completed in the fi rst half of 2009.

Leighton Contractors won the project with an innovative design approach that changed the overpass to an underpass to reduce the number of bridges required, resulting in a major cost saving for the client. The project also introduced integral bridges into Queensland. These bridges don’t require deck joints and expansion bearings, signifi cantly reducing costs during construction and future maintenance.

Some of the project’s challenges include: the construction of the extremely deep stormwater system; the relocation of many public utility services; a very tight site; and complex traffi c management. There are six stages of traffi c management and each traffi c sequence requires enormous planning. Due to the restrictive site, it has been more effi cient to construct using precast units built off -site where possible.

The confi ned nature of the site increases potential for vehicle incidents. The successful ‘Take 2’ safety campaign was introduced to highlight the importance of taking time to think before driving. To date 800,000 injury free man-hours have been executed on the project.

This highly visible project interacts closely with the local community. A communications team advises the local community about project activities. Further, a community liaison group has been established to discuss project progress and impacts.

Environmental impacts from the project including dust, mud and noise are tightly managed. The project team tries to avoid scheduling noisy activities at night when possible and closely monitors noise, dust and water run-off turbidity. This is also a fi re ant registered area so, before work commences anywhere on site, a fi eld check for fi re ants is performed and all material leaving the site has to be traceable.

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MARK BAINES

PROJECT MANAGER

I really enjoy the variety that a project like this has to offer from keeping a large team motivated, to technical issues, to commercial issues and physical constraints. They’re all challenges that you need to work with and it’s a great levelling ground.

IPSWICH/LOGAN INTERCHANGE COMPRISES:

• Removing existing right-side merging lanes

• Providing new left-side ramps between the Logan and Ipswich Motorways

• Widening a 2km stretch of the Ipswich Motorway

• A new traffi c and pedestrian underpass

• New cycle lanes and pedestrian footpaths

• A new service road on the southern side of the Ipswich Motorway

• Major visual and landscaping improvements

• Construction 12 bridges

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GLOUCESTER COAL’S DURALIE COAL MINE IS A BOUTIQUE OPERATION PRODUCING AROUND TWO MILLION TONNES OF SPECIALTY COAL A YEAR AT FULL CAPACITY. THE COAL PRODUCT IS VERY HIGH QUALITY EXPORT GRADE.The mine is located approximately one hour north of Australia’s Hunter Valley in the Gloucester Basin on the east coast of NSW.

Premium high value coking coal and a high energy thermal coal are both mined at Duralie. The coking coal is primarily exported to Japan for steel manufacturing while the thermal coal is exported throughout South East Asia and is used as a blend coal to improve the quality of coal from poorer deposits. There is a premium attached to the coal from Duralie because of its quality, therefore, maximised resource recovery is important to delivering end value to Gloucester Coal.

Geologically, the Gloucester Basin is structurally complex with the coal deposit located in a small synclinal basin approximately 40km long. At the Duralie mine the coal deposit is only 4km wide. The Duralie coal seams can lay at up to 50 degrees with a lot of faulting which allows only small platforms for excavation. This makes slope stability control a major focus. A good management plan that allows a proactive response to this hazard is important. This rugged and complex mine requires experienced operators to deliver results.

The mine has an experienced, committed and stable workforce of approximately 76 employees who work ten-and-a-half hour shifts on a continuous roster, six days a week. Most employees have been on-site since mining began in 2003. They are very familiar with the complex geological conditions and the area’s high rainfall of about a metre of rain a year.

One of the project’s recent achievements was reaching 1,000 days without any lost time to injury. This was accomplished through team work, good management systems and experience. It has been a great achievement, but the employees at the mine are well aware that it’s not what they have done that counts it’s what they will do during today’s shift and

into the future that makes the diff erence. Most of the mine’s operators are local to the area, with about

half the workforce from Gloucester, about 20km from the mine. This localised workforce creates a closer and more stable team than a remote workforce living away from their families.

Gloucester Coal is actively exploring the Gloucester Basin to identify additional resources to increase the life of the mine which is forecast to operate until 2030. To expand the mine, Gloucester Coal must demonstrate sound environmental performance and be a valued member of the community. Leighton Contractors actively supports Gloucester Coal’s eff orts to minimise the impact on the local farming community and the environment.

Dust is one of the environmental issues facing the mine. Environmental control of dust includes measures to minimise dust during drilling operations, the use of water carts to keep road dust in check, and ceasing operations altogether under severe wind conditions.

Managing water quality is also extremely important at Duralie. Adjacent to the mine is a freshwater creek supplying drinking water to around 1200 people. It is critical that this water supply is not compromised. Additionally, noise can impact on neighbours, particularly at night. Eff orts to control mining noise include planning where operations are located at night and constantly monitoring noise levels.

As the mining operation follows the coal seam up the valley a steep dip is left behind. Rehabilitating to stabilise the land is critical, but revegetating the slopes to minimise the visual impact of mining is also important to maintain a clean and green location. The locally-based team are personally committed to keeping it that way.

LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS

DURALIE COAL MINELeighton Contractors’ contract for mine planning, surface mining

and site rehabilitation at Duralie Coal Mine runs until March 2009.

This modest-sized operation produces around two million tonnes of

very high quality export grade coal a year at full capacity.

MARK SHELDON*

PROJECT MANAGER

I’ve been with Leighton Contractor’s Mining Division for approximately 18 months.

Leighton Contractors has a very strong culture focusing not only on the mining work, but also valuing people, safety and teamwork. You actually see it in practice. It’s ‘walk the talk,’ a genuine demonstration of commitment to the values of the company and that’s a great way to do business.

*Mark Sheldon has since left Leighton Contractors.

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OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS THIS SECTION OF THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY HAS SEEN OVER 150 SERIOUS ACCIDENTS AND EIGHT FATALITIES. THE PROJECT WILL UPGRADE THE CURRENT TWO-LANE ROAD TO FOUR LANES OF DUAL-CARRIAGEWAY, BYPASSING THREE TOWNSHIPS. The project is being delivered through an alliance between the client, Roads & Traffi c Authority of New South Wales, the designers, Parsons

Brinckerhoff and Thiess who is overseeing construction. Time was taken to achieve a homogenous alliance team where employees identify strongly with the Alliance rather than their parent companies. Under an alliance structure all parties are very much a part of the project’s possible successes or failings and that drives very positive behaviours across the whole team.

The Alliance was formed in April 2007 with a project offi ce set up shortly after in Sydney to undertake most of the design and planning. Site clearing commenced in November 2007 and the project is scheduled to open to traffi c by late 2009. The project is currently about 50% through the earthworks. There are over 400 items of plant hard at work and the workforce is now over 500 (about 8% are from the local indigenous population). The workforce will peak at about 750 in the next few months.

Environmental management along this very narrow project corridor, in part sandwiched between a railway line and a national park, is extremely complex. There are over 15 water courses to manage, two of which are major crossings over Stewarts River and Camden Haven River. The Alliance has undertaken a lot of consultation with New South Wales Government bodies to ensure the correct environmental practices are adhered to. The team is particularly proud of their creek diversions, where diversion paths are lined with special fi lter fabric below a layer of hand placed rocks and transplanted aquatic plants from elsewhere in the redirected creek. Culverts in permanent water courses have included specifi c environmental features to encourage fi sh passage. The local Fisheries inspectors have been particularly pleased with the results in these areas.

At the Camden Haven River crossing, a new bridge is being built and the piers left from the previous bridge are being demolished. In order to do this a series of booms were fl oated around the piers supporting silk ‘curtains’ that go down to the riverbed to ensure that no sediment escaped during demolition. Similar techniques will be employed when the piers on the new bridge are being constructed.

Global positioning systems and geographic information systems technology are used extensively on this project to ensure correct highway alignment, rather than surveying with the use of pegs. This is helping with the project’s short timeframe, as will the two purpose built, high capacity concrete batch plants from the United States. They will each turn out up to 2,400m3 of paving concrete per day at peak production. Because they are modular and trailer mounted they will be able to be moved to diff erent locations within a couple of days, lowering concrete transport costs.

The project runs through an area that aff ects some 250 to 300 residents directly and over 800 indirectly. The project’s community involvement process includes extensive communication with those residents. A very eff ective community information group with representatives from many of the smaller communities along the route meets monthly and are taken onto the project regularly to inspect project progress.

Construction noise is a signifi cant issue to local communities. Installation of noise mitigation measures prior to the start of construction rather than after has been undertaken and, of the 66km of project carriageway, some 11km will be constructed with noise reducing pavement.

One of the particularly successful safety initiatives on this project is the use of the workforce in the management of safety. Within their enterprise bargaining agreements there is a link between the payment of their productivity allowance and safety performance. This link is to positive forms of safety management, such as job capacity assessments and safety audits by the workforce. Environmental and quality performance is similarly linked to the productivity allowance.

Over the life of this project, traffi c routes will be switched 18 times. This complex traffi c management exercise is undertaken by a dedicated team of two traffi c managers, a traffi c co-ordinator and up to 30 or 40 traffi c controllers. Traffi c signals as well as traffi c controllers are used in many areas to manage traffi c and a system is in place to minimise project traffi c turning along the route and impacting on the travelling public.

THIESS

COOPERNOOK TOHERONS CREEK The project is located on a section of the Pacifi c Highway

approximately 20km north of Taree and 25km south of Port Macquarie

in New South Wales, Australia. It involves the upgrade of a 33 km

section of the highway, which has a poor safety record.

PETER CHATBURN

ALLIANCE PROJECTDIRECTOR

I’ve been in the construction industry some 30 years and 27 of those have been with Thiess.

The main motivation for me and the team is the challenge of building a major piece of infrastructure in a diffi cult section of the Pacifi c Highway and meeting the Alliance’s three main measures of success: meeting target costs; making the project program; and achieving project performance which is a measure of both the success of the traffi c fl ow management over the life of the project and the quality delivered.

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THE OTHER HDA PARTNERS ARE SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ AND URS, AND SEQWATER (REPLACING GOLD COAST CITY COUNCIL) AS CLIENT. Thiess provides a wealth of experience in project and fi nancial management, and the construction of major dams; Sinclair Knight Merz brings expertise in obtaining approvals, community and stakeholder consultation, preparing environmental impact statements and recreational planning, and URS specialises in dam design, engineering,

and geotechnical investigations. Raising the dam wall will not only almost double the dam capacity for the population

of the Gold Coast, it will also improve fl ood management on the lower Nerang River catchment. Currently, the predicted one-in-a-hundred-year fl ood would inundate approximately 4,500 properties on the Gold Coast, but this upgrade will reduce that to less than 1,000 properties. The project will extend the existing main embankment and new saddle dams, raise the spill-way, and re-establish associated road infrastructure. The dam’s former recreational area will be inundated. 300,000 people per annum used this area, so a larger one will be built with recreation facilities on the water reinstated. Stage 3 will increase water supply from Hinze Dam to 225 mega litres per day, and ensure the dam complies with current safety standards and guidelines. Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.

About 1.7 million cubic metres of rockfi ll, 190,000 cubic metres of clay core and about 190,000 cubic metres of fi lters will be used to increase the dam wall. The upgrade of the spillway will consume between 55,000m3 and 60,000m3 of concrete. All of the materials required other than steel, cement and fl yash are being produced on site. Because of the large volume of materials being moved around this site a mining fl eet with large haulage capacity is used.

The workforce of about 250 is kept well informed about health and safety requirements on-site. Safety hazards on the project include a drill and blasting operation, working at heights, working over water and working with existing infrastructure which has meant dealing with live power.

A team of fi ve safety offi cers on the project helps minimise the safety risks to the Alliance team. Safety presentations by construction industry members who have made poor safety decisions and had to bear the consequences are given. A couple of presenters have become paraplegics through accidents. This has had an enormous impact on the Alliance team. The Alliance also runs a fi t-for-life program to teach workers how to move properly in relation to stresses and strains on their body and reduce injuries at work. Sun exposure on the project is seen as an additional health risk and free skin cancer scanning is off ered to all team members.

The HDA team includes fi ve stakeholder communication offi cers to look after residents who live as close as only 30m away from the project. They keep the HDA team very mindful of the eff ects activities like drilling, blasting and water discharging have on the community. During the design phase they organised a community consultation group that enabled locals to provide input to the project design. They also run a school’s program with ten local schools doing presentations, and running projects with the students. Presentations are made to other local groups and one Saturday each month the community team runs tours for the general public to showcase the work.

Increasing the height of the dam by 15m will inundate approximately 500 hectares of land. Under legislation governing

this project there is no requirement for compensation, however, the Alliance is giving 320 hectares of land to the community: the same amount of land that would have been required under other development projects.

Four professional environmental staff focus on the project’s environmental issues. This is a water supply system for 500,000 Gold Coast inhabitants living downstream of the project with only a 24 hour, treated water supply in reserve in their reservoirs. Hydrocarbons spills into the waterway are therefore of enormous concern. Several identifi ed hot spots on the site have hydrocarbon spill control kits in case of emergency. To date there has been no need to use them.

The four Alliance members work very hard to function as one team to deliver the best outcomes for the project. With more potential work on several dams proposed for the south east corner of Queensland, this team is trying to consolidate its reputation for providing a good product and delivery experience: safe and timely, under budget and with minimal environmental impact.

THIESS

HINZE DAMThe Hinze Dam Stage 3 project in Queensland, Australia will raise

the embankment wall from 93.5m to 108.5m, providing a total

storage capacity of 309,700 mega litres. Thiess, as part of the Hinze

Dam Alliance (HDA), has been awarded the contract by the Gold

Coast City Council.PETER CONSELLA

ALLIANCE MANAGER

I’ve been with the Leighton Group for approximately 20 years, but I’ve been in the industry for about 30 years. This is my sixth dam and heavy infrastructure is what I’m into building. Creating something that will be there for a very, very long period of time and you can see when you fl y over in a plane and say, ‘yes I was involved in that one,’ really gives me a buzz.

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26LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

THIESS

WASTE SERVICESIn February, Thiess Services commenced waste and recycling contracts

for the Gosford Shire and Wyong City Council areas in New South Wales,

Australia. The 10-year contracts involve the collection of domestic general

waste, recyclables, green waste and bulk waste, and the processing of

recyclables for a population of approximately 330,000.

TO FULFIL THE CONTRACT THIESS SERVICES CONSTRUCTED A NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY (MRF) AT SOMERSBY AND PURCHASED A NEW COLLECTION TRUCK FLEET. THE MRF CAN BE OPERATED BY A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND SORT APPROXIMATELY 25 TONNES OF RECYCLABLES AN HOUR. The facility has a total operating capacity of approximately 2000 tonnes per week, however, at this early contract stage is processing about

900 tonnes of recyclables a week.Thiess Services was heavily involved in the evolution of the technology employed at

the MRF, which combines manual, mechanical and automated sorting and processing technologies to maximise material recovery. The facility is the only MRF in Australia to employ auto-sort equipment for glass, plastics and paper.

Near-infrared (NIR) sensor technology and full spectrum colour sensors are used to identify plastic resins and glass by type and colour.

The facility processes fi bre (e.g. paper, newsprint, cardboard), plastic milk bottles, plastic drink containers, other mixed plastics, steel, aluminium and glass.

Glass is recycled down to granuals 10mm in size. Anything smaller is reprocessed and recycled through a subcontractor before being onsold. Only three to six per cent of waste that enters the MRF is committed to landfi ll and about half of that material is non-recyclable. Those fi gures, in comparison to percentages between 10 and 30 per cent at other MRFs in Australia, clearly put the Somersby facility of the forefront of material recovery and recycling.

The fl eet that services the MRF consists of 60 side-loading mobile garbage bin collection vehicles. The fl eet is worth $20 million and is maintained and run from an on-site maintenance depot. The vehicles feature engines with Euro IV emission control technology and run on environmentally friendly ultra-low sulphur diesel.

Ninety per cent of the fl eet are dual steering vehicles with tandem drives, while the remaining vehicles are single steering vehicles with single drives for traversing some of the narrow streets around Gosford and Wyong.

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The fl eet also incorporates an alarm system that is triggered if a driver attempts to leave a vehicle without engaging the handbrake.

Additional rear load vehicles, acquired to pick up bulky goods, have been fi tted with modifi ed “HIAB” cranes designed by Thiess Services, that feature a claw that grabs and loads bulky items into the rear compactors for crushing and greatly reduces the need for manual handling by employees.

All vehicles incorporate GPS technology, which supplies the depot with truck location information to enable re-routing to improve fl eet collection rates and performance. Each vehicle also features on-board weighing systems that monitor truck axle weights and the driver can register when a bin is overfull or when a bin has been knocked over or contaminated.

The fl eet maintenance depot at Somersby contains four individual Bluetooth synchronised lifting hoists to allow access to the undersides of vehicles. The hoists each have a 32-tonne capacity and can lift a truck evenly or separately by the front or rear axle.

The depot is also equipped with brake testing equipment and a shaker, which helps technicians to check for worn or loose components.

The depot is accredited to conduct servicing and registration inspections. The depot also has an automated vehicle wash

facility that uses water captured off the roofs of the facility. The water used for washing is also recycled to clean out the bodies of the collection vehicles.

Recyclables processed at the facility are sold to domestic and international markets under long-term contracts as the commodities market in recyclables fl uctuates greatly.

The environmental benefi ts from one year of operation at the MRF are expected to be signifi cant. It is estimated that the operation will save 124,000 cubic metres of landfi ll space, reduce carbon dioxide levels by the equivalent of permanently taking almost 5,500 cars off our roads, will save the annual equivalent electricity consumption of almost 35,000 households and will reduce water consumption by 745 million litres.

BARRY THOMAS

MANAGERWASTE MANAGEMENTDIVISION EASTERN

I get a great deal ofsatisfaction out of seeing a large project like the Gosford and Wyong contracts come to fruition. I’ve been involved since the project was identifi ed, through the tendering stage and the planning stage, to actually being part of the successful team implementing the contract.

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CONSTRUCTION BY THIESS’ NEW TUNNELLING DIVISION REQUIRED A 3.75M DIAMETER TUNNEL BORING MACHINE (TBM) FOR 1.6KM OF TUNNEL AND A ROADHEADER FOR EXCAVATION OF 100M AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE TUNNEL. After reviewing various construction methods for the tunnel, Energy Australia selected the tunnelling option. Tunnelling minimises disruption to the community at ground level, reduces the need to relocate existing

services and allows Energy Australia easy access for future maintenance and upgrade works. The hard-ground cable tunnel has been segmentally-lined as it was bored. Segmental

lining creates an essentially dry tunnel to house Energy Australia’s high voltage (HV) electrical feeder cables. The tunnel lining segments are made of steel-fi bre reinforced precast concrete, 200mm thick, one metre long, and trapezoidal in shape. It takes six segments to form each watertight ring.

Thiess was awarded the City West Cable tunnel in April 2007. Work on site began in June 2007 and TBM excavation commenced in January 2008. TBM excavation was completed in October 2008. Thiess is now completing the shaft and tunnel in-situ linings. Once the linings are complete the tunnels are handed over to the client to install the HV feeder cables while Thiess constructs the associated control building on the surface. Following placement of the HV cables Thiess is then responsible for the installation and commissioning of the full tunnel mechanical and electrical operating systems.

The tunnel was excavated and lined using a single shielded TBM with a rock head confi guration. An 11kV feeder cable from an electrical substation on the surface powered the 824kW TBM. On completion of the project the TBM will be buried underground, off -alignment and then concrete entombed.

The TBM was supplied by rolling stock. All the segments were transported to the TBM on segment cars and all the spoil was removed in “muck bins” on “muck cars.” The bins were lifted to the surface by a 25 tonne gantry crane and stockpiled in an acoustic shed for removal via road trucks during daytime hours.

Eleven-man TBM crews were led by a leading hand or a shift boss with tunnelling undertaken in two shifts: an afternoon shift and a night shift. During a morning shift, maintenance was performed and TBM cutters were changed. Consolidation grouting occurred on the weekends.

The tunnel’s path is predominantly through Sydney sandstone, but there are two signifi cant geological features which the TBM encountered during the excavation of the tunnel: the Great Sydney Dyke and the Darling Harbour paleo valley. The Great Sydney Dyke is a six metre wide dolerite intrusion which is nearly perpendicular to the tunnel. The paleo valley is an area of low cover, with approximately fi ve metres of sandstone rock cover below alluvium. This paleo valley is located beneath the busy Darling Harbour precinct west of the Sydney CBD.

The tunnel alignment was chosen to avoid encountering existing surrounding infrastructure and to allow for construction of future infrastructure. The northern section alignment was adjusted to ensure clearance for the future rail corridors of the proposed metro west and metro pit tunnels.

The project is surrounded by sound- and vibration-sensitive neighbours including residences, the Powerhouse Museum, libraries and the ABC Television station. The site has been set up to minimise impacts on the surrounding community, totally

enclosed within an existing warehouse to minimise both the visual and noise impacts. A purpose built acoustic shed was built over the top of the access shaft, enclosing the gantry crane and the spoil stockpile. This allowed spoil operations to continue, 24 hours a day, without noise impact.

A key environmental initiative that Thiess and Energy Australia have undertaken is to solely use green energy to power this project. This is a fi rst for an Energy Australia construction project.

The City West Cable Tunnel is the inaugural project for the recently formed Thiess Tunnelling Division. The successful delivery of this project will not only ensure that the electrical supply needs of the northern and western sections of the Sydney CBD are met for many years to come, but will also establish Thiess Tunnelling Division’s ability to undertake future projects.

THIESS

CITY WEST CABLE TUNNELThe City West Cable Tunnel will carry 132kV electricity transmission

feeder cables from TransGrid’s bulk supply point in Ultimo to the

new City North Substation in the city. This project will enable

Energy Australia to upgrade and increase the supply of electricity to

the northern and western sections of the Sydney CBD.

CHRISTIAN D’HONDT

PROJECT MANAGER

I am a Civil Engineer with a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney. I have been involved with a number of signifi cant tunnelling infrastructure projects in Sydney including the Northside Storage Tunnel, Cross City Tunnel and most recently working for Thiess on the Lane Cove Tunnel.

I fi nd tunnelling projects very challenging. I enjoy building a highly motivated team to overcome the numerous challenges thrown at us during the course of a tunnelling project.

28LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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30LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY WAS FIRST CONCEIVED SOME TEN YEARS AGO THROUGH THE PERSISTENCE OF PUBLIC INTEREST. AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING WAS LAUNCHED IN 2005. Architects Johnson Pilton Walker won the competition and were awarded the design contract. John Holland was then contracted as managing contractor in 2006 with construction starting in 2007. The grand opening

is scheduled for December 2008.The National Portrait Gallery consists of three main galleries 70m long and 12m wide.

There is also a 12m wide main foyer area and an administration block that contains the administrative area, as well as function rooms, a cafe, shop and kitchen. The architect has brought the design together with extensive use of concrete fi nishes, a metal roof and timber trusses. The 4m high concrete walls of the galleries support the modular timber trusses made off -site. Down the length of the galleries, high clerestory windows with refl ectors direct natural light into the spaces reducing the amount of energy required for exhibition lighting.

The gallery must maintain environmental conditions of 21°C and 50% humidity to ensure the longevity of the artworks. Each gallery, therefore, has been virtually cocooned in insulation. Styrene insulation has been used under slabs as well as between the concrete slab and timber fl ooring, and also below the metal deck roof. The metal roof is an Aramax roof with a ‘V’ profi le that was rolled on site to produce single piece full-length spans across the 75m building width. These had to be lifted with a spreader beam which was quite a challenge for the project team but necessary to make the 7000m2 roof water-tight. Part way into the project the client introduced large underground rainwater tanks into the design to harvest the extensive water run-off from this roof. All of that water is recovered and will be used in the toilets and plant, and for some of the irrigation around the building.

A metal roof in a very cold climate can create condensation. This risk has been minimised through the use of insulation and vapour barriers. With Canberra’s extreme range of temperatures over a year, a lot of engineering was also put into roof expansion and the length of slot for the roofi ng bolt holes, to allow for that expansion. Those slot lengths had to be covered to waterproof them so the project team came up with an innovative capsule design that fi ts over the top, but allows the bolt to slide beneath.

The back-of-house area and carparks are below the main galleries. Back-of-house is where all the paintings will be stored, so it has to maintain the same environmental condition as the main galleries. It also contains areas for preparation and registration of new works and a storage area for other works.

High-quality class 1 concrete work is featured throughout the Gallery. Other buildings with class 1 concrete work can be found in the vicinity, at the High Court and National Gallery. John Holland contracted some of the same formworkers and concreters who had poured the concrete in those buildings 30 years ago. Precast elements along the side of the building emphasise the length and lines of the structure and diff erent precast detailing provides a visual identity for each of the three galleries.

The main safety issue on the project revolved around working at heights, as the ceilings range in height from 3.8m to 8m. The project team resolved to minimise the use of ladders

and scaff olds as much as possible by using elevated work platforms. At the peak the project had 40 elevated work platforms in place.

Apart from the obvious safety, monetary and time profi les being met, success on this project means having a happy client who has enjoyed working through the project. The project team invests a lot of time in ensuring that all client parties have had the appropriate input into the job and that they are having a positive experience. John Holland believes that the National Portrait Gallery will be a landmark project in the Canberra precinct.

JOHN HOLLAND GROUP

NATIONAL PORTRAITGALLERYJohn Holland is constructing the National Portrait Gallery building,

in Canberra, adjacent to the National Gallery of Australia. It will

provide a permanent display of portraits, in various media, of people

who have shaped Australia, along with temporary exhibitions.

GEOFF DONALD

PROJECT MANAGER

I graduated from the University of NSW in the early 70s with a Bachelor of Engineering.

I fi nd that being project manager is one of the most challenging and interesting positions in the construction industry. You’ve got all of the activities from working with complex client requirements, to the quality, time and cost issues, and the challenge of bringing a team together to get a project across the line.

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32LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09

NEWS ANDMEDIA RELEASESDuring the fi rst quarter, the Group made 11 announcements to the Australian

Stock Exchange regarding the award of 14 major projects. These, and

other projects won or currently ongoing, took the Group’s work in hand at

30 September 2008 to A$35.3 billion.

1 JULY 2008

LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS PART OF NZ$250 MILLION AUCKLAND ROAD MAINTENANCE ALLIANCEAs a key member of the Auckland Road Maintenance Alliance, Leighton Contractors will provide maintenance services for one third of Auckland City Council’s road infrastructure including the city’s Central Business District.

AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON GROUP AWARDED AED 740 MILLION OLGANA AND HILLIANA TOWERS IN DUBAIThe Al Habtoor Leighton Group, through the Dubai division of Al Habtoor Engineering, has been awarded an AED 740 million contract for the construction of Olgana and Hilliana Towers in Dubai for Abyaar Real Estate Development. The project forms part of Abyaar’s prestigious Acacia Avenues development in Jumeirah. It comprises two hi-rise residential towers – Olgana and Hilliana.

30 JULY 2008

BRISCONNECTIONS REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE FOR AIRPORT LINKBrisConnections has contracted two of Australia’s largest construction companies, Thiess and John Holland to undertake the design and construction of Airport Link together with the Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and the Airport Roundabout Upgrade Project. The company’s Chairman, Mr Trevor Rowe, said “fi nancial close marks the commencement of the concession awarded to BrisConnections by the Queensland Government to fi nance, design, build, own and operate Airport Link. Construction of the infrastructure will commence in late 2008 and Airport Link is expected to open to the public in mid 2012.”

31 JULY 2008

JOHN HOLLAND APPOINTED CONSTRUCTION PARTNER FOR WEST GATE BRIDGE STRENGTHENING PROJECTJohn Holland has confi rmed its appointment as construction partner for VicRoads’ Alliance to strengthen Melbourne’s iconic West Gate Bridge. The project, estimated to cost $240 million, will improve the structure’s long-term sustainability and enable it to carry fi ve lanes of traffi c in the peak direction. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2011. The project will bring together the specialist engineering skills of John Holland’s SMP business and the local knowledge of John Holland’s Southern Region operation.

3 JULY 2008

JOHN HOLLAND CONTRACTED TO DELIVER $154 MILLION IN WORKS AT RAAF BASE PEARCE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA John Holland has been appointed as the Managing Contractor to deliver major redevelopment and C-17 infrastructure project works at RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia by the Australian Department of Defence. These projects will improve the base’s operational capability, reduce operational costs and improve the overall operational environment.

10 JULY 2008

JOHN HOLLAND AWARDED $148 MILLION SEWER REPLACEMENT CONTRACT BY MELBOURNE WATERJohn Holland has been appointed lead contractor for the Melbourne Main Sewer Replacement Project. The contract is being procured under a relationship contracting model on a costs reimbursable, performance incentive basis. The project will involve the construction of a new 2.4 kilometre underground sewer, which will run from near the Charles Grimes Bridge, across the Yarra River to the existing Hobsons Bay Main Sewer in Port Melbourne. The new sewer, with around four times the capacity of the existing sewer, will replace the existing Melbourne Main Sewer built in the 1890s.

13 JULY 2008

AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON GROUP AWARDED AED 2.25 BILLION AL BUSTAN COMPLEX IN ABU DHABIThe Al Habtoor Leighton Group, through the Abu Dhabi division of Al Habtoor Engineering, has been awarded an AED 2.25 billion contract for the Al Bustan mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi for the Al Hamid Group. The project comprises fi ve 17-storey towers above a fi ve-level carpark. It includes: a four-star, 385-room business hotel; a 30,000 square metre offi ce tower; a tower of 250 serviced apartments; two residential towers with a total of 450 apartments; retail and food outlets; and, parking for 2,000 cars. Work on the project will commence immediately, with construction expected to be completed by October 2010.

JOHN HOLLAND AWARDED $136.5 MILLION YARWUN 2 ALUMINA REFINERY CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTJohn Holland has been awarded a $136.5 million contract for construction works associated with Rio Tinto Alcan’s Yarwun 2 Alumina Refi nery in Gladstone, Queensland. The contract will include the construction of fi ve new alumina process areas, including installation of 10,000 tonnes of structural steel, 986 pieces of mechanical machinery, 100 kilometres of piping and 40 kilometres of thermal insulation. Rio Tinto Alcan’s Yarwun refi nery expansion will more than double annual production, increasing alumina output by two million tonnes and improving process and environmental effi ciency.

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12 AUGUST 2008

JOHN HOLLAND AWARDED ABBOT POINT X50 EXPANSION MARINE WORKS AND SL2 SHIPLOADER CONTRACTS VALUED AT $287 MILLIONJohn Holland has been awarded two new contracts with a total value of $287 million by the Ports Corporation of Queensland (PCQ). The $238 million X50 Marine Works Package comprises the construction of a second 500 metre long berth, approximately 2.9 kilometres off-shore, and will involve the driving of 205 piles and the installation of approximately 9,500 tonnes of structural steel. John Holland will also construct 2.9 kilometres of jetty conveyor and transfer towers, including all structural, mechanical and electrical works, as part of the contract. The $49 million X50 SL2 Shiploader Package involves the supply, fabrication, erection and commissioning of a 7,200 tonnes per hour coal shiploader and tripper assembly weighing over 1,280 tonnes. The state-of-the-art machinery will be fabricated at John Holland’s Richlands Fabrication Workshop.

LEIGHTON ASIA AWARDED REDEVELOPMENT CONTRACT FOR MAJOR THEME PARK IN HONG KONGOcean Park has awarded Leighton Asia a contract for works which will be an integral part of the expansion and redevelopment plan for its Hong Kong theme park. The contract work includes the construction of an entry plaza, aquarium, restaurant and retail facilities plus lagoons and landscaping. Construction commenced in August and is scheduled to be completed by November 2010. Hamish Tyrwhitt, managing director of Leighton Asia said, “We are excited to work with Ocean Park on this landmark project. Leighton has extensive local knowledge and international experience which will add value to this project. With the award of this contract with a value over A$135 million Leighton Asia now has a record value of work in hand.”

CHANGES TO THE BOARD

At the conclusion of the recent Annual General Meeting, Mr Martin Albrecht retired as a Director after 7 years of service. Mr Albrecht had a total of 32 years of service with the Leighton Group, serving as Managing Director of Thiess for 15 of those. Board wishes to thank Mr Albrecht for his valuable contribution to the growth and prosperity of the Company during his long service with the Group. The Directors of Leighton are pleased to announce that Mr Wayne Osborn was appointed a Director of the Company following the conclusion of the AGM. Mr Osborn retired in February 2008 as Chairman and Managing Director of Alcoa of Australia Ltd, the global leader in alumina production and Australia’s sixth largest resources sector exporter. Mr Osborn started his career in telecommunications and moved to the iron ore industry in the mid 1970’s. He joined Alcoa in 1979 and worked in a variety of roles and locations across the Australian business prior to being appointed Managing Director in 2001. Mr Osborn has 35 years of experience in the Australian mining, resources and manufacturing sectors. He has contributed to Australia’s export development and in particular to growth of signifi cant markets for aluminium products in the Asia Pacifi c region. He was recently appointed as the inaugural Chairman of GESB Mutual Ltd (GML). GML provides superannuation for 290,000 WA public sector employees with $9 billion in funds under management and is expected to mutualise in the near future. Wayne has been a director of Thiess Pty Ltd since 2005.

2 SEPTEMBER 2008

AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON GROUP IN ALLIANCE FOR AED 6.4 BILLION TAMEER TOWERS DEVELOPMENT IN ABU DHABI The Al Habtoor Leighton Group, through the Abu Dhabi division of Al Habtoor Engineering, has entered into an alliance contract worth approximately AED 6.4 billion for the construction of a major mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi for Tameer Holdings. The Al Habtoor Leighton Group’s share is worth approximately AED 2.1 billion. Al Habtoor will undertake the project in joint venture with established local contractors Murray and Roberts and Al Rajhi. The joint venture will deliver the project under an alliance structure with Tameer, one of the fi rst such alliances in the region. The project, known as Tameer Towers, is located on Al Reem Island, a premier development in Abu Dhabi.

12 SEPTEMBER 2008

JOHN HOLLAND AWARDED $125 MILLION CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIAJohn Holland has been awarded a $125 million contract for structural mechanical and piping construction works on Worsley Alumina’s $2.5 billion Effi ciency and Growth Alumina Refi nery Project in Western Australia. The contract will involve construction of new processing facilities for bauxite blending and storage, calcination, fi ltration, classifi cation and alumina handling. Process piping works and modifi cations to the site’s existing precipitation facility will also be undertaken as part of the works. John Holland’s scope of work includes pre-assembly and installation of 6000 tonnes of structural steel, 56,000 metres of piping and 200 tonnes of bulk mechanical items.

16 SEPTEMBER 2008

THIESS AWARDED $260 MILLION CURRAGH NORTH MINE CONTRACT EXTENSIONThiess has secured a $260 million contract extension from Wesfarmers Curragh Pty Ltd for coal mining and pre-strip overburden removal at its Curragh North Mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The 33 month contract includes mining almost 90 million cubic metres of overburden and coal at the site. Michael Rosengren, General Manager for Thiess’ Australian Mining Business affi rmed that the company’s strength is being able to deliver better outcomes on-time for their clients. The Curragh North Mine is located 38km north of Blackwater and is part of the overall Curragh Mine complex.

25 SEPTEMBER 2008

LEIGHTON ASIA AWARDED PRELIMINARY MINING CONTRACT IN MONGOLIAThis contract, for the mine start-up and box cut for the Ukhaakhudag coal mine, is Leighton’s fi rst project in Mongolia. Leighton established its offi ce in Ulaanbaatar in August 2007 and has developed a strong working relationship with Energy Resources LLC, the owner of the Ukhaakhudag coal deposit which sits adjacent to the world renowned Tavan Tolgoi deposit in the South Gobi region of Mongolia some 200 kilometres from the China border and 540 kilometres from Ulaanbaatar. This is a signifi cant entry for Leighton Asia into contract mining in Mongolia. The minerals and resources sector is a major contributor to the Mongolian economy and its world scale copper and coal resources remain largely undeveloped. The work at the Ukhaakhudag mine site will commence in October and will provide a great opportunity to work more closely with the client and to pursue a long term mining contract for this vast coal deposit.

MARTIN ALBRECHT WAYNE OSBORN

AUGUST SEPTEMBERF

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LATEST

SPONSORSHIP & CCIWe believe Leighton’s legacy should be more than a completed

project. Through our corporate community investment program,

we are building stronger links with the community and helping to

achieve positive outcomes, long after we fi nish our contracts.

GLOBAL FOUNDATION

Leighton Holdings was a supporting sponsor of Australia Unlimited 2008 presented by the Global Foundation. The Global Foundation aims to bring people together from diff erent perspectives and promote informed dialogue - both in Australia and internationally - about the major issues aff ecting Australia and its future.

Australia Unlimited 2008 engaged more than 1,000 Australians and global contributors in policy dialogues and related activities over 15 months, culminating in a two-day roundtable dialogue in Melbourne in October, that Leighton Holdings senior management actively participated in.

Eminent individuals, corporate leaders, and national and international fi gures contributed to discussions on a wide range of issues confronting Australia in the immediate and mid to longer term future. From the current global economic crisis to the challenges of climate change; from the imperative of social inclusion to the need to boost Australia’s performance in education, competitiveness and innovation; from sustainable regional development to developing a new accord between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, citizens demonstrated their commitment to pursuing Australia’s common good while recognising that Australia’s future is indisputably interconnected with the future of other nations and the world.

LANDCARE AWARDS

One of Leighton Holdings’ core values is our commitment to protecting the environment. We have a long and proud partnership with Landcare Australia through the Leighton Salinity Assault. In 2008, Leighton Holdings sponsored the National Landcare Awards.

At the awards ceremony, held at Parliament House in Canberra, the Leighton Holdings Local Government Landcare Partnership Award was presented to the Hume City Council, Victoria. The award recognised the council’s commitment to collaborating with their community to preserve and manage their local environment and natural resources. Hume City Council is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Victoria. They set a strategic goal to achieve an environmentally aware and sustainable community in an area where over 30% of the population speak a language other than English.

The council encourages a landcare ethic and action in the local community and, with a big focus on education and training, the council set up an innovative farm rate rebate scheme for landholders and provided 18,000 free native plants to householders who undertook revegetation work in their area.

AFS WINNEREach year, Leighton Holdings sponsors one child of an Australia-based Leighton Group employee for a year’s study overseas under the AFS scholarship program. Leighton Holdings’ partnership with AFS is part of our commitment to build Australia’s future skills base. Since 1992 we have provided 18 children with an opportunity to build life and people skills that are invaluable for their future careers.

AFS Australia is a privately funded, non-profi t, non-sectarian worldwide organisation that is based on an international volunteer agency that provides intercultural learning opportunities. Successful scholarship recipients spend one full academic year living with an AFS host family and attending school in one of 55 countries around the world.

The 2009 Leighton AFS Scholarship recipient is Scott Gatrell. Scott’s father Paul Gatrell is an employee of Leighton Contractors.

Scott is a worthy recipient of the AFS Scholarship. His experiences and relationships with family and friends have shaped his sociable, responsible and considerate attitude towards life. A prefect and role model at school, Scott has

developed many leadership qualities. Scott was given the prestigious honour of cultivating his leadership qualities by representing his school at the 2020 summit and at numerous charity work commitments, whilst juggling his sport and creative pursuits. Scott will spend the 2009 academic year in Germany, making friends and immersing himself in a new culture.

“This scholarship is truly a once in a life time opportunity and I again thank Leightonfor the opportunity given to me. In the year to come I promise to make the most of every minute I have there and come back a new person with memories which will last me a life time. When my journey begins I will make sure to keep Leighton people updated with all my adventures.” Scott said

Leighton Holdings is proud to off er such a unique employee benefi t that will have a long lasting impact on a fi ne young Australian.

SCOTT GATRELL

SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Scott Gatrell is already heavily involved with the mission of AFS and with the support of local volunteers, he hopes this experience to live and study in Germany in 2009 will enrich his perspectives about the world and clarify his visions for the future.

LE IGHTON F IRST QUARTER UPDATE 08/09F

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