Resume of Ross Noel Ullman

Professional Details

Qualifications: Bachelor of Engineering (Civil)James Cook University of North Queensland

Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Technology Manage-ment)Deakin University.

Diploma in Project ManagementSunshine Coast Institute of TAFE

Member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia and registered on the National Register of Engineers- Membership No. 511732

Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland - Re-gistration Number 4714.

Overview of Career Details

The majority of my career has been spent working with the Queensland Government road authority - the Main Roads Department (Department of Transport from 1988 to 1996 and Department of Transport and Main Roads since 2009) - as both a tenured public servant and more recently on a contracted basis through my own business.

During the time that I served with the Queensland Government, I operated in various areas of the state under a wide range of conditions.

Until recently, my experience has largely been in the field of supervision of road con-struction and maintenance operations, with budgets ranging from $250,000 to $10,000,000. On several occasions, my particular project management skills have been called upon to manage operations in remote locations such as Mornington Island and Aurukun Aboriginal Communities and far northern Cape York Peninsula, often under difficult and challenging conditions.

From mid 1988 to late 1991 I was responsible for the construction and maintenance activities of a Queensland Transport District with an annual budget of $30,000,000, including Departmental operations and Local Government activities performed on the Department's behalf. In that position I performed the role of Engineer on several con-tracts. I was also responsible for the successful operations of the departmental work-force, both on contracts won in open competition as well as the more conventional day labour works.

During the latter part of my career with the Department, I took an interest in com-puter applications as they pertain to project management and cost control. My expert-ise in these areas was recognised within the department to the extent that I was given the responsibility of "championing" the implementation of computerised costing throughout the Department in the mid 1980's. I was also invited to participate as a member on a range of computer applications based Steering Committees.

During the last two years I spent with the department, my inter-personal skills and in-timate knowledge of departmental operations were called upon when I was invited to participate in the most far-reaching reform process that Queensland Transport or Main Roads has ever undertaken. The Road Reform Project was a Government backed initiative designed to improve value for money in the roads industry, and to better position Departmental operations in light of the recommendations emanating from the Hilmer Report.

Through this project I became involved with Australia's leading consultants in the fields of management practice and economic modelling. The work with which I was involved, particularly in the economic area, was regarded as leading edge, both in Australia and overseas. The impact of this work has been felt both within the depart-ment as well as in the AUSTROADS performance measurement initiatives that all state road authorities are now required to report.

In January 1995, I resigned from the Queensland Transport Department to es-tablish my own freelance Civil Engineering Consultancy. Since then I have under-taken a range of contract appointments with the department, and I have provided con-sultant project management services for planning and design activities for several ma-jor projects totalling over $500 M in the North Coast-Hinterland District.

During that time, I was responsible for overseeing design by consultants engaged on behalf of the department. This involved reviewing hydraulic designs, pavement designs, overlay designs and seal designs.

I have also been engaged by a private contractor, to provide technical advice and pro-ject management support to enable them to undertake construction contracts with the DTMR.

My most recent engagement involved performing the role of Contract Superintendent for contracts delivering approximately 1$100M worth of public infrastructure associ-ated with a large resource development project for BMA in the Bowen Basin.

Throughout my career, I have prided myself in being recognised as a highly motiv-ated, energetic and committed individual, who enjoyed a challenge and was comfort-able with change and innovation.

I have always enjoyed good relationships both with my superiors and my subordin-ates. My ability to work effectively in a true team situation was never more evident than in my involvement with the Road Reform Project Team.

I believe that I have well honed communication skills, after many years of operation at senior management level, both in the Public Sector and in successfully operating my own business.

I have included further details of my experience as attachments to this overview, for your information.

ATTACHMENT A

SPECIFIC DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE

1. Project Management

I have spent many years directly supervising Main Roads construction teams in both road and bridge works performed under both day labour and contract situations.

I have also spent 18 months recently providing Project Management support to a mid-tier construction contractor who was embarking on major DTMR works for the first time. I provided all of the necessary management plans and established the project Quality Control system including the Lot Register, the Inspection and Test Plan, the field verification system, the NCR system as well as preparing all of the Construction Procedures.

I also prepared pavement designs for temporary works and managed the process for recording, agreeing and closing out variations.

2. Contract Administration

I have performed the role of Engineer to the Contract, Superintendent and Principal’s Representative on more than 10 contracts since 1980.

My most recent involvement in this capacity was as Contract Superintendent under contract to Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd for the public infrastructure upgrades to the DTMR controlled Peak Downs Highway associated with the development of the BMA Caval Ridge Mine.

3. Independent Quality Verification

Recent involvement in independent verification of compliance of Quality Systems and product conformance to required specifications and standards including contrac-tual requirement for the various Management Plans for works to DTMR standards on both the flood damage restoration works by a mid-tier contractor in Mackay as well as the contract works associated with the Caval Ridge Mine development.

4. Planning

I have been involved in a number of planning projects. These have generally in-volved field work, photogrammetry and the compilation of reports. The planning projects in which I have been involved have included the following:

(i) Survey and location of a 30 km deviation on the St George - Dirranbandi Road in Balonne Shire, Queensland.

(ii) Planning for the location and construction sequence of 180 km of unsealed road on the Wills Developmental Road in Burke Shire, Queensland.

(iii) Planning for the Staaten River Bridge on the Gulf De-velopmental Road in Carpentaria Shire, Queensland.

(iv) Planning report on the route selection and construction strategy for the entire length of the Peninsula Developmental Road in Cook Shire.

(v) Planning report and feasibility study for construction to sealed standard of the major access roads in the remote gulf settlement of Aurukun.

(vi) Planning report on the construction strategy for the Cooper and Bulloo Developmental Roads in Quilpie and Bulloo Shires.

(vi) Strategy reports for construction of all National and most Rural Arterial Roads in Roma District, Queensland.

(viii) Provision of assistance to District Engineer in compila-tion of District Four Year Planning Program for both Permanent Works (Roma District) and Maintenance (Cairns District).

(ix) Project specific planning for four-laning of Maroochy-dore Road on the Sunshine Coast

(x) Project specific planning for four-laning of the Bruce Highway from the Yandina Bypass to the Cooroy Range.

(xi) Project specific planning for a bypass of the D’Aguilar Highway around the central business district of Caboolture.

(xii) Project specific planning for the six lane upgrade of the Bruce Highway from the Boundary Road interchange to Caboolture.

5. Design

I performed the role of Design Engineer in Roma District. In that capacity I was re-quired to supervise the pre-construction activities undertaken by all engineers in the District together with the activities of the Materials Laboratory and Survey Personnel. My experience in the field of design has included the following:

(i) Compilation of preliminary and detailed road and bridge design data.

(ii) Preparation of pavement designs, overlay designs and bitumen seal designs.

(iii) Hydrology and hydraulics associated with drainage design.

(iv) Design of formwork and falsework for bridge construc-tion.

(v) Design of reinforced concrete slab floodways.

(vi) Preparation of special maintenance schemes.

(vi) Supervision of design activities undertaken by others both within and outside Main Roads.

(viii) Calculation of unit rates for estimates.

(ix) Preparation of Supplementary Specifications and Sup-plementary Conditions of Contract.

(x) Site inspections and reports.

(xi) On-site design checks.

6. Construction Supervision

My experience in the field of construction supervision has included the following:

(i) Direct control day labour bridge construction of four prestressed deck unit bridges up to $0.5 million and one prestressed beam/reinforced concrete deck bridge of 8 spans.

(ii) Contract bridge construction of 10 span prestressed deck unit bridge over the Leichhardt River at Nardoo north west of Clon-curry, Queensland - value $1.2 million.

(iii) Direct control day labour road construction of six major schemes up to $2.0 million in value.

(iv) Contract road construction of five roadworks schemes up to $1.2 million in value.

(v) Direct control day labour road and bridge work for spe-cial maintenance schemes to the value of $1.0 million.

(vi) Liaison with Local Authority supervisory personnel dur-ing construction of Local Authority control day labour road and bridge work.

(vi) Direct supervision of several large construction projects in remote areas of Queensland, including the largest bagged bitumen

operation in the world in the remote settlement of Aurukun, involving approximately 40 tonnes of bagged bitumen.

This experience has been gained under a diverse range of conditions, influenced at one time or another, by the following:

- dry western climates- tropical monsoonal wet season - scarcity of standard specification materials- Black soil subgrades

I have also had experience with computer based Project Management Systems such as "TIMELINE" and "PROJECT".

7. Financial Management

My experience in financial management includes the following:

(i) Pivotal role in the introduction and implementation of computerised job costing within both the Departmental and Local Au-thorities performing work on the Department's behalf.

(ii) Formulation, development and implementation of finan-cial reporting system for both construction and maintenance operations in Roma District. This system was used to record and compare budgeted and actual expenditure and required periodic forecasts of es-timated future cash flows.

(iii) Formulation, development and implementation of finan-cial aspects of maintenance reporting system. This system required a twelve month costed works program together with revisions when cer-tain fixed constraints were exceeded

(iv) I was a member since its inception in August, 1986 of the Department's Costing Development Committee. In this capacity I was involved in discussion, fact finding, decision making and policy formulation on a range of topics including:

- Departmental costing strategies in general- Remuneration for Cost Clerks- Revised item numbering proposals- Austpay System- Release of computerised costing packages

to Local Authorities- Maintenance Management System- Construction Management System

8. Human Resource Management and Development

In my various roles, I have regularly assigned personnel and allocated resources to achieve the desired outcomes from the annual District Works programs. These pro-grams have regularly totalled in excess of $30 million and involved the assignment of some 250 salaried and wages personnel.

One of the responsibilities of the Principal Engineers position in Roma District was the co-ordination of training activities. In that capacity I actively influenced the de-velopment of subordinates by scheduling local training activities as well as co-ordin-ating attendance at both Departmental and external training courses remote from Roma. I was responsible for the training needs of both wages and salaried staff from all sections of the District.

I was involved in presenting numerous training sessions at Foreman's Training Courses in Cloncurry, Cairns and Roma. While in Cairns, I personally conducted a series of training sessions for Departmental and Local Authority Engineers and field staff on the requirements of the Department's Roadworks Signing Guide.

Following a favourable response to these sessions, I conducted a further series for ser-vice authority and private contract personnel in the Cairns area.

As part of my overall responsibilities during my term in Cairns District, I acted as Group Leader for a group of three other Construction Engineers and an Engineer's Clerk. My responsibilities included decisions on relative priority of work performed by the clerk for others in the group, delegation of duties for officers on leave, provi-sion of assistance to junior Engineers on technical and policy matters and general spokesman for the group.

9. Survey and Location Work

I was responsible for activities of the Survey Team in Roma District for two years.

I have also been involved in the survey and location of two 30 km deviations, on in the far south-west and one in Cape York Peninsula.

10. Maintenance Management

I have had two years experience in the supervision of maintenance activities as the District Maintenance Engineer in Cairns District. In that position I prepared and im-plemented the District Maintenance Program for 1985/86, which included ordinary maintenance activities and special maintenance schemes to a total value of $10.0 mil-lion. For a portion of that time, I was assisted by an Engineer Division II who repor-ted directly to me for instructions. The work involved both direct control mainten-ance activities and allocation of Local Authority maintenance budgets and associated liaison with Local Authority personnel.

11. Contract Administration

Prior to 1988, I have performed the role of Engineer's Representative on one large bridge contract and five major roadworks projects up to $2.0 million in value.

This involved the full gambit of negotiation on costings for variations, recommending approval of variations, measuring and acceptance of completed work for payment of progress pays, agreeing on the impacts of wet weather, making recommendations on extensions of time, making recommendations on various ambit claims and preparing Certificates of Completion, Final Certificates and Terminal Reports on contractor per-formance.

I conducted regular meetings with the various contractors' representatives, and handled all correspondence associated with the contractual administration procedures.

During the period 1988 to 1991, I performed the role of Engineer to the Contract for several road and bridge contracts performed by both private contractors and Depart-mental personnel in the Roma area to a value of $5.0 M..

In this capacity I conducted monthly meetings with the Contractors' representatives and made decisions on variations and extensions of time. I was also called upon to in-terpret the provisions of The Subcontractor's Charges Act in relation to payment of subcontractors on one particular road contract.

12. Administration

I gained considerable experience in District administration by virtue of some nine months spent as Acting Deputy District Engineer and ten months as Acting District Engineer during the absence of senior officers.

13. Computer Technology

From June 1985 until April, 1986, I co-ordinated the use of field based micro-com-puters for job-costing in Northern Division. The costing program, COSTIE was writ-ten for the purpose in Cairns District and subsequently issued statewide.

I have also been involved in the development of software associated with job supervi-sion and expenditure forecasting, as well as the installation of LABMAN into District Soil Laboratories in Cairns and Roma.

14. Community and Industry Liaison

My experience in this area has been largely confined to interactions on roads infra-structure and related issues.

I have taken part in community information sessions and discussed grievances with affected parties.

I have liaised with Local Authorities undertaking work on the Department's behalf and with Contractors and Sub-contractors performing work under contract.

I have been involved in discussions with Transport related industry representatives on several occasions in recent times at meetings designed to solicit information regarding their transport requirements.

I have also been involved with peak industry representatives during my involvement with the Road Reform Project. In that capacity I was regularly required to work inter-actively with members of the Road Industry Reform Peak Council comprising in-dustry leaders from around Australia.

15. Involvement with AUSTROADS Technical Group

During my involvement with the Road Reform Project I represented Queensland Transport on an AUSTROADS Interstate Project Team working on the development of a set of national Performance Indicators for State Road Authorities.

This work involved interaction with leading Australian consultants as well as work-shop participation with transport sector leaders from throughout Australia.

ATTACHMENT B

OUTLINE OF EXPERIENCE IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

2014 to Present Principal of Ullman Consultancy Services providing Civil Engineering services to Insurance Loss Adjusters.

2012 – 2014 Performed the role of Contract Superintendent under contract to Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd for the public infrastructure upgrades to the DTMR controlled Peak Downs Highway associated with the develop-ment of the BMA Caval Ridge Mine.

2012 Performed the role of Consultant Project Manager to a mid-tier con-struction contractor performing NDRRA woks packages in the Mackay region. In that capacity, I provided technical advice to the Construction Management Team comprising contractor and contract administrator’s representatives.

2011 – 2012 Performed the role of Technical Adviser to Sunshine Coast Regional Council on an AS/NZ 4000 series contract for the expansion of the landfill capacity of the Nambour Waste Facility through the excavation and removal of 2,000,000 tonnes of rock.

1995 - 2011 In January 1995, I resigned from the Queensland Department of Trans-port to establish my own Engineering Consultancy business.

Since that time I have been engaged on a range of con-tracts for the department as well as for private clients.

I have been engaged by the Main Roads North Coast-Hinterland District Office in Gympie to project manage pre-construc-tion activities associated with the delivery of the Roads Implementa-tion Program.

In that capacity I have been required to brief and mon-itor planning and design to ensure that delivery targets are met.

In another consultancy engagement, I conducted a study into the Oil and Gas Industry in South West Queensland. The brief for this work required that I prepare recommendations for future construc-tion and maintenance strategies which adequately reflected the impact of the industry on transport infrastructure in the area. These strategies were for use by the South West District Office based in Roma.

Some time ago, I was invited by a firm of consultants based in Sydney to join a panel to evaluate and comment on the contract administration practices and procedures of the West Australian Main Roads Depart-ment. The review was commissioned by Main Roads to identify short-comings in their contract administration and to combat what was seen

as a disturbing run of over-expenditures. The output from the panel review was received very well by Main Roads.

I have recently provided Principal's Liaison Engineer services to the North Coast-Hinterland District of the Queensland Main Roads Department. This involves co-ordination of the efforts of Pro-ject Managers and planning and design consultancies, to ensure that the Principal's requirements are satisfied and that the necessary Depart-mental approvals are obtained and policies observed.

This role is associated with a major $220 M project to upgrade the National Highway between Kalangur and Caboolture to six lane standard, a major $110 M project to upgrade the National Highway between Yandina and the Cooroy Range to four lane stand-ard, a $55 M east west bypass of Caboolture as well as four lane up-grading on Maroochydore Road between the Bruce Highway and the Sunshine Motorway at an estimated cost of $100 M.

1994 - 1995 In July 1994, I completed my involvement with the Road Re-form Project Team and returned to the position of Regional Advisor (Strategy) in Toowoomba. After returning to Toowoomba, I was pre-dominantly involved in encouraging a regional focus within the com-mercial business operations of the Districts in the region. To this end I conducted a market analysis as a forerunner to the development of a business strategy.

1992 - 1994 In September 1992, I was seconded to the Queensland Trans-port Road Reform Project Team.

In this role I was involved in the development and im-plementation of a far reaching process of reform, which affected not only Queensland Transport's operations, but also those of Local Gov-ernments and the private sector.

That project team has been successful in establishing a vastly different organisational approach to the way in which Queens-land Transport acquits its responsibilities as a provider of Government services and infrastructure.

We were instrumental in changing the internal structure of the organisation in order to provide a separation between the pro-viders of funds and the deliverers of services and infrastructure.

This allows for better accountability, as well as provid-ing a means whereby the basis for interaction between the providers

and the deliverers can be clearly defined. This is a necessary and vital precursor to introduction of the principles of Competitive Neutrality as espoused by the Hiller Report on Competition.

As part of my involvement in this process, I was also responsible for the development of a system of Performance Indicators to gauge the performance of Queensland Transport in the fields of effi-ciency of delivery and effectiveness of investment.

During that development, I have worked with Australia's leading consultants in the fields of Business Management and Eco-nomics.

As a direct result of the work in which I was engaged, Queensland Transport is recognised as the leader in Australia in the field of economic project assessment, and the first to attempt to identify the effects of investment in transport infrastructure on the eco-nomy by way of macro-economic indicators. This work represents the leading edge in this field in the world.

1992 - 1992 In July 1992, I was seconded to provide advice on program is-sues to the Program Manager for the Transport Infrastructure Program of the Queensland Department of Transport, based in Brisbane.

In this capacity I was involved in the provision of advice on resource allocation as well as expenditure monitoring.

1991 - 1992 In May 1991, I was promoted to the position of Regional Ad-visor (Strategy Development) to Queensland Transport's Regional Dir-ector for South West Queensland.

I did not take up that position immediately, as I was re-quired to fulfil the role of District Engineer in Roma following the transfer in early June of the previous District Engineer.

In December 1991, I finally transferred to Toowoomba to assume the role of Regional Advisor. In this role I was heavily in-volved in the preparation and collation of the first Business Plans for the Region.

I also briefed and supervised a consultant to investigate the transport implications of the Cotton Industry in South West Queensland.

1988 - 1991 In June 1988 I was promoted to the position of Executive En-gineer Division I and later in December 1988 to Principal Engineer

(Construction and Maintenance). In these positions I was responsible to the District Engineer for all construction and maintenance activities in Roma District, with an annual budget of approximately $30 Million.

During that period I performed the role of Engineer to the Contract on two road contracts being undertaken in the district. In addition, the district construction crews were successful in bidding for three bridges and two major roads contracts for which I had overall su-pervisory responsibility.

During that period I initiated the use of micro-computer applications for Project Management and had considerable involve-ment in the use of computerised systems for costing and financial con-trol of road and bridge works.

1986 - 1988 In April 1986, I was appointed to the position of Executive En-gineer Division II in the South Western District in Roma.

In this capacity I was responsible for the supervision of all design activities in the District, as well as for supervision of the District Survey operations and the Materials Laboratory.

1983 - 1986 I was transferred to the Main Roads Department's Peninsula District in Cairns in January 1983.

In Cairns, I once again liaised with Local Authority per-sonnel in several shires during the period 1983 to 1984. I also super-vised a major road construction crew involved in reconstruction of the Peninsula Developmental Road north of Cairns.

In that capacity I was required to provide design details and estimates for a 13 km realignment north of Coen, and sub-sequently supervised construction of the project.

Once again I was involved in the preparation of a route selection and construction strategy report for a 28 km deviation south of Coen.

During this period I also performed the role of Engin-eer's Representative on five major road construction contracts. Two of these were on the Peninsula Developmental Road, north of the De-sailly Range, while the remaining three were on the Bruce Highway south of Innisfail. Some of this function was performed while other of-ficers were on leave, but included the full gambit of negotiation on costings for variations, recommending approval of variations and measuring and accepting completed work for payment of progress pays.

On a number of these contracts, I was called upon to as-sess significant claims for variations associated with the works.

Following this, I personally managed from inception to completion, a project to construct to sealed standard, the major streets in the Aboriginal Community of Aurukun. This work was originally advertised for contract but the lowest tender which was in excess of $600,000 was considered unreasonable. I eventually, completed the project using day labour and both local and transported materials for a cost of approximately $250,000. Supervision of the project also in-volved preliminary activities such as assessment of the Community Council's plant fleet, cost comparisons for transport of plant and ma-terials by land and sea, materials investigations and preparation of the scheme documentation, including estimates of cost and submissions for funding.

1985 - 1986 During this period I operated as the District Maintenance En-gineer in the Cairns District, responsible to the Deputy District Engin-eer for a maintenance budget of approximately $10 Million. I was also responsible for the preparation of the One Year and Four Year Main-tenance programs for both direct controlled and Local Authority con-trolled maintenance activities in Cairns District.

I performed the role of Engineer’s Representative on a road contract on the Peninsular Development Road north of Cairns.

I was also called upon to provide contract administration assist-ance to junior engineers on two major road contracts south of Cairns. I also conducted monthly contract meetings on behalf of the Deputy District Engineer.

1980 - 1982 I was transferred to the Main Roads Department's North West-ern District in Cloncurry at the beginning of 1980.

During the period 1980 to 1982, I supervised Local Au-thority activities in Cloncurry, Burke and Carpentaria Shires and Mount Isa City Council. I was also engaged as Engineer's Representat-ive on the construction by contract of a $1.3 Million ten span pre-stressed concrete deck unit bridge over the Leichhardt River on the Cloncurry to Burketown Road, as well as on a major road contract on the Normanton - Karumba Road.

I was also requested to prepare and submit a report on a proposed construction strategy for approximately 200 km of the Wills Developmental Road. This report included preliminary route selection and proposals for crossings of five major and numerous minor water-ways.

I was also involved in the supervision of a $330,000 road construction project in the remote community of Mornington Is-land in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where materials acquisition and trans-port represented significant challenges.

1976 - 1979 In 1976, I assumed responsibility for direct supervision of one of the two District day labour roadworks crews, as well as the day la-bour concrete bridge construction crew. I was also involved in Local Authority liaison with Balonne Shire located some 450 kms west of Warwick, in St George.

During the period 1976 to 1979, I personally supervised the reconstruction of approximately 20 kms of the highway between Inglewood and Goondiwindi, and the construction of three pre-stressed concrete deck unit bridges at various locations throughout the District.

I was also involved in the route selection for a major 30 km deviation of the St George to Dirranbandi Road.

In January 1979, I was promoted to Engineer Division I.

1974 - 1976 I graduated from James Cook University in 1973 and joined the Queensland Main Roads Department in January 1974 as an Engineer Division II.

I was appointed to the Border District in Warwick, and spent a total of six years at this location.

My experience during the first two years was predomin-antly associated with liaison with Local Authority personnel in the su-pervision of Local Authority controlled road construction and mainten-ance.