WORKING up the ranks from a lab technician to a project engineer has given Chris Fraser the confidence to make important decisions as he rolls out 400,000 tonnes of asphalt for the
The 25-year-old is managing on-site construction of the asphalt from the north side of the second bridge, south to
Mr Fraser, who began working for Pioneer Road Services straight out of university two years ago, said his strength as project engineer was his transition from lab technician which helped him understand all the intricacies involved in pavement making.
“I started off as a lab technician, basically trained up on day-to-day production and testing of asphalt, doing the bitumen content, grading and other mixed properties and reporting the results to (quality standards).
“From there I progressed to a quality assurance role which is a huge part of construction. You get out of the grubby clothes ... and start doing quality documentation, controlling and supervision of all mix designs.
“From there I went to environmental management planning to contract quality plans and things like that.
“They were great stepping stones. I’m confident with the decisions I make now on site.”
Mr Fraser said he had also worked on the runways at RAAF bases at Amberley and Townsville.
“It’s just good to be able to look back at something you’ve just built and have pride in your workmanship. It’s the satisfaction of knowing you’ve nursed that project from start to finish, gone from drawing on your desk to something on the road.
“I can’t wait for the day when we can stand on top of the (Gateway) bridge doing the asphalt and look down and think ‘this is going to be here for 100 years or more’.”