Coastwide Civil has, throughout its four-plus decades of operation, put in the hard toil required to build a strong reputation Australia-wide as a leading civil engineering and marine construction company. Over the course of its history, Coastwide has worked on projects both in Australia and internationally and prides itself on delivering the highest standard of professional service. For the family-run business, being able to draw on three generations of experience provides both a valuable resource and a unique perspective when it comes to supporting client requirements, as it sets about meeting the varied needs of industry and delivering world-class projects on time and within budget.
Founded in 1975, Coastwide has grown to incorporate a variety of services, while it also has an extensive range of equipment for hire, from earthmoving equipment to heavy haulage vehicles and rock processing plant, including one of Australia’s largest fleets of long-reach excavators.
Coastwide Director Craig Rogers told EEM that the company, which is based in Albion Park, Wollongong, NSW, offers “a full range of civil engineering services to the construction, marine, roadworks and quarrying industries”. “We have a diverse range of civil and marine construction, earthworks, roadworks, quarrying and transportation capabilities,” Craig, who has been involved in the industry for 47 years, commented. “Established by the present Managing Director Gary Rogers, the company has grown progressively to become one of NSW’s leading specialist marine and civil contractors, successfully taking on contracts from around Australia and overseas, with our Albion Park head office the base for all operations.”
Coastwide has tackled a wide variety of projects over the years, including major construction projects located throughout the country, encompassing subdivision, roads, highway and water management projects ranging in value up to $200 million, with the company participating in all project stages, from design to construction and maintenance. In the marine construction area, Coastwide has undertaken projects both in Australia and overseas, including foreshore and dredging works at Port Botany and Barangaroo in NSW, and refurbishment of existing breakwalls and construction of new breakwalls at Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea.
“We are currently working on numerous projects along the east coast of Australia, having the luxury of one of our major projects being on our front door step – the $1.5 billion Shell Cove town centre and boat harbour project,” Craig commented.
The Shell Cove project has seen Coastwide participate in a number of different aspects of construction, providing a range of services across stage 1 and 2 construction of the boat harbour, along with construction of the breakwater and groyne, in addition to the Precinct B1C1 stage 1, 2 and 3 subdivisions, the Stage 10D6 subdivision, and the Hanson Quarry Haul Road realignment and Harbour Boulevard road projects.
Craig pointed to the active deployment of technology across the company’s fleet as a strong factor in contributing to its success. “Coastwide has positioned itself at the forefront of civil engineering technology and training to maintain a competitive edge,” he said. “The automation and integration of technology into the machine systems, such as GPS, sonar, payload and E-fence, ensures the machinery is working precisely at the required production rates.”
In seeking to stay ahead of the game, Coastwide has long drawn on the products and services of Cat® equipment dealer WesTrac, with Craig telling EEM the relationship spans “over 40 years of great machinery and service”.
One of the world’s largest authorised Cat dealers, WesTrac offers its clients a wide variety of products, including new and used equipment, along with rental equipment, complemented by over 75,000-plus product lines of genuine Cat parts stocked across its branch network, varied equipment servicing options, a suite of technology and a range of product support contracts, underscoring its focus on providing comprehensive, whole-of-life management solutions.
As far as Cat equipment is concerned, Craig stated that it ticks all the boxes when it comes to performance and getting the job done across a range of environments, while technological advancements, including remote machine monitoring, have delivered a range of additional functions, providing valuable insight to help facilitate efficient project management.
“Having many years of machine operating experience in the harshest environments, nothing matches Caterpillar quality, durability and product support,” he commented. “Having the ability to monitor projects and machinery live from your desktop, through the Cat VisionLink system, enables us to upload and download project files to monitor machinery performance, and to generally see how everything is performing, maintaining or keeping ahead of programs and targets.”
WesTrac explained that the VisionLink Unified Suite asset monitoring platform comprises four core fleet-tracking apps:
The platform can be used on any device to provide insight into the performance and productivity of a fleet, with customisable dashboards allowing for the display of specific fleet information, with it also providing the option to choose which alerts are received and when.
WesTrac Southern Region Sales Representative Andrew Cairns told EEM that in recent years Coastwide has purchased a range of Cat equipment, including two 336E L hydraulic excavators, two Next Gen 323 3D excavators, two Next Gen 336 excavators, a 320E L hydraulic excavator, a 308E2 mini hydraulic excavator, a 305E2 mini hydraulic excavator, a 259D compact track loader and a CB24B utility compactor. Andrew, who has formed a strong rapport with Coastwide over the last four years, stated that his relationship with the company is based around a number of shared values.
“We share the same old-fashioned values, including pride and honesty, and are straight down the line and passionate about what we do,” he commented. “This encompasses providing support in good or bad times, answering your phone, delivering back-up and assistance, and helping to sort out any issues before they bite you, along with rewarding loyalty,” he commented.
“It’s not only Coastwide, but a lot of other global construction and infrastructure customers in this area know what they want, they are very well educated in the industry, and what is mainly required is maintaining a good relationship with them. At the end of the day, all I am doing is my job.”
