ENG93000 S3 2018: Gold Coast Infrastructure Assessment

This report presents a critical analysis of the infrastructure of the City of Gold Coast, Australia, evaluating its engineering management practices. The analysis, conducted through secondary research, examines various aspects including transport (bus, rail, airports, and roads), electricity, and water management. Major findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the city's infrastructure, such as the railway connectivity, the significance of the Gold Coast Airport, and the role of the Pacific Motorway. The report also discusses the Hinze Dam as the main water source and the city's efficient water management system. It identifies areas for improvement, including the need for enhanced marine transportation, extension of railway lines, and integration of technological advancements. The report concludes with future directions, emphasizing the importance of sustainable engineering management practices to improve the city's infrastructure and enhance the quality of life for its citizens.

CITY OF GOLD COAST
-AN INFRASTRUCTURAL EVALUATION
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Introduction
• The city of gold coast is positioned at approximately 66
kilometre south-south east of the state capital of Brisbane
along with being at the immediate north to the state
boundary of the new south wales (Goldcoast.Qld.Gov.Au
2019).
• The population of the city is evaluated to be at 6th in the list
of the most populated cities of Australia and along with
that, with a population of 698090 in the year 2016, the city
of gold coast is placed at the second place in the same list
for the region Queensland (Abs.Gov.Au. 2019).
• The city of gold coast is seen to have immense history of
sports, culture, music and the arts.
• The city of gold coast is notably dependent on two of the
industries for the generation of the revenue and those
industries are evaluated to be the tourism and the film
production.

Research Method
o The evaluation of the engineering aspects of
the city of gold coast is conducted through the
secondary research.
o The business reports, construction review,
books and the electronic journals are used in
the evaluation of the engineering practices of
the city.
o The evaluation on the infrastructure for the
adventure tourism is also conducted on the
basis of the secondary resources in order to
identify the improved facilities of the city
(Ma and Hassink 2013).

Major Findings
Transport
 Bus
 Rail
 Airports
Electricity
Water

Transport (Rail)
 The railway connectivity of the city is
divided into two different parts in the form
of the light and heavy rail.
 The Queensland rail is the responsible
organization for the operations of the heavy
rail service in the city in partnership with the
gold coast railway line. The railway line is
seen to have similar path like the Beenleigh
railway line of Brisbane, however it has an
extension after reaching Beenleigh.
 The other part of the city’s dynamic railway
connectivity is known to be as the g:link and
the light rail service is seen to be limited
with a coverage of 20 kilometres.

Transport (Airports)
 Gold coast airport is seen to be central airport of the
city and a significant share of the air transportation is
conducted through the mentioned airport.
 The airport is positioned at the Coolangatta region,
22 kilometres away from the southern part of the
surfers paradise (Goldcoastairport.Com.Au. 2019).
 The mentioned airport is placed at the 6th position in
the list of the busiest airports of Australia and that
serves the proof of considerable amount of traffic in
the mentioned airport (Austairports.Com.Au 2019).

Transport (Road)
 The main service provider in the city of gold coast for the
public bus services is seen to be the surfside buslines and the
organization is considered to be the backbone of the public
bus services in the region (Surfside.Com.Au. 2019).
 The pacific motorway (m1) is the central motorway of the
area and along with that, the different parts of the city of gold
coast is connected with Brisbane through the Logan
motorway.
 The pacific motorway is also seen to be linked with the
Logan motorway near the state boundary of the new south
wales and Queensland.
 The linkage between the Logan motorway and Tugun bypass
is seen to be significant for the improved connectivity of the
city with the coastal areas. On the other hand, the gold coast
highway plays a crucial role in serving the coastal suburbs of
the city of gold coast which includes Southport and Burleigh
heads.

Water
o The main source of the water in the city is observed to be
the Hinze dam. The dam is located at the south west of
Nerang (Seqwater.Com.Au. 2019).
o The government of the city of gold coast is able to manage
the quality of the water in an efficient manner and that is
pretty visible with the recognition of the city’s HACCP
water management system by the world health
organization (Seqwater.Com.Au. 2019). The major reasons
responsible for the recognition are seen to be the quality
management of the water and the safety procedures from
catchment to tap.
o The government of the city of gold coast undertook a
notable step in the implementation of the project of the
gold coast desalination plant in the year 2009 and that had
the potential to supply 133 mega litres of desalinated water
per day (Seqwater.Com.Au. 2019).

Power Supply
 The city is able to experience the services of the
Powerlink Queensland as the fundamental source of
the electricity. The supply substations provided
through the national electricity market is responsible
for transferring the supply of Powerlink Queensland
(powerlink.Com.Au. 2019).
 Energex plays a crucial role in the smooth
distribution of the electricity, natural gas, liquefied
petroleum gas and the other important products.
Energex is a government owned electricity
corporation body which serves the above mentioned
products and the services to the industrial, residential
and the commercial customers of the city
(Energex.Com.Au. 2019).

Discussion
 The city of gold coast is able to achieve a strong connection with the other important parts of the country and the
construction of the considerable number of roads is seen to be the major influential factor in connecting the city
with the other territories of the country such as Brisbane or new south wales.
 The main focus of the city’s air transportation is seen to be the gold coast airport. However, the city is seen to lack
in the marine transportation in significant manner and the local government of the city of gold coast is the
responsible authority for triggering the much needed changes for instigating the marine transportation in full flow.
 The planning for the extension of the g:link services to the Burleigh heads is of great
significance in increasing the mobility of the city.
 The required infrastructure for the improvement in the life styles of the citizens is seen to be significantly absent.
The much required improvement in the lifestyle of the people and the way of living of the citizens is observed to be
restricted with the limited amount of resources and the ineffective infrastructure (Dedekorkut-howes 2013).
 The diversified waste management system is seen to be one of the prime engineering needs of city as the absence of
the appropriate system for the effective management of the solid and liquid waste is observed to be a major
drawback of the infrastructure of the city (Waltham et al. 2014). This leads to significant decrement in the
environmental balance of the city.

Future Directions
 The local government of the city of gold coast is in need to put some strong emphasis on the
marine transportation to trigger the international business conduction through the ports.
 The planning of the extension of both the forms of the railway lines need to conducted with a
sheer sense of urgency for increasing the speed in the transportation and improving the coverage.
 The business conduction of the city is notably affected with the absence of a strong linkage
between the gold coast rail line and the airport and that is much needed for increasing the ease in
conducting business in the city (Vigitcanlar, Dur and Dizdaroglu 2015).
 The inclusion of the required infrastructure for the adventure sports activities is seen to be a
major need for the city to improve their infrastructure with a specific focus on the increased
tourism activities (Dedekorkut-howes and Bosman 2015).
 The inclusion of the technological advancements and the updated features like the Wi-Fi and
internet services to all the major platforms or stations in all the forms of the transportation will
be significant in providing the improved technical facilities to the customers of the city.

Conclusion
 The city is seen to be notably strong in the transportation and the
interconnections with the other parts of the country.
 The government needs to concentrate on the improvement of the infrastructure
associated with the tourism sector.
 The construction of the new airport, extension of the existing rail lines and
reorganizing of the infrastructure associated with the ports and the coastal
transportation are seen to be the major engineering needs of the city of gold
coast.

References
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