OUR DARWIN PRACTICE
ADG Darwin is a multi-disciplinary engineering practice offering consultancy across structural, civil and infrastructure, construction services, and digital engineering. Our local team is supported by ADG’s national network, bringing broader depth of expertise to every Darwin and Northern Territory project.
Our work spans across the Territory specialising in transport infrastructure, commercial and residential development, tourism and leisure, defence and justice, and master planning. Darwin’s geography, climate and regulatory environment are genuinely distinct, and our team understands what that means for project delivery on the ground.
The Northern Territory demands a particular kind of engineering: practical, resilient, and attuned to conditions that don’t exist anywhere else in Australia. Remoteness, wet season constraints, and the scale of defence and infrastructure investment in the region all shape how we approach each brief. Our team is here for that challenge, and has been delivering for Darwin and the Territory for years.
CONTACT
1300 657 402 | [email protected]
Darwin
Suite G01, Manunda Place, 38 Cavenagh Street, Darwin, NT, 0800
DARWIN LEADERSHIP TEAM
“Because each problem is unique, so is our approach – we immerse ourselves in our clients’ goals with courage and creativity to deliver exceptional results.”
PROJECTS SHOWCASE
East Arm Wharf
VALUE $150 Million
LOCATION Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Tomazos Group Development
YEAR COMPLETED 2020
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG was engaged to carry out the review of the earthworks filling for Stages 1 and 2 of the East Arm Wharf development. ADG were then engaged to carry out the site supervision of the filling and earthworks for Stages 3 and 4 which are still in construction.
The review of the Stage 1 and 2 earthworks required ADG to review another consultant’s documentation to date, carry out site inspections, review geotechnical testing and provide advice on the current earthworks condition. To meet the land owners requirements and relevant geotechnical and earthworks specifications it was deemed that test pits in the existing fill were required to ensure the material placed on the site was deemed within specification for the site.
Upon receipt of testing and visual inspection by ADG Stage 1 and 2 were able to be certified and works could proceed on stage 3 and 4. ADG’s role in the current works in Stage 3 and 4 was to prepare a Quality Management Plan and testing regime to ensure the works meet the specifications.
ADG were faced with the challenge of taking on this project mid-way through the works with some conflict between the contractor, land owner and past consultant. ADG were able to thoroughly review all of the documentation and provide a way forward which met the needs of all stakeholders.
ADG have to date successfully carried out the scope of works for this project in assisting the Stage 1 and 2 to be certified and the continuation of the works for Stages 3 and 4.
Katherine Agribusiness & Logistics Hub – Passenger Rail Terminal Concept Design
VALUE $9 Million
LOCATION Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Northern Territory Government
YEAR COMPLETED 2021
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Infrastructure Engineering including:
Katherine has been recognised by the Northern Territory Government as a potential major horticulture, agriculture and transportation hub for the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia. As a result of this, the Territory Government engaged ADG to develop a concept design for a new passenger terminal to the Northeast of the existing rail line and terminal.
The existing passenger rail terminal in Katherine is located on the same rail loop as the freight trains and the passenger trains extend into the freight operations area. ADG were engaged to develop a concept design to create a new passenger on the opposite side of the existing rail line. The new terminal works included a terminal building, railway siding, carpark, entrance road and intersection with the Victoria Highway.
The new terminal and associated infrastructure needed to be contained to be within the existing rail corridor. The surrounding area was subject to flooding and there were significant flow paths beneath the existing railway. ADG developed a creative design solution that position the terminal in the highest area and away from existing drainage paths to provide the best available flood immunity without the requirement for significant filling and maintaining all works within the railway corridor.
The new access road intersection with the Victoria Highway was positioned to accommodate the future plans for the Katherine Heavy Vehicle Bypass while also not constraining widening opportunities along the Highway.
The project was delivered on time and on budget, allowing the Territory Government to complete feasibility studies and allocate funding for the proposed works.
Berrimah North Sewer Pump Station
VALUE $10 Million
LOCATION Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Northern Territory Government
YEAR COMPLETED 2020
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG were engaged by NTG to undertake sewer modelling and provide a sewer servicing concept for assessment by PWC for the Berrimah North area that aligns to the Berrimah North Area Plan and is informed by the Berrimah North Infrastructure Servicing Strategy in order to unlock potential developable land located in Berrimah North.
Due to ADG’s previous successful delivery of the award-winning Berrimah North Area Drainage Study, ADG were eager to further progress the infrastructure strategy for Berrimah North and contribute to the sewer servicing strategy.
Due to the size and existing topographical fall of the subject site, challenges arose in providing full sewer lot control to the development while maintaining practical construction and design principals.
ADG worked closely with DIPL and PWC to determine site specific and design constraints from both a road network and water infrastructure perspective.
ADG developed multiple concept sewage alignments for consultation with DIPL and PWC. On review of ADG’s potential concepts, all relevant stakeholders agreed to proceed with a single option which then progressed to 30% detailed design development documented by ADG.
-Post tensioned concrete slabs
– Structural Steelwork.
Umbakumba Infrastructure Study
VALUE $28 Million
LOCATION Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation
YEAR COMPLETED 2019
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG were engaged by the Anindilakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation (ARAC) c/o The Fulcrum Agency to prepare an Infrastructure Study for essential services to develop an understanding of the requirements for potential future residential development in the community of Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt and to determine the viability of future housing developments.
Housing development were to occur in stages of roughly 15 houses per year in the area identified, therefore it was necessary to provide commentary on the implications of a staged development.
While progressing the infrastructure study for the Umbakumba community, ADG developed multiple value adding concepts including:
– Suggesting that the limit of serviceable area be based on the available water pressures in the community thus ensuring unnecessary upgrades to the water network were avoided.
– Suggesting the realignment of existing services to suitable / standardised alignment to maximise developable area and eliminate unrequired easements through properties.
– Seeking and obtaining third party contour mapping to more accurately simulate pressures across the community.
During project development, ADG identified that the community was subject to flooding, which in turn limited the developable area of low-lying zones. Constraints mapping as produced to identify this hazard and advice was provided accordingly.
Austin Lane Activity Node
VALUE $1.8 Million
LOCATION Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Clouston Associates
YEAR COMPLETED 2021
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil and Structural Engineering including:
ADG provided civil and structural engineering for the pedestrianisation of Austin Lane in Darwin. Our civil team produced an innovative design that met the access and drainage requirements while also providing and entire laneway that was DDA compliant to allow events to be held in the laneway, activating the street.
ADG worked closely with the landscape architects, Clouston Associates, to develop an innovative solution to promote the activation of Austin Lane. The transformation of the laneway into a shared zone was achieved through innovative design solutions that promoted safety while achieving the desired performance characteristics. The existing laneway featured asphalt pavements with kerb and gutter, minimal pedestrian pathways and no drainage infrastructure. ADG developed a unique solution that featured an inverted cross-section and centralised drainage system, allowing for a new laneway profile that was fully compliant with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. The inverted cross-section removed the requirement for kerbs and eliminated trip hazards from the design.
The existing laneway had significant underground services and utility infrastructure, including a large high voltage electrical tunnel. The centralised drainage system featured shallow trench drainage which enabled construction to be completed without the requirement for utility services relocations or disruptions to existing businesses on the laneway. ADG’s innovative approach for the centralised drainage system provided a dual functionality. During the wet season the centralised grated drain provides the required drainage performance, collecting and discharging stormwater runoff to the downstream underground drainage network. During the dry season, when rain is non-existent, the centralised grated drain acts as a conduit which cables and pipework can be placed within when events are held in the laneway. This negates the requirement for cables to run across the ground as typically done for these events, reducing trip hazards, and improving the safety during events.
Kakadu Highway – Survey and Design of Approach Guard Rails for Little and Big Nellie Creek Crossings
VALUE $700,000
LOCATION Kakadu, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Northern Territory Government
YEAR COMPLETED 2020
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG was engaged by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics to undertake the detailed design and documentation for the construction of the upgrading of a 2km section of Kakadu Highway adjacent to Little and Big Nellie Creek Crossings.
The design encompassed improvements to the overall safety of the road corridor including guiderails in accordance with Austroads Guide to Road Design and MASH requirements as well as regrading to potentially hazardous verges to ensure a compliant clear zone.
The subject site was located along a stretch of corridor which may be considered relatively remote. The design solution needed to consider maintenance frequency and ensure this was kept to a minimum.
Throughout the design process ADG addressed several potential design solutions. As part of the 50% submission, guard rail protection was nominated at each nominated hazard which proved to be a costly. ADG worked closely with DIPL to consider an alternative solution which would require less maintenance than the proprietary product previously specified. The final solution encompassed a combination of guard rail protection for areas with heightened / unavoidable risks, as well as batter regrading and stabilisation where appropriate. The final solution proved to incorporate upfront affordability as well as minimising the long term maintenance costs involved with the product.
ADG is a quality assured company to ISO-9001:2015. All internal quality assurance checks were undertaken as per ADG’s document control manual at each deliverable issue.
Darwin International Airport Entry Road Upgrades
VALUE $5.5 Million
LOCATION Eaton, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Darwin International Airport
YEAR COMPLETED Ongoing
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil and Structural Engineering including:
ADG were engaged to undertake the detailed design and documentation for the upgrade for the Darwin International Airport. ADG completed initial planning works for Darwin International Airport to develop concept designs, before being engaged by THE Mining for the detailed design and construction supervision through a Design and Construct contract.
The works included substantial upgrades to the entire airport entry including a new link road to facilitate the amalgamation of a hotel and resort, a new roundabout at the terminal entry, a new roundabout to link the airports two major access roads, realignment of the major spine road for the airport, upgrade of existing intersections and demolition / rehabilitation works of existing road corridors.
Working to tight timeframes and condensing the design programme through a staged approach, allowed the construction of the project to be accelerated to allow construction to be completed prior to the Northern Territory wet season.
Various Highway Truck Parking Bays
VALUE $4.7 Million
LOCATION Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Ostojic Group Pty Ltd
YEAR COMPLETED 2022
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG ADG were engaged by Ostojic Group as part of a Design and Construct Tender for the construction of 3 truck parking bays, 2 on Tanami Road and 1 on the Plenty Highway. The design of the parking bays was a challenge as during the design process the standards for Truck Parking Bays was constantly being updated by NTG and 3 new revisions of the Truck Parking Bay standard drawing was issued during the design process. This presented challenges and time pressures on the project as the designs needed to be continually updated to match the latest standards, even when the construction of the parking bays had begun.
The design of the parking bays required widening of the existing pavements along Tanami Road and a 2.5km upgrade of the Plenty highway including widening and resurfacing works.
Stuart Highway & Wycliffe Well
VALUE $4 Million
LOCATION Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Northern Territory Government
YEAR COMPLETED 2021
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG were engaged to provide design and documentation services for the upgrades of the intersections to the Wycliffe Well Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway. ADG were engaged for Civil, Stormwater and Pavement design services, and managed the sub-consulted services for Geotechnical Engineering Investigations, Site Survey, Electrical / Lighting Design and Quantity Surveying services.
The intersection designs were constrained by existing road geometry, property boundaries and the existing bridge on the Stuart Highway. The design of the intersections required widening and strengthening works to approximately 1km of the Stuart Highway.
The intersections were designed to accommodate road train movements while providing a safe and clear driving environment for general motorists. Due to the height of the Highway in comparison to the creek and floodplain below, safety barriers were required along the highway where batter slopes could not be flattened to a safe slope due to existing geometric constraints.
This project was one of ADG’s first highway intersection upgrade projects for DIPL. ADG learnt many lessons in the documentation of intersection upgrades to DIPL standards as part of this project have been shared throughout our Darwin team to be used as lessons learnt for future projects.
Port Keats Road
VALUE $77 Million
LOCATION Palumpa-Wadeye, Northern Territory, Australia
CLIENT Northern Territory Government
YEAR COMPLETED In progress
SERVICES PROVIDED
Civil Engineering including:
ADG were engaged by The Northern Territory Government Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) on behalf of the Department of Primary Industry and Resources (DPIR) to provide survey, geotechnical investigation, and detailed design for the upgrading of a 46.5km length of Port Keats Road from Palumpa through to Wadeye.
The existing road to Wadeye undergoes considerable damage during the wet season and requires consistent repairs to be completed at the end of each season. The road is also inundated by flooding during the wet season, preventing access to the communities along the road. The typical road formation width is in the order of 8 metres with some narrower sections. The proposed design was to upgrade and seal the road to 2x2m lanes and 8m wide double seal.
The objective of upgrading the road is to improve social and economic outcomes for the people of the West Daly region, by improving access to health, education, and employment opportunities. The design and documentation for the project is in the final stages of development and is projected to be complete in May 2023.
ADG worked collaboratively with the client and stakeholders to provide a design that provided access throughout the wet season and significantly improved the safety of the road environment.