Geoquest Australia, formerly Reinforced Earth, is meeting industry challenges head-on by expanding and diversifying its capabilities, offering Australian clients an unparalleled one-stop shop for cutting-edge civil engineering solutions.
Article Roads & Infrastructure Magazine: Civil construction projects are becoming more complex, with demands for sustainability, cost-efficiency, and innovative solutions at an all-time high.
From structural retaining walls and precast concrete solutions, Geoquest Australia brings decades of expertise to civil construction. For more than 50 years, the company has been a trusted partner in Australia and New Zealand, providing solutions that form the foundation of essential road, rail and mining infrastructure, among other sectors.
The company’s recent rebranding and international expansion marks a new chapter; the diversification into geosynthetics and geohazard protection to offer more holistic geotechnical solutions.
Geosynthetics are uniquely designed to deliver varying functions such as soil and slope stabilisation, reinforcement, separation, filtration, drainage and erosion control. Geoquest Australia manufactures and supplies a wide range of geosynthetics, from concrete mattresses to high-strength geogrids and geotextiles.
In terms of Australia’s growing environmental challenges, Geoquest Australia deploys robust protection systems to mitigate damage from geohazards and natural disasters, including rockfall protection, debris flow mitigation and erosion control. The team also design and supply structures to resist industrial risks.
New erosion control systems
As Riccardo Musella, Managing Director – Geoquest Australia explains, expansion opens new doors not only internally, but also for the wider industry as a whole.
“These systems seamlessly integrate with, and add value to, our existing solutions, allowing us to provide more holistic support for projects, from structural retaining walls, reinforcements, erosion control and hazard protection, ensuring long-term durability,” he says.
Robust protection systems offered by Geoquest, such as rockfall fences and barriers.
One standout expansion to Geoquest Australia’s geosynthetics portfolio is additional erosion control systems, gained following the acquisition of US-based designer and manufacturer, Synthetex.
These innovative fabric-formed concrete solutions protect infrastructure on land, in water and even subsea, helping clients safeguard assets against environmental water damage.
“It’s an extension of what we offer, in the sense that we can provide a turnkey solution, whether it’s erosion, flooding or landfall issues. By acquiring Synthetex, we’ve got greater manufacturing capability for these geo-synthetic products,” Musella says.
Enhanced drainage solutions
Geoquest Australia also now supplies DRAINTUBE to Australian clients, a high-performance geo-composite solution used in mining and construction to ensure optimal drainage and safety across projects.
Used for mechanical protection, filtration, drainage and leak detection, DRAINTUBE geosynthetics handle high loads to offer a higher capacity drainage than many current products supplied in Australia at present.
Sustainability is also at the core of Geoquest Australia’s growth and expansion.
By expanding its own geosynthetics manufacturing to develop new products, such as EcoStrap HA, the company now enables clients to reduce carbon footprint on projects by using site-won recycled materials as backfill for mechanically stabilised earth walls.
EcoStrap HA reinforcements, are made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) tendons contained in a polyethylene sheath, are ideally suited to high pH (basic environment) as it is the case when recycled concrete or lime (or cement) stabilised soils are used as the select backfill.
EcoStrap polymeric strips also provide additional benefits in terms of stiffness and capacity to sustain higher temperatures.
“As designers and manufacturers, having control over the full product lifecycle means we can optimise sustainability outcomes for our customers,” says Musella.
“From sourcing materials to manufacturing, we ensure every step works towards environmental best practices.”
A holistic approach to client success
Geoquest Australia’s transformation from a design-focused company to designer-manufacturer empowers clients with end-to-end project support. With design, manufacturing and project management under one roof, the company ensures quality, safety and cost-efficiency.
“We’re a partner in innovation, helping clients tackle complex infrastructure challenges while achieving their sustainability goals,” says Musella.
“We’re now much more than just a design office. We’ve always had the design know-how, but now we’ve also got the capability to have more input in terms of quality control, responsible sourcing and safety.
“We have visibility, control and knowledge across the entire supply chain. To process, design, project manage, procure and manufacture are all things that we can now achieve in-house, which gives us a massive advantage.”
Looking ahead
As part of the global Vinci Construction, Geoquest Australia is able to invest heavily in research and development to deliver new solutions for the infrastructure sector. There’s ambitious plans for 2025 and beyond when it comes to environmental considerations, as well as further diversification of solutions.
“Geoquest Australia is a civil engineering business that has a long history of new innovations worldwide,” Musella says.
“There’s lots more to come, and sustainability and the environment is a big focus for us; developing and supplying new solutions to address growing environmental hazards and also helping reduce carbon footprint across the lifecycle of projects.”
This article was originally published in the March edition of Roads & Infrastructure magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
