Madsen Giersing

With a long and successful career in infrastructure, there isn’t much Madsen Giersing’s founder, Peter Madsen, hasn’t seen in his time supporting projects in PNG, Australia and the Pacific. 

Peter has achieved significant success through his approach to temporary works, an overlooked area that can support constructability, enhance delivery, and significantly benefit any project. 

We caught up with Peter to learn more about his approach, which underpins Madsen Giersing’s temporary works philosophy. 

Peter, can you describe Madsen Giersing’s approach to Temporary Works Delivery? 

Our approach is very much construction-friendly and prioritises safety. We focus on ensuring that temporary structures support the overall construction process effectively while maintaining a safe environment for all workers. 

What are the essential elements to successfully delivering a project’s temporary work solutions? 

The key element is aligning the method from the start and getting an agreement with the participating contractor. This coordination ensures that everyone is on the same page and can move forward efficiently. 

Where can the main gains be made in time, cost, and materials when developing a temporary works solution? 

The biggest gains come from close cooperation between the site team and designers. It’s crucial to understand what is feasible and to optimise resources and processes. 

Can you walk us through your process for assessing the temporary works requirements on a project? 

The process begins by assessing the limitations of equipment and personnel based on the number of repetitions required. From this assessment, the next step is to automate as much as possible to ease the workload for the site crew, while always prioritising safety and ensuring good access for all personnel. 

How do you determine the appropriate temporary works solutions for different construction scenarios? 

We look at the equipment that is available or can be made available; for example, pile driving with floating equipment gives much more flexibility, in which case a travelling platform with pile gates will be easier. However, the floating option might not always be possible due to the sea state.  

What factors do you consider when selecting materials and components for temporary works structures? 

The temporary works is, in most cases, a purpose design and fabricated in almost all cases is a structural steel item; because of strength and weight, in some cases, we will use aluminium if the item must be manhandled. 

Can you describe a challenging temporary works project you’ve worked on and how you approached its design? 

Two projects come to mind: the installation of the Hegigio suspension bridge in PNG, which had a span of 470 metres of a gorge 500 metres deep.  We had to develop the construction method and the temporary works to provide safe access. The solution was to have two 30-metre-high towers on each side of the bridge line to provide safe man access for the installation of the clamps in the wind cable. These towers were fabricated in Australia and packed into containers as flat packs and shipped to site.  

The other project was the recovery of the Mubi River bridge in PNG. The bridge is an 80-metre single-span bridge, which, during the launching, collapsed into the river. We got involved in the recovery, and because cranes were limited to a 30-tonne mobile crane, we designed an A-frame using a pipe section from the chevon project. This double A-frame was able to lift 60 tonnes and out ridge of 20 metres, which far exceeded the capacity of any crane at that time in PNG. 

How do you collaborate with other members of the project team, such as designers and contractors, during the design phase? 

We hold weekly meetings, provide updates, and encourage site personnel to be involved and take ownership of the solutions. This fosters a collaborative environment. 

What role does risk assessment play in your temporary works design process? 

Risk assessment is vital. Identifying potential risks early on and incorporate risk mitigation in the design. 

How do you incorporate feedback and lessons learned from previous projects into your designs? 

We simply do it. Each project teaches us something new, and we adapt our practices to continually improve our outcomes. We will have open communication with the site to understand the issues that is affected them and lesson learned.  

Lastly, can you discuss any innovative or creative approaches you’ve taken in temporary works design to optimise efficiency or cost-effectiveness? 

We’ve explored automation where feasible, such as using hydraulic rams for opening and closing piling gates. These innovations help reduce manual labour and enhance efficiency and improve safety.

According to the 2024 Queensland Major Projects Pipeline Report, Queensland’s infrastructure sector is entering a pivotal phase, with significant investment and development planned for the state’s rail, harbours, roads, and bridges. This focus underscores a commitment to enhancing connectivity, supporting economic growth, and delivering essential infrastructure for communities. Madsen Giersing’s Lasse Madsen has taken a look at the projects across our key sectors, and here are his key highlights and insights relevant to these crucial sectors:

Rail and Harbours: Connecting and Growing Queensland

The rail and harbours sector is a cornerstone of Queensland’s major projects pipeline, supporting regional development, economic growth, and efficient logistics.

Key Developments and Trends:

• Major Rail Projects: Investments continue to improve rail capacity, modernise systems, and expand passenger and freight networks. These projects aim to enhance regional and urban connectivity while reducing congestion and emissions.
• Port Enhancements: Queensland’s harbours are seeing upgrades to support increased trade volumes, boost regional economies, and accommodate larger vessels, enhancing the state’s status as a trade hub.

Challenges and Opportunities:

• Complex Approvals: Lengthy project approvals present risks to timelines and can delay the anticipated economic benefits.
• Sustainability Focus: There is a growing emphasis on integrating sustainable practices and technologies in rail and harbour projects to minimize environmental impact and align with state and national targets.

Roads and Bridges: Paving the Way for Queensland’s Growth

Queensland’s roads and bridges form the backbone of its transportation network, connecting regions, supporting trade, and enhancing the quality of life for residents.

Key Projects and Focus Areas:

• Expansion and Upgrades: Significant investment is directed at upgrading key road corridors and bridges to reduce congestion, improve safety, and support economic growth.
• Regional Connectivity: Projects in regional areas aim to connect communities, enhance access to services, and improve resilience to weather events.

Risks and Challenges:

• Rising Costs: Cost escalation for construction materials and labour remains a concern, posing risks to project budgets and timelines.
• Coordination: Ensuring seamless integration of projects across regions and minimising disruptions during construction is critical for public confidence and economic productivity.

Opportunity for Industry Collaboration: Government and industry must work closely together to streamline project delivery, ensure adequate funding, and engage communities throughout planning and execution. Collaborative procurement strategies and innovative construction techniques can address cost pressures and enhance project outcomes.

A Vision for Sustainable Connectivity

“Queensland’s investments in rail, harbours, roads, and bridges represent a bold step towards building a more connected, resilient, and prosperous state,” said Lasse. “By addressing key challenges and leveraging opportunities, the state can pave the way for lasting economic, social, and environmental benefits as we have the infrastructure required to connect our communities and take our exports to the world,” said Lasse. “But as with any major investment in infrastructure, there will be challenges ahead, but from challenges, we have new opportunities to be innovative, to trial new construction methods or materials and deliver assets that will support the long-term economic development and social connectedness that enriches our state.”

Madsen Giersing proudly celebrates 35 years of delivering innovative and practical engineering solutions this year. From our humble beginnings in Brisbane to projects spanning Australia, Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific, we are immensely grateful for the partnerships and relationships we have built along the way.

Our journey has been defined by integrity, innovation, and a commitment to excellence, values that have guided us since day one. As a family-owned company, these principles are woven into the fabric of our business, influencing everything from how we approach our work to how we treat our clients and team members. Whether you’re a long-standing partner or a new collaborator, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for trusting us to deliver solutions that meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

Throughout our 35 years, we’ve established ourselves as leaders in the engineering space by specialising in:

• Marine Works
• Temporary Works
• Bridges and Critical Infrastructure
• Structural Engineering Services

At Madsen Giersing, we believe in building not just infrastructure but also careers. Our Cadet Drafter Program and Graduate Program are designed to attract fresh talent into the engineering field. We invest in our team, fostering growth, mentorship, and learning opportunities that ensure the next generation of engineers carries forward our standards of excellence.

As a family-owned business, we are deeply committed to creating an environment where kindness, integrity, and respect are central to how we work and who we are. These values stay within our walls and extend to how we interact with our clients and community. Every relationship we build is founded on trust, reliability, and a shared commitment to success.

We’re proud that these values permeate every team level, from CEO Lasse Madsen’s leadership to our newest graduates and cadets. This culture of collaboration and care enables us to continually deliver high-quality results for our clients.

As we celebrate 35 incredible years, we want to thank our clients, partners, and team members. Your support and trust have been the foundation of our success. Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Looking to the future, we remain committed to delivering the highest engineering standards, continuing to grow, innovate, and strengthen our relationships. Here’s to the next 35 years of building a better world together.

Thank you for being part of the Madsen Giersing family.

CEO of Madsen Giersing, Lasse Madsen, celebrated 19 years with the organisation recently, so we caught up with Lasse to learn more about his career to date, favourite projects and the inspirations behind his career in engineering.

Peter and Lasse at the start of Lasse’s career at Madsen Giersing.

Why did you become an engineer?

Like many engineers, I have been inspired by structures, bridges, buildings, and anything I saw growing up or travelling. I always enjoyed building, creating and designing my own feats of engineering with Lego, so when added to my family history of engineering, there was only ever going to be one way my career went.

What do you love about engineering?

I enjoy solving a difficult problem and working to find a solution. There is something satisfying about taking the time to get under the skin of a problem, take the challenge on and work out an efficient and safe design to create a solution.

What are you working on at the moment?

To support the expansion of IOR Petroleum’s Lytton Terminal to a multiple bulk fuel import, storage, and distribution terminal, I am designing a temporary crane support platform for 500T crawler crane.

I am also involved in the design of the temporary works to support the transformation of Sydney Fishmarket, a major redevelopment that will see a waterfront promenade, a ferry wharf and more than 6,000 square metres of new public open space created to support the iconic tourist attraction’s growth and future.

What has been your greatest professional achievement to date?

It has to be having the opportunity to work with my father, Peter, for the past 19 years. It has been fantastic to work with him, to learn from his experience and to be entrusted to take Madsen Giersing into the future as CEO and build on his legacy of three decades of achievement.

What’s the best project you have worked on?

Motukea Cargo Wharf for Curtain Brothers in Papua New Guinea. It is one of those complex projects that engineers love, with a number of challenges to overcome and some interesting design features.  The berth is 210m long and accommodates vessels up to 60,000 DWT.

The top of the berth is at RL 4.5m and comprises a 1.6m wide concrete capping beam, and the berth pocket is at RL -13m. The berth is a gravity-type structure comprising cellular cofferdams, each with a diameter of 20m and constructed from flat sheet piles.

What would your last meal be?

Simplicity is the key for me, so I’d have to go with steak, chips and a salad.

What is the last movie you watched or series you binged?

Top Gun Maverick. Who doesn’t love a bit of high-octane nostalgia?

Who’s the greatest engineer of all time and why?

There are so many engineers to choose from that it’s hard to pick one. But structure I have always admired the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Designed by John A Roebling, it is the perfect combination of function and form for me, as it combines some great engineering, looks spectacular and provided a vital connection between Brooklyn and Manhattan that shaped the future of New York.

What would be your dream project to work on from history?

Without a doubt, the Brooklyn Bridge. For the reasons above, but also because, at the time, it was a technological marvel with John A Roebling designing a machine that twisted steel wire into cable, making construction possible.

What piece of advice would you give to an aspiring engineer?

If you are not passionate and don’t like problem-solving, engineering is probably not for you!

What has been the biggest change in your 19 years at Madsen Giersing?

There have been several changes, but the standouts for me are how the industry is changing with technology and an industry-wide focus on health and safety, the environment and sustainability.

What is your favourite project across the 19 years, and why?

Our work with Curtain Brothers on their Motukea facility in Papua New Guinea. We have supported numerous aspects of the project in our long-term partnership and have delivered exceptional results. From a slipway designed to accept ships up to 10,000 DWT with a length of 110m and a maximum lightweight of 5,300t to a 210m export wharf which accommodates vessels up to 60,000 DWT, each stage of the facility’s development has been the perfect example of collaboration between client and consultant to design marine infrastructure to support a client’s need.

What has been the most challenging project you have supported, and why?

Hegigio Gorge Pipe Bridge. It was a technically challenging project in very tough geographical conditions and a remote location.

The bridge comprises three catenary cables, two horizontal and one vertical, joined together by a series of wire stays and cross beams. Two parallel runway beams connect the series of cross beams, allowing access along the bridge via a trolley. The main cable is connected to a 33m high A-frame tower at the southern abutment and a 4m high tower at the northern abutment.

Madsen Giersing designed various structures to provide access during construction, including two temporary platforms bolted to the top of the south tower and two 12-storey 9m x 3m access towers. The access towers were also designed to allow the south tower A-frame to be raised using a reeved system specifically designed for this purpose.

To launch the bridge, horizontal cables, cross and runway beams, and a restraint system was developed to allow the bridge to be launched in a safe and controlled manner. Several structures were designed to assist in forming, positioning and launching the horizontal cables, each comprised of 70 strands. These structures included a guide tower, cable reel and deflector towers.

Madsen Giersing designed two trolleys to install the oil pipelines; one to pull the pipelines across the bridge and the other to allow personnel access along the bridge to install pipe clamps at the cross beams.

As a project, it showcases everything we do well at Madsen Giersing.

What do you think will be the biggest change in engineering in the next 19 years?

It will be the continued roll-out and technology. From digital twins of structures to Artificial Intelligence testing concrete or steel health, technology will continue to play a greater role in engineering.

Madsen Giersing’s Sam Madsen is the driving force behind the scenes of everything that happens within our organisation. From managing systems, quality and human resources to marketing support, Sam’s involvement is central to everything that we do. As a non-engineering professional, we caught up with Sam to learn a little more about her career, her love of engineering and how non-engineers can be valuable members of our industry.

How did you become part of the engineering and infrastructure industry?

Through my husband Lasse, CEO of Madsen Giersing and his wonderful parents. The opportunity unexpectantly arose for me to become part of the company. I am so grateful and enjoy so much working with the three of them. They are incredible people.

What do you love about working in engineering?

The way engineers’ and drafters’ brains work. It amazes me to watch Lasse’s brain work, from concept to design and then see the drafting team draft it up to turn it into a design ready for construction. It’s not something I can do; my brain doesn’t think that way! To be honest, I can’t even put an archive box together, so I really appreciate the way that engineers can take a problem, create a solution and then turn that solution into something that solves the problem

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on our new graduate program for engineers and draftspersons, and the fun stuff like arranging our end-of-year party and the Christmas hampers for our team and clients.

What has been your greatest professional achievement to date?

My Bachelor of Behavioural Science. School was not my bag; I was probably unlucky that many of the subjects the current generation gets to study were not available, so to go on and achieve a bachelor’s in a field I love and am passionate about was a real achievement.

What’s the best project you have worked on?

Not so much specific projects, but I look back on the work I have done that has enabled me to apply what I have learned and help a business to transform. For example, I coordinated programs and organisational psychology services and implemented systems and processes for a private sector clinical and organisational psychological firm and managed the banking finances and legal team for a recruitment firm. In both roles, I could positively apply my degree and support the organisation and people to adopt, embed and take to business-as-usual new systems and processes.

Now I get to do this for MG and work with my husband daily, which I am so grateful for.

What’s the most useful thing you’ve learned throughout your career? 

Behind everyone’s title and desk is a human, just like you and I, who has struggles, dreams, strengths and vulnerabilities. And as such, I always approach everyone and every situation with loving kindness and, where appropriate, a sense of humour.

What would your last meal be?

Pink French champagne, my dad’s beef stroganoff with fresh green beans, and a ridiculous portion of chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, followed by a block of Whittakers Hokey Pokey Chocolate and a glass of Tassie Pinot. If I have to go, I’m going out in style and with a massively unhealthy dose of calories, sugar and fizzy goodness!

What is the last movie you watched or series you binged?

Ticket to Paradise with Julia Roberts and George Clooney ticked all the boxes of what the world needs right now, love, laughter, and a happy ending. I am also enjoying My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman and just finished A Million Little Things and Bali 2002 on Stan.

Who do you admire in business?

It is such a cliché but Richard Branson. One of my sons has several learning challenges, and I see his struggles daily. But we are fortunate to live in a time where these are celebrated and accepted, and there is a lot of technologist assistance, help available and awareness. For Richard Branson to achieve what he has with dyslexia during a time when understanding and targeted education would not have been available is incredible and inspiring.

What excites you about the future of our industry?

I don’t know! Automation actually scares me a little. At the back of our minds, we always worry about the work we do being replaced by a machine. But then there are jobs that do not even exist yet that my sons will likely be involved in and new opportunities for reduced work, flexible work, safer work and for some, less mind-numbing or dangerous work that the machines are welcome to. What I am finding exciting about our industry is the move to the mindset of sustainability, upcycling, recycling and the environment being at the forefront of engineering now more so than ever. It is very exciting to see how we can use our collective knowledge to learn from past mistakes and build a bright future.

What would be your dream project to work on from history?
The Hoover Dam, Panama Canal, Millau Viaduct in France, and The Palm Island in Dubai. All of these feats of engineering amaze me. Their scale is incredible, and they should be applauded as monuments to our ability to think, problem-solve and engineer amazing structures to support people, create opportunities and enhance our lives.

What piece of advice would you give to a non-engineer looking to build a career in engineering?

Go for it! Supporting roles like mine and administration roles, help make up the whole team and work well. And engineers and drafters are some of the loveliest people I have ever met, it makes for a really lovely work environment.

As part of the transformation of IOR Petroleum’s Lytton Terminal to a multiple bulk fuel import, storage, and distribution terminal, Madsen Giersing has been engaged to bring our design, consulting and construction experience to the project. Located at the Fisherman Islands Tanker Terminal at the Port of Brisbane, the project will see fuel imported via two new marine loading arms and a new pipeline running from the tanker terminal to IOR’s terminal. Constructed on a new platform located immediately downstream of the existing lading platform and the first downstream dolphin, our team will:

• Undertake the detailed design of the new loading marine loading arm platform and in river and on land pipe supports within the tanker terminal boundary for the new pipeline.
• Provide engineering advice, including berthing and mooring analyses for the vessels delivering the bulk fuel for IOR to the existing terminal; and,
• Provide technical support during construction, including undertaking site inspections.

Madsen Giersing’s Jay McIntyre outlined the team’s approach, “The tanker terminal will remain operational during the site works, with a critical design requirement being to not interfere with the existing terminal operations. We are well versed in undertaking critical works in live operational environments so we have been able to take an approach that utilises our experience and commitment to innovation that will see the design use fewer large vertical-driven tubular steel piles for the new MLA platform and in river pipe support structures. In addition, precast concrete shells, tied together with an in-situ concrete infill to form the deck of the new platform. This eliminates the need for temporary falsework, which would have been required for an in-situ concrete deck.”

“As can be seen from the site photos, the construction of the precast units for the new platform deck is well underway, and we look forward to seeing the project progress through construction.”