Recently, I had the privilege of joining an Engineers Australia delegation to visit Snowy 2.0, one of Australia’s largest and most technically complex infrastructure projects.
Walking through the underground works reinforced an idea I’ve found myself returning to more and more.
Australia’s greatest engineering projects don’t just build infrastructure. They build engineering capability.
The original Snowy Mountains Scheme transformed Australia. It demonstrated what could be achieved through engineering ambition, technical excellence and a willingness to solve problems that had never been solved before. It delivered clean energy and water security, but it also developed generations of engineers, project managers and technical specialists whose experience shaped many of the nation’s subsequent infrastructure projects.
Snowy 2.0 is continuing that legacy.
The innovations being developed in tunnelling, underground construction, digital engineering, systems integration and complex project delivery will not disappear once construction finishes. The knowledge gained will be carried into future transport, energy, water and industrial projects, strengthening Australia’s ability to design, deliver and operate increasingly sophisticated infrastructure.
Large infrastructure projects inevitably attract scrutiny over cost, schedule and delivery risk. Those discussions are both necessary and important. However, they represent only part of the story.
Projects such as Snowy 2.0 are designed to serve Australia for generations. Their value extends beyond the electricity they generate or the physical assets they create.
Equally important is the capability they leave behind.
Every engineer, project manager, construction specialist and technical leader who develops new skills on projects of this scale contributes to Australia’s long-term engineering capability. That accumulated experience becomes an enduring national asset, making future projects faster, safer and more capable of tackling increasingly complex challenges.
Standing inside Snowy 2.0 also prompted a broader reflection on where Australia’s next generation of sovereign capability will come from.
Not every nation-building project of the future will involve concrete and steel. Increasingly, Australia’s prosperity, resilience and sovereignty will depend on our capability in fields such as artificial intelligence, communications, semiconductors, cyber security and software engineering.
Just as previous generations built engineering capability through dams, tunnels and power stations, today’s engineers are building the expertise that will underpin Australia’s digital future. The technologies may be different, but the principle remains the same.
Sovereign capability cannot simply be imported when it is needed. It must be developed over decades through ambitious projects that challenge our engineers, strengthen our institutions and create opportunities for future generations to build on the knowledge of those who came before them.
As Chair and National President of Engineers Australia, I left Snowy 2.0 optimistic about Australia’s future. Not simply because of the extraordinary engineering achievement taking shape beneath the Snowy Mountains, but because of the people developing the expertise that will shape Australia’s next generation of nation-building projects.
My thanks to the Snowy 2.0 team, including Gabrielle Curtin, Damon Miller, Jonny Carroll and Igor Buvac, for their generosity in sharing their experience and insights. It was an opportunity to see not only an extraordinary engineering project, but also the knowledge, expertise and capability that will continue to benefit Australia long after construction is complete.
Infrastructure lasts for decades. The capability we build through it lasts for generations.
