Alec signs off after 30 years on rural roads
A workshop full of projects awaits Alec Birch, who retires this week after a 30-year career on Masterton’s roading network.
He credits the people for his longevity in a demanding role that has made him a familiar face, particularly in the District’s rural areas.
“You become a bit like public property in this job, you rely on your relationships with the community for good information and your colleagues for a good laugh when the pressure is on.”
Originally from Hokitika, Alec moved to Wellington in 1976 to start a cadetship as a draughtsman at the Ministry of Works.
"I was doing civil design but because we were head office, you rarely got to see the thing you had worked on,” he remembers.
“Drawing everything longhand meant you really thought about it. We used polyester paper and ink, so you didn’t want to change too much – and I was a lefty so I was working cross-handed until someone retired and I could snavel a left-handed drawing board.”
He cites a “monumental hangover” as his catalyst for a move to the Wairarapa.
“I was 25 years old and going nowhere fast. It was time for a change, I applied for a move to Masterton, the office girl took a liking to me, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Redundancy during the Rogernomics era saw him pursue his heavy trade licenses.
“I got laid off but I had a contact with the Labour Department, and he got me on truck driving courses. It gave me an understanding of all the dimensions and mass rules which I took to a job with the coach builders doing quoting, compliance, and engineering, and occasionally I got to put the overalls on.
“The work was great but the pay was awful, and I played a practical joke on the GM that went a bit wrong… so I went looking for a new opportunity.”
He secured the post of Senior Engineering Officer at Masterton District Council in 1995.
A lot has changed since he joined council including five Mayors, six Chief Executives, four Asset Managers, and two Roading Services Managers.
“Among other things, I was responsible for the asset management database which was in its infancy. It was on an HP386 PC – one of the few computers in the place. I would run a backup tape and post it to Auckland in case anything went wrong. Good thing I did, because it blew up and we got a new model, this time with 486MB of RAM.
“There was no email, no internet, very few cellphones – which were no good the moment you got out of town anyway. You just rang people on a landline and did all your research in hard copies.
“All of our drawings were in plan cabinets, we had a card index and a big leather-bound ledger. You could find anything in that system right back to the early 1900s.”
While technology has changed, it’s still the relationships that keep things moving, according to Alec.
“I had to build a terrain model in my brain because we didn’t have GIS – and then I populated it with people. You can’t be everywhere all the time, so you rely on the community to feed you reliable information.
“East Coast farmers are a special breed, they want to shake your hand, look you in the eye and check what you’re made of. Once Roading Manager Hamish Pringle and I were in a public meeting in Tīnui that was getting a bit feisty and one joker said ‘I wouldn’t employ you pair!’ - but with a bit of time and effort he became someone we could call on for good information.
“People just want to know they can rely on you to do what you said you’d do.”
The strength of the rural community was evident in the response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
“It was pretty horrible and about a quarter of the district got smashed up badly. Farmers and rural contractors were all out working towards the Higgins crews and we had access pretty quickly, considering the conditions. It’s taken years to do the big repairs and restore order, we’re only just clear of it now.”
Roading repairs take all shapes depending on the location, and have changed over the course of three decades.
“We’ve done a lot of different structures, from seriously heavy retaining walls to bioengineered solutions, and new systems like Eco-Reef for the slip repair that was done after Hale and Gabrielle.”
The roading team were awarded first place for Best Public Works Project Under $2 Million by the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia New Zealand (IPWEA NZ) for the Eco-Reef innovation.
“I used to decide the work programme by driving down the road and having a look, and seeing how much I was bouncing around in my seat. Now the guys spend a lot of time defending what we do with modelling because the audit processes are so onerous.
“The people that accuse us of being profligate with public funds haven’t any idea of how many hoops we have to jump through to justify anything. It’s the same for contractors, the bid margins are so low, most people wouldn’t get out of bed for them.”
The Council’s first roading maintenance contract was awarded to Fulton Hogan in 1999 with a value of $1.3M, which shows the escalation in cost over 26 years, says Alec.
“In summer when we’re doing rehabs and re-seals we’d spend that much in a month. We do more, people expect more, and the prices have gone through the roof, especially post Covid.”
It’s a job that requires 110 percent all of time according to Alec and he’s looking forward to having more time to indulge in his passion for vintage machinery.
“When I was boy I used to sit on top of the bulldozer and watch my grandfather drive his digger behind it. I’ve always loved heavy machinery and for a guy that loves the smell of diesel getting burnt, it’s been a brilliant job.
“I looked after the council steam roller for 20 years, I used to take it through the Christmas Parade and then head to Mauriceville for the fair the next day. It would take four hours to get there, but it was great fun.”
But it’s the people he’ll miss the most.
"The people around here are an interesting mix. I'll really miss the piss-taking and the fun we have as a team. You have to be a bit weird to work here but that’s what makes it interesting – everyone's different.”
Masterton District Council would like to acknowledge Alec’s extraordinary service and wish him all the best for a well-deserved retirement.
