McIlwain Civil Engineering
Top Metrics
3+ hours saved per site visit by minimising routine maintenance trips to remote locations
A reduction of 9 traffic controllers on site per day
Near-zero maintenance required, even with harsh conditions
Reduced footage sharing time from 2–3 hours to within 30 minutes by eliminating the need to manually review, download, and upload video for stakeholders.
20 remote traffic gates controlled from one site, improving coordination and communication
Background
Founded in 1961, McIlwain Civil Engineering is a leading Australian contractor specialising in roads, bridges, and critical infrastructure projects, with a growing footprint across Queensland and New South Wales. The company regularly operates in remote or disaster-affected regions, where ensuring safety, connectivity, and operational visibility is paramount.
When Kyle Mitchell took on responsibility for physical security as McIlwain’s IT Manager, he quickly recognised that legacy CCTV systems weren’t up to the task. “They drained resources and delivered limited value,” he explains. “We needed a simpler, smarter solution.”
The Challenge
Many of McIlwain's projects are based in remote areas where their work scope is a result of fires, floods or cyclones - rugged terrain with minimal infrastructure. Cellar service is unreliable, trenching is often restricted, and previous camera systems were difficult to maintain. "We would be travelling out to sites every few days to charge our CCTV poles using generators or troubleshooting power/connectivity issues. Every trip came at a significant cost to the business as every trip was a minimum 3 hour turnaround before you even touched the gear."
Security was just the starting point. As the team explored modern solutions, they saw an opportunity to leverage the system to support compliance, safety automation, and real-time visibility across job sites.
Why Verkada
“We didn’t want to deal with three suppliers for one setup. Verkada and their partners delivered the whole package—pole, cameras, gateway, and installation. It was a no-brainer.”
McIlwain first trialled Verkada by retrofitting a solar pole with a gateway and PTZ camera. The results were immediate: remote access, reliability, and new analytics use cases that extended far beyond basic surveillance.
Remote Site Security
At remote projects, McIlwain deploys solar-powered Verkada cameras and gateways that are easily installed and require minimal oversight. In contrast, “previously we had to send someone out every few days to charge them or fix things.”
Verkada’s GC31 Cellular Gateway offers reliable LTE connectivity without trenching, with global multi-carrier redundancy, optional unlimited data plans, and seamless integration into the Command platform. Even in regions with limited infrastructure or overloaded mobile networks, the gateway maintains stable connectivity—providing constant visibility from any location.
“CCTV used to be a massive pain point on my radar—now it’s just not. It works, and I don’t have to think about it.”
In the event of a power or SIM card issue, remote diagnostics make troubleshooting easy. For example, when a SIM was accidentally suspended by McIlwain’s admin team, the gateway’s embedded Verkada SIM kept the connection alive for configuration—even while the primary service was offline. “We didn’t have to send anyone on a three-hour round trip to figure out it was a sim issue. We just reactivated the SIM and had full access again. That kind of redundancy is huge for us.”
Traffic Safety Automation
“We’ve had a reduction of 9 traffic controllers a day at one of our projects with six cameras and one screen operator controlling remote gates with visibility provided by Verkada. The ROI has been massive.”
On a major and complex highway project, McIlwain implemented 20 automated traffic gates, monitored and managed by just one person using six Verkada cameras. Previously, the project required a large team of traffic controllers to manage wide loads, site vehicles, and live traffic—often in challenging conditions and with limited visibility due to surrounding terrain. “Communication was difficult—we were next to a rock face, so traffic controllers couldn’t even talk around corners without issue.”
With Verkada, McIlwain and the client created a centralised Traffic Management Centre (TMC), where a single operator now manages gate access and coordinates site traffic using real-time camera feeds and UHF radios. “It feels a bit like a school in there sometimes—one person with a handheld mic, coordinating everything. But it’s much safer than having 20 people standing on the side of the road.”
The gates are mounted on concrete blocks and built to withstand impacts from vehicles or machinery. Verkada cameras give the controller complete visibility over entry and exit points, helping prevent incidents such as construction vehicles entering live lanes against traffic. “If a truck has to stop unexpectedly, it might need a tow to get moving again. That could shut down the highway. With this system, we prevent that.”
Vehicle entries and exits are captured with camera snapshots and stored in the Command platform, enabling easy review for auditing and compliance. “It’s not just about safety. If something goes wrong, we can review it, document it, and counsel the team.”
Project Intelligence
McIlwain uses a Verkada CP52-E PTZ cameras to remotely monitor slope stabilisation, track project progress, and share visual updates internally—all without setting foot on site. With 360° pan, 220° tilt, and 28x optical zoom, the PTZ gives teams real-time visibility into active worksites, allowing them to remotely assess construction quality, verify progress, and proactively spot potential hazards. “Instead of sending multiple team members down into a congested work zone, we can assess everything from a safe distance.”
This visibility is especially valuable in slope remediation work, where physical access is limited and environmental risks are high. Engineers and supervisors can remotely verify work quality, watch for falling debris, or check soil nails and barriers without exposing themselves to danger. “I had a preset to check a waterfall after rain. We monitored slope works from 60 metres away—without walking the site.”
Verkada’s built-in analytics also help teams identify site congestion, better plan delivery windows, and flag anomalies. Line-crossing and occupancy trends help project managers spot when an area is overcrowded, which could increase the risk of incidents. “The analytics let us see how many vehicles are in an area at any given time. If we see five in a zone where there should be four, we know who came in and can act quickly.”
Because analytics are applied retroactively, teams can test and refine configurations without waiting days for data to populate—supporting an agile, insight-driven approach to job site management. “We’re not just solving problems—we’re gaining new data points that make our projects safer and smarter.”
Compliance and Evidence Sharing
Whether it’s verifying PPE usage, investigating incidents, or responding to police footage requests, McIlwain relies on Verkada’s Command platform to simplify and accelerate evidence management. “We used to spend an hour packaging footage. Now we just send a link—it’s watermarked, encrypted, and expires after seven days.”
With Verkada’s Incident Management tools, the team can quickly compile relevant footage, tag key moments, and annotate events—all in a single, secure location. This streamlines collaboration across internal teams and external stakeholders like law enforcement or regulatory agencies. “The last time we provided footage to police, they were impressed by how fast and efficient it was. We didn’t have to give them access to our systems—just sent a link.”
The platform automatically stitches together clips into a chronological, cohesive narrative, eliminating the manual effort of downloading, editing, and reformatting video. “If traffic gets released when it shouldn’t, we can pull the footage, identify who it was, and address it immediately. It’s all there.” Teams can blur faces for privacy, add summaries, and generate time-stamped PDF reports—making it easy to comply with safety protocols and document incidents thoroughly.
Verkada also helps McIlwain flag and document rule violations, such as vehicles entering exclusion zones or workers failing to wear PPE. AI-powered filters can even identify individuals by appearance—such as missing high-vis clothing—and automatically alert safety teams when something looks out of place. “We’re exploring the use of analytics to identify members of the public entering active work zones. If someone isn’t wearing high-vis, we treat that as a red flag.”
This approach not only improves compliance, but also supports workplace education and accountability by giving supervisors the tools they need to review, counsel, and retrain as needed. “It helps us stop the wrong people from being in the wrong place, and that matters when safety is on the line.”
Reduced Maintenance
Legacy camera systems at McIlwain required frequent on-site visits for power issues, network failures, and general upkeep—often taking up valuable time and resources from the IT team. “We were out on-site constantly with our old systems. It was costing us a huge amount of money and taking my team away from higher-priority work.”
With Verkada, routine servicing is virtually eliminated. The platform provides real-time diagnostics, remote access, and automatic alerts through the Command dashboard, allowing the IT team to detect and resolve most issues without ever stepping foot on site. “The Command platform gives me everything I need. If a camera drops offline, I can see exactly what’s going on—right down to the PoE port output.”
The system’s simplicity also helps reduce setup and support demands. The plug-and-play nature of Verkada’s hardware means even electricians with minimal IT experience can handle installations. “We send it to the site, and they plug it in. That’s it. No complex setup, no external NVRs—it’s all contained within the camera.”
Verkada’s up to 10-year warranty, 24/7 local support, and rapid hardware replacement policy further reduce long-term maintenance costs. With support available via phone, email, or chat—and response times typically measured in seconds—McIlwain’s team gets the help they need, fast. “Most of the time, I just use the live chat in the Command platform. Someone responds almost instantly.”
A Look Ahead
Beyond field use, McIlwain intends to capture timelapse images and project snapshots to display in their head office—keeping corporate teams and visitors connected to the real-world impact of their infrastructure projects. “We want our office staff to see what we’re building—real community assets. With Verkada, we can bring those stories to life.”
McIlwain plans to include Verkada in all future tenders, starting with their new head office—where the team will use Verkada for guest management, video security, and access control. They’re also exploring deeper analytics use cases, including exclusion zone detection, project visualisation for corporate teams, and safety automation powered by AI.