Written by Kerryn Caulfield, Executive Director, Composites Australia Inc.
In the world of civil and marine infrastructure — from bridges, utility poles and pedestrian structures in inland bushland to wharves, piers and coastal defences — assets are exposed to environmental extremes and significant loads. In marine settings, structures embedded in the seabed or exposed to seawater face accelerated degradation, while inland installations must contend with bushfires, termites and aggressive soils. High UV exposure is a shared challenge for both inland and marine applications, demanding materials that are engineered for durability, safety, load capacity, and long-term performance.
Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies (CFT) was founded on the manufacture of crossarms for utility poles. In 2003, engineers Kevin Skerman and Greg Valler led the development of Wagners’ proprietary pultrusion process and machinery to produce these crossarms — a product line that became the backbone of the CFT business. Skerman’s precision-engineered “insert” for bolted connections in civil engineering infrastructure transformed the use of composites, with around 750,000 inserts now produced annually for use in more than 110,000 crossarms each year. Today, over 1.4 million Wagners crossarms are installed across the Australian electricity distribution network.
Continued investment in precision engineering, people and proprietary manufacturing technology has grown the Toowoomba facility from a three-man start-up into a thriving production hub housing numerous advanced composite production lines, including automation for electrical crossarm manufacture at a rate of one every 69 seconds across more than 200 designs. In-house R&D, materials testing and fire-rating capability enable rapid prototyping and compliance verification, with products achieving BAL-40 bushfire ratings and performance properties engineered through resin chemistry and fibre architecture.
Michael Kemp, Chief Technical Officer, leads the company’s drive to engineer new products from composite technology that replace legacy materials such as steel, aluminium and timber. Working with his team of engineers, he advances the design and manufacture of FRP infrastructure systems that provide whole-of-life value, outperforming legacy materials in corrosive, high-load or high-UV environments.
Key Wagners CFT Products
- Trident Marine Pile – Pultruded FRP pile system engineered to resist biofouling, hydrodynamic forces and UV degradation.
- FRP Utility Poles – 80-year design life, BAL-40 fire rating, UV-resistant coating, consistent parallel cross-section.
- FRP Crossarms – Installed in more than 1.4 million positions across the Australian electricity grid, with precision-engineered inserts.
- Electrical Infrastructure Components – Live-line lifting beams, hurdle frames, substation infrastructure, arm braces, stay insulators, riser arms, isolation platforms.
- Composite Bridge Components – FRP beams, decks and U-girders for pedestrian, road and marine bridges, including hybrid systems with geopolymer concrete.
- FRP Fender and Light Poles – Corrosion-resistant components for marine, coastal and public infrastructure.
Wagners CFT’s proprietary technology and product portfolio are now being applied beyond Australia, with manufacturing operations established in the United States to service North American infrastructure markets. This expansion enables the company to supply FRP structural solutions to regions facing similar environmental and durability challenges, while supporting local economic development and strengthening global supply resilience.
Wagners CFT is one of the few composite manufacturers globally to hold an independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for pultruded FRP products — the first in Australia and only the second worldwide. The EPD provides transparent, third-party-verified data on the environmental impacts of their products throughout their full life cycle, enabling asset owners to quantify and reduce embodied carbon in line with 2030 climate targets.
Their FRP products are an alternative to traditional materials with higher carbon footprints, while their Earth Friendly Concrete® — a cement-free geopolymer concrete — further reduces emissions in infrastructure projects. Wagners operates under ISO 14001 environmental management, ISO 9001 quality and ISO 45001 occupational health and safety certifications, reinforcing a company-wide commitment to sustainability and workplace standards.
Extensive environmental testing confirms that Wagners’ fibre composites can deliver service lives exceeding 100 years, minimising replacement needs and reducing waste over time. This combination of verified data, long-life performance and low-carbon design positions Wagners CFT as a rare example of transparent, sustainability-led manufacturing in the global composites industry.
For Kemp, the future lies in scaling production and expanding the catalogue of FRP solutions while continuing to mentor and grow his engineering team. “Our products are precision-engineered to meet or exceed required load capacities and comply with domestic and international standards, giving asset owners confidence in long-term structural performance. We’re seeing accelerating adoption as networks seek to lower risk and increase resilience,” he says.
From regional Queensland to global markets, Wagners CFT is demonstrating that engineering leadership, backed by a capable technical team and a clear vision for material performance, can transform the way infrastructure is designed, built and sustained.
