The state government’s seawater desalination plant near Binningup has won the top prize at the 2011 Western Australian Engineering Excellence Awards at the weekend.
The awards judges were unanimous in selecting the $955 million plant as the overall winner, saying it was a complex project that exceeded its primary objectives and demonstrated national and international best practice.
Other projects honoured in the awards, organised by the WA division of Engineers Australia, were the Utah Point multi-user export facility at Port Hedland, the State Theatre Company; and Wellington Dam remedial works.
The full list of category winners and the companies involved is below:
Resource Development
Winner:
Utah Point multi-user export facility, Port Hedland
The Utah Point facility introduced a range of innovative technologies and overcame environmental challenges to improve port efficiency and throughput capacity. It included the installation of an automatic mooring system and mitigated a number of community concerns in relation to dust, noise and traffic. Within the first six months of operation, Utah Point has proved capable of delivering nine million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) throughput of trucked ores, representing estimated export sales of $1.5 billion.
Submitted By:
Port Hedland Port Authority
Pinc Group
Infrastructure and Building
Winner:
Southern Seawater Desalination Integration Project
Submitted by:
Water Corporation
Southern Seawater Alliance
High commendation:
State Theatre Centre of Western Australia – mechanical and sustainable design, fire
safety engineering and pedestrian simulation
These aspects of the project are impressive for their use of site specific engineering design in a unique structure involving extensive use of computer modelling, liaison with other professions and ingenuity. The design of the structure and site limitations resulted in bespoke solutions reflecting ecologically sustainable design.
Submitted by:
Aurecon
Control Systems, Reports and Procedures
Winner:
Oakajee BFS Supply Chain Simulation
AECOM was appointed to undertake discrete event simulation modelling of Oakajee Port and Rail’s iron ore supply chain, supporting engineering design and tariff estimation. AECOM’s simulation and associated analysis delivered a high return on investment to Oakajee Port and Rail by identifying potential bottlenecks through the use of supply chain modelling and allowing for a superior engineering design. As a result of this project, OPR now has a comprehensive model of their mine-to-port supply chain.
Submitted by:
AECOM
Oakajee Port and Rail
Environment
Winner:
Quarantine Management System, Barrow Island
Barrow Island is a unique place and important refuge for many rare and threatened species, some of which are endemic to the island and the surrounding waters.
Chevron Australia’s quarantine management system, introduced as part of its Gorgon development, aims to ensure the future of terrestrial and marine species by maintaining their habitats and preventing the introduction of any non-indigenous species. It involves a new, risk-based quarantine approach, with more than 300 procedures, specifications, checklists and guidelines. It is believed to be the world’s largest non-government quarantine initiative.
Submitted by:
Chevron Australia
Engineering for Regional Communities
Winner:
Nannup bore and transfer main
The Nannup Bore and Transfer Main is an emergency drought relief project. Reduced rainflow into Millstream Dam created a critical supply shortage for the Bridgetown Water Scheme. This fast track project included constructing a bore and delivering the infrastructure to supply bore water to Millstream Dam. The delivery timeframe for all engineering, approvals, and construction was 18 months.
The project was delivered on time and $12 million under budget using many innovative strategies, including a novel risk management approach that has been nationally recognised.
Submitted by:
Lowes Churchill and Associates
Management of Engineering
Winner:
Southern Seawater desalination integration project
Submitted by:
Water Corporation
Southern Seawater Alliance
Georgiou
GHD
High Commendation:
Quarantine Management System, Barrow Island
Chevron Australia’s Quarantine Management System applies innovative engineering solutions to ecological challenges to create a new ways of managing biosecurity. The new concept introduced processes for the removal of unsafe or unwanted material, and the hermetic sealing of all supplies at the source of manufacture and food preparation.
Submitted by:
Chevron Australia
Innovation and Development
Winner:
Wellington Dam remedial works
This project involved a major upgrade of WA’s iconic Wellington Dam to bring the 70-year-old concrete weir into line with modern engineering standards; secure the viability of a multi-million dollar irrigation industry; and ensure the safety of downstream communities.
The Wellington Dam Alliance completed the $40 million upgrade within budget and four months ahead of schedule.
The project comprised the installation of high-tensile steel cables vertically through the 35- metre-high wall into bedrock, construction of a maintenance bridge on the dam crest, and repairs to existing internal access chambers.
Submitted by:
Water Corporation
Wellington Dam Alliance
High commendation:
The Ecoplough
The EcoPlough, made by Underground Services, transforms the way in which cables and pipes are placed in the ground. Its patented technology involves a trenchless technique that minimises disturbance to the environment, reduces construction costs and time, and can lay cables or conduit at the rate of 1000 metres an hour.
Small Company Projects
Winner:
State Theatre Centre of WA – redefining structural elegance
Airey Taylor Consulting offered an elegant, advanced structural engineering resolution to provide a 100-year design life for the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia.
Large portions of the centre were submerged below the water table to reduce the building’s footprint and the height impact on adjoining low-rise heritage buildings.
Airey Taylor developed a unique system to “anchor” the complex where the main theatre was placed on top of the studio theatre, and the foyers connecting the various entry points to the building were vertically stacked.
Submitted By:
Airey Taylor Consulting