May 2015 saw the Western Australian State Government-owned water utility Water Corporation release a tender calling for a preferred contractor for an ongoing refurbishment program across the state’s wastewater network.
The water utility’s upcoming sewer refurbishment program includes the refurbishment of approximately 32 km of main and reticulation sewer in the Perth Metropolitan area, as well as some regional areas over the next five years. The scope of the program includes the relining of existing sewers, refurbishment of property connections, installation of parallel sewers, refurbishment of access chambers and all necessary temporary and ancillary works.
The tender said Water Corporation is seeking to enter into a three-year preferred supplier agreement with a single sewer refurbishment contractor, with the possibility of extending the agreement for a further two years, subject to satisfactory performance. This represents a considerable departure in approach for the utility, which previously sought to have a panel of a least three relining contractors engaged on period contracts.
Once awarded, the package of works for the 2015-2016 financial year includes the refurbishment of approximately 4 km of concrete sewers ranging from 300-685 mm in diameter.
Elsewhere in the state’s trenchless industry, the Environmental Protection Authority granted conditional approval for the expansion of Chevron Australia’s Gorgon Gas Development Project, which will feature a horizontal directional drilling campaign.
Approved in March, the project is known as the Gorgon Gas Development Fourth Train Expansion Proposal and will seek to expand the LNG production capacity on Barrow Island by a third. Previously constructed sections of the Gorgon Gas Development Project have used HDD methods to satisfy environmental concerns.
Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Chairman Dr Paul Vogel said the proposal’s horizontal directional drilling component had been subjected to a public environmental review – the EPA’s highest level of environmental impact assessment.
The Minister for Environment will make the final decision on the project’s approval.
The Western Australia Councillor’s report for 2014 was tabled at the recent AGM, containing many more updates for the region. It is available for members to read on the ASTT website.