McConnell Dowell is pleased to be delivering the Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Far North Queensland. In a world-first, this project will convert a disused gold mine into a pumped storage hydroelectric power generation facility.
The pumped storage hydro power station will use the pits of the old mine, with water run from the upper to the lower pit through two turbines at times of peak power demand and pumped back during low demand to restart the cycle.
With delivery partner John Holland, McConnell Dowell will soon commence works on the natural battery storage facility that has the potential to generate up to 250 MW of rapid response, flexible power to Australia’s National Electricity Market.
CEO Scott Cummins says this project is an important step in Australia’s move towards a more sustainable energy future.
“For 60 years McConnell Dowell has successfully delivered complex infrastructure with our customers and the community and the Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project is another excellent example of our creative construction ethos in action. We are thrilled to be part of part of this development. The award of this work continues to build McConnell Dowell’s growing presence throughout Australia in the successful delivery of major infrastructure projects in the resource, energy and transport sectors.”
McConnell Dowell Project Director Bruno Tirrizzi is excited to be leading the team that will deliver this innovative project
“It’s great to be moving into the construction phase of Kidston after a long and rewarding collaboration with Genex and our delivery partners on the design of the facility”, Mr Tirrizzi said.
The project is led by Genex Power, Australia’s leading renewable energy and storage company, and along with requiring the conversion of two existing mine pits into reservoirs, involves the construction of significant underground infrastructure including a large powerhouse cavern and waterway shafts and tunnels to allow the transfer of water between the upper and lower reservoirs to generate power during peak periods and return water back to the upper reservoir during off peak periods.
The McConnell Dowell Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr James Glastonbury as Executive General Manager Engineering, Technology and Innovation.
James has an outstanding reputation in Australia and internationally as a civil engineering thought leader and has played a pivotal role in driving engineering excellence, including in the digital and BIM space.
In announcing this key leadership appointment to the Group’s Executive Committee, CEO Scott Cummins said…
“We are very excited that James has elected to join the McConnell Dowell Group to help drive our journey in these areas, and to oversee the continued establishment of communities of practice and centres of excellence across our core disciplines.”
James is looking forward to leading the team at McConnell Dowell as the business solidifies its position as the ‘Creative Construction’ company...
“There has arguably not been a more exciting or more pressing time for those that seek to constructively challenge. It is this cultural dimension that has drawn me to McConnell Dowell. I’m looking forward to building on the ‘Creative Construction’ brand.”
James will be based in Sydney and will commence in the role in the coming months.
The Regency Road to Pym Street (R2P) Project, jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments, is creating 210 jobs per year during construction.
The R2P Alliance is made up of the South Australian Government, and McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd, Mott MacDonald Australia Pty Ltd and Arup Group Pty Ltd.
From mid-September 2019, girder segments were delivered to the Polonia Reserve compound, enabling ‘off-site’ assembly of the northbound and southbound centre spans. The girders were fabricated locally at Bowhill Engineering.
Once assembled, the two centre spans each measured 84 metres in length each and weighed 2600 tonnes in total.
On and off ramps and structures that support the spans, are being constructed at the South Road and Regency Road intersection.
During 4 – 11 January 2021, the centre spans were transported from the Polonia Reserve compound to their final location, over Regency Road, using Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs). The major works required a partial closure of the South Road and Regency Road intersection for one week.
The centre spans travelled along the southbound carriageway of South Road and were lowered onto newly constructed concrete piers.
After the centre spans were installed, the eight back spans and 36 transfloor slabs were craned into place.
While all the attention was on the centre spans and back spans, a number of other milestones were achieved during the week including installation of:
- 21 cubic metres of concrete for the stich pour (concrete pour to fill gaps);
- Over 4000 bolts;
- Approximately 8 kilometres of power cables;
- Four traffic poles;
- Three Variable Message Signs; and
- Four road gantries.
These major works finished ahead of schedule, enabling the R2P Project to reopen the roads eight hours earlier than planned.
With these works complete, works will continue for several months at the intersection to complete the overpass. Final works prior to the opening of the overpass in mid-2021, include laying the final layer of asphalt, installation of concrete barriers to separate northbound and southbound traffic and line marking.
The Regency Road to Pym Street Project involves the construction of a new 1.8km section of non-stop motorway along South Road, connecting to the South Road Superway to the north and Torrens Road to River Torrens Project to the south.
The Regency Road to Pym Street Project will deliver travel time savings of up to eight minutes during peak periods and 4.5 minutes on average for around 53,000 motorists daily on this section of South Road.
The Regency Road overpass provides three lanes in each direction and two lanes in each direction (at-grade) on the surface roads underneath, for access to the surrounding community and local businesses.
Transportation of the second centre span for the Regency Road overpass
The St Marys Bay Area Water Quality Improvement project secured another win with the completion of the last tunnelling drive at the end of 2020. Hinehōaka, the project’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), successfully completed over one kilometre of micro-tunnelling in less than six months. The 1,120- metre storage pipeline, which includes a marine outfall, was constructed in three separate tunnelling drives using pipe-jacking methods.
Two shafts were constructed in Council parkland at the bottom of the cliff face to accommodate each tunnelling drive and a third shaft needed to be constructed in the narrow streets around St Marys Bay. This shaft was carefully and cleverly designed to be able to retrieve the TBM from a 3.8-metre diameter shaft, 25 metres below ground.
Each tunnelling drive had its own unique challenges but one of the major challenges the project team faced was tunnelling very close to, and underneath, restored villas worth millions of dollars in one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs. To mitigate stakeholder issues and concerns, the project set up a ‘SiteHive’ unit to collect data while the TBM was operating.
The unit continuously collected noise, dust and vibration monitoring readings from the worksite and this data helped proactively manage consent compliance, as well as record the impact of the operations. When noise reached predetermined levels a photo and sound recording were taken to capture the activity onsite. This constant monitoring meant the team could ensure construction activity operated within the consent conditions and any exceedances were investigated to see what could be done differently to ensure compliance in the immediate future.
Health and wellbeing has also been a huge focus on this project, as all three tunnelling drives were carried out by the team working in shifts over a 24-hour, five days per week work period. To educate the team around mental health, McConnell Dowell invited Mates in Construction, a programme aimed at improving mental wellness and reducing suicide in the construction industry, to run sessions onsite with the crew. We are proud to say that the St Marys Bay Area Water Quality Improvement project is the first McConnell Dowell site and fourth site in New Zealand to be Mates in Construction accredited.
The new pipeline will reduce wastewater overflows to St Marys Bay and Masefield Beach by 95 per cent. The high flows after rain events will be stored in the new larger capacity pipeline and pumped back into the sewer network for treatment when there is capacity. As well as reducing overflows, once complete the new marine outfall will discharge to an outfall far away from places where people swim.
The project is due to be completed during 2021.
This new brand sees the traditional Built Environs red replaced with a vibrant green
As the building business of the McConnell Dowell Group, the new branding more clearly aligns Built Environs with its parent organisation and reinforces the strength and support provided by the broader Group.
Over the past twelve months Built Environs has appointed new experienced leaders and reshaped the organisation as it has expanded into new markets to drive business growth in 2021 and beyond.
Built Environs Managing Director, Michael Clemenger said “Built Environs has a strong history of delivering significant and diverse projects and our new brand marks the next important phase of our expansion and growth. We’ll continue to work with our customers to create better buildings that enhance the way people live, work and play.”
The new brand will be rolled out across Built Environs’ sites and offices over the coming weeks.