Maribyrnong River Sewer Upgrade
- Client: CPB Contractors
- Location: Essendon, Victoria
- Project: Sewer Bypass
- Construction Period: 4 Years
Project Details
Brief
The Maribyrnong River Main (MRM) sewer project required the upgrade of pipes that were initially installed from 1963 to 1977 and buried 40 metres below ground. The project relines 7.2km of the sewer from North Road in Avondale Heights to Orford Street in Moonee Ponds using innovative trenchless technology to significantly reduce the impact of works on-site and the time required compared to traditional trenching methods.
Challenge
GEM was required to design, install and operate the above-ground sewer bypass pipelines and pumping equipment which allowed local sewerage services to operate as normal while work on the main pipeline is underway. Some sections of the pipeline were within 100 metres of the Maribyrnong River and within environmentally sensitive areas.
The project was made all the more challenging as urgent repairs were required to collapsed sections of a previous rehabilitation attempt in 2017.
Solution
Included in the pipeline scope was supply of all plant, materials and personnel required to fabricate and install temporary bypass pumping HDPE pipeline in 4 stages.
Due to the nature of what was being carried (high volumes of pressurised effluent) all welds achieved 100% accuracy and were delivered to meet all QA requirements and fully documented.
GEM was also responsible for all risk mitigation and flow requirements.
Key Facts
- Tracstar T900
- Tracstar T500
- Tracstar T412
- Data Loggers
- Poly Horse Kits
- Pneumatic Pipe Saws
- Hydrostatic Pressure testing equipment
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Stage 1 – Approx 2400mtrs DN500 PN10 single pipeline, PDWF 250l/s
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Stage 2 – Approx 1200mtrs DN630 PN10 single pipeline, PDWF 605l/s from two separate pump stations combing into single pipeline.
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Stage 3 & 4 – Two stages were merged to a total length of 3550mtrs of a combination of 500mm & 630mm single pipeline, PDWF 189l/s.
At times GEM was running multiple crews, fusion machines, loaders and fusing over 1.2 kilometer of pipeline together above ground per day. A total of 60 fusions per day.
