Project Overview
Containment of both leachable and non-leachable contaminated materials beneath the future building’s footprint.
McMahon Services’ were contracted to complete site remediation in preparation for the development of an Iron Ore Transhipment Port at Port Pirie. This project posed some unique challenges for our Civil & Remediation division.
Staff members were required to contain both leachable and non-leachable contaminated materials beneath the future building’s footprint. To ensure the non-leachable material could safely encapsulate the leachable material, precise excavation and monitoring of the material balance was required. In addition 7,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil was relocated to an on-site repository.
Furthermore, the bases of the excavations were not level or at a constant grade. To solve this problem, a GPS system was used to achieve efficient and accurate excavation.
McMahon Services communicated openly with the client to ensure all parties were satisfied by the project outcome. Mid-way through the works, discussions were held to find the best way to move forward with minimal costs and guarantee the project was conducted with the highest standards of environmental management.
Our crews were also confronted with an existing pipeline that contained 9,500 litres of a diesel and water mixture. The pipeline was plugged on the site boundary and removed along with its contents. This process tested our team as the excavation was close to groundwater supplies.
A further challenge was meeting the low dust tolerance for the project, set by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). To comply with this, a real time dust monitoring alarm system was enabled to ensure dust levels were kept to a minimum.
Our client was impressed with our professional, cooperative approach. Site personnel / workers were commended for their safe attitudes. 7500 man-hours were worked with no lost time or incidents requiring medical treatment, and no disruptions to the surrounding community.
