Project Overview
Cleaning and removal of five oversized shipping containers lined with bonded asbestos.
Five oversized shipping containers with bonded asbestos sheet lining required cleaning and removal on Curtis Island as part of the QCLNG Project.
The five containers all housed electrical reticulation to run a nearby desalination plant, so the first step was to disconnect all electrical components and relocate the services.
The containers were lifted off their plinths using a 68 tonne container stacker and for more difficult access areas, a 130 tonne crane. Clean containers were set up in line with the contaminated for an easy load out of all the electrical components.
The team had to develop a “clean zone” to ensure no cross contamination would occur by building an encapsulated scaffold between the containers.
The electrical team disconnected all of the components, with some switch boards weighing up to one tonne each. They were then decontaminated, jacked up and put on rollers to go into the clean containers.
Shrink wrapped and then tied down, each container needed a 2500 kilogram ratchet strap. Once the asbestos containers were empty, they were raised onto concrete blocks and completely sealed externally using sheet metal.
Independent air monitoring was conducted throughout the whole process, with the project team recording zero safety incidents.
The containers were then loaded onto barges and sent to the mainland, headed for Brisbane.
