Projects

Open Bulkhead Grain Storage

Project Details

River were engaged to design temporary and permanent Open Bulkhead Storage sites throughout the Wheatbelt. The design included civil earthworks, stormwater drainage, roadwork together with the associated 3D modelling. This is an ongoing contract that has designed the following projects to date;

• Mukinbudin
• Southern Cross
• Shackleton
• Narembeen
• Kondinin
• Newdegate
• Munglinup
• Hyden
• Quarading

Project Challenges and Outcomes

The main concerns of the Client were the remoteness of the sites and the costs to getting construction material to site and the subsequent budget blowout. River focused on balancing the cut to fill so to avoid costly importation from material. River also designed out all concrete structures within the site using innovative drainage solutions. The majority of the site work only required bobcats and excavators to achieve its desired outcome.

Parkerville Steiner College

Project Details

River were engaged to provide engineering services for the design of a 200 student high school. After successfully completing this phase River were awarded a further contract to provide full project management services as well as becoming the clients representative through out the contract until practical completion had been achieved. River’s responsibilities included the design of the civil, structural and electrical works, the co-ordination of the landscaping and architectural works and obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

The design required significant boxed culverts for the pedestrian crossing of the sites main drain. The manufacture of the box culverts impacted both the programme and budget, however, River contacted a local concrete company who donated a waste product that was originally designed as a high rise pretentioned floor. This became the bridge crossing for the main drain and saved time and money.

Margaret River Nature Park Private Pump Station

Project Details

River were involved in the design, approvals, tendering and contract administration phases of the Margaret River Nature Park private pump station, pressure mains and gravity sewer to replace the Nature Parks septic tanks and ATU’s which required significant maintenance input and tinkering through peak periods. The private pump station was approximately 4.5m deep and included an emergency overflow tank which provided 6 hours storage in the case of power outages. The pressure main ran for 1.6kms and crossed the Bussell Highway and the bridge at the bottom of the Margaret River townsite before pumping to the Water Corporation sewerage network.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

Crossing the Margaret River bridge was a challenging exercise that required both MRWA and Shire approval. The points where we could connect to the bridge spanned 7m which was well in excess of the recommended support distances for any pipework. Therefore, River designed a box section pipe sleeve tat could span the 7m with minimal deflection. The pressure main could then run within this sleeve support appropriately with spider supports to achieve the desired outcome.

Karri Valley Resort Private Pump Station

Project Details

As part of the construction of the new caravan park, a new private wastewater pump station was required to replace the smaller existing pump station which had reached its design life. River was responsible for this project from the design phase through to the contract administration phase.

The new private pump station included a new pressure main which discharged the resort and new caravan parks wastewater to the existing wastewater treatment ponds on the site.

The pump station was a fibreglass constructed wet well which is placed into the ground. River have designed the ballast and structural design for the wet well to ensure that stress fractures due to the changing internal wet well levels and external water table does not affect the system.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

In order to save costs the existing wet well was incorporated into the design to provide emergency overflow storage in case of major malfunction or prolonged power outages. As this storage is not free draining the existing pumps were retained to pump out the contents of the wet well. Further security was provided by installing an auto dialler (to send an SMS to the maintenance staff of system faults), a generator connector so a temporary generator set could be connected and a GPO on the control panel so a temporary submersible pump could be connected to empty the contents of the existing wet well.

Karri Valley Resort Spillway

Project Details

River was engaged to improve the operation and maintenance of the existing spillway system at Beedelup Lake within the Karri Valley Resort. The existing system required the operators to be located within the spillway to operate the gates which posed a health and safety risk.

The system proposed was a series of aluminium weir penstocks, a conventional penstock, stoplogs and bulkheads which enabled the maintenance staff to operate the system safely from the bridge.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

A detailed structural review of the existing system was required to ensure the concrete structure of the spillway and the steel bridge supports could be reused. The cutting of the existing gate fixings had to be treated to ensure no corrosion occurred internally to the concrete structures. The steel column supports of the bridge required cleaning and treating with an appropriate paint to ensure the design life was prolonged.

During construction the lake level was lowered and protocols were put in place to ensure the installation team were not at risk with any sudden rise in the lake levels.

Dalwallinu Sewer Upgrade

Project Details

The Shire of Dalwallinu own and run their own sewage network within the town of Dalwallinu. The sewers were initially installed in the late 60’s so had reached their design life. River was initially engaged to replace a section of this sewer in 2015. This led to River offering the development of a sewer masterplan so the future replacement of the sewer would also consider developments that have happened in the last 50 years and future developments so future proofing the system.

The sewer masterplan enables the Shire to determine what section of sewer needs to be replaced each year and also provides a cost estimate for each section so budgets can be set each year. In total there has been four projects that have been delivered.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

The methodology has evolved each year to ensure there is little disruption to the residents throughout the process of changing the old to the new sewer. This involves opening up a section each day, replacing the sewer and closing the section. In order to achieve this there are procedures to follow which enables the invert levels to be correctly set with each section of sewer being tested to achieve the final outcome.

Stonebridge Subdivision

Project Details

River was engaged to complete the Stonebridge subdivision within Busselton. In total there were 45 lots to deliver from stages 2A to 5. The project was developed through detailed design, tendering and contract administration phases. The subdivision design included earthworks, roadworks, fencing, noise bund, retaining walls, water, sewer, stormwater, power and communications.

A deep gravity sewer was also required as part of the stage 5 subdivision. The sewer was 5.5m deep and required excessive dewatering.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

A large amount of limestone rocks were encountered throughout the construction of the subdivision. These were stockpiled on the site with the majority being used within the public open space as part of the landscape design. The remaining rocks were back loaded onto trucks delivering sand to keep the construction costs down.

Karri Valley Resort Caravan Park

Project Details

River worked on this new caravan park from the concept stage through to the contract administration stage.

The caravan park consisted of 70 caravan bays and 45 tents bays. The reception was an upgrade of the existing Lodge which included a games room and a nature play playground. Within the caravan park two new ablution blocks and a new kitchen were installed.

The water supply is drawn from the Beedelup Lake located at the existing resort. This water is treated at the resort, however, an additional water storage system, chlorine dosing facility and booster pump set was installed to provide the customers with a constant pressurised and chlorinated drinking water supply.

An irrigation system was installed to draw and filter water from an existing dam into new storage tank. The content of the tank is pumped to different sections of the caravan park to irrigate the land.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

The caravan park is located on a sloping paddock that was once used to grow hops for brewing beer. The road design had to consider manageable gradients to enable vehicles pulling caravans to easily negotiate. The design also ensured that any caravan bay could be accessed from a flat road to make vehicle reversing easier.

Papua New Guinea Project Management

Project Details

River was engaged by a major Consultancy within Papua New Guinea to Project Manage various challenging projects in remote areas. These consisted of;

• Investigation of seven bridge sites in New Ireland for Nautilus Minerals. The project involved survey, drilling, geotechnical, hydrology and bridge concept designs and cost estimates.
• Investigation of five bridge sites in Tari, Highlands for Oil Search. The project involved survey, drilling, geotechnical, hydrology and bridge concept designs and cost estimates.
• 574 lot subdivision for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force as part of their retirement scheme in Port Moresby.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

Liaison with local stakeholders and the safety of the site team is paramount in Papua New Guinea. Once this has been resolved or managed then the logistics become the next challenge especially on the multi site projects. The Highlands project for instance, needed a helicopter to transport the site staff and equipment to the site.

Halimbu Junction

Project Details

River assisted a major Consultant within Papua New Guinea to develop a new Tender/Contract document for the Client. The Client would normally use their own Standard Conditions of Contract which wasn’t suited for the larger projects they were now dealing with.

Through River’s experience with various Condition of Contract throughout the World, we developed a document which utilises the Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs-Conseils (or commonly known as FIDIC. This translates to the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) General Conditions of Contract for Constructions for Building and Engineering Works Designed by the Employer, Multilateral Development Bank Harmonised Edition – March 2006.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

Considerable liaison was required to understand the Papua New Guinea working culture and addressing issues that have been encountered locally to develop the Special Conditions of Contract which supported the FIDIC General Conditions of Contract. Although this document was used for the Halimbu Junction project (approx Contract Value of $25 million) it enabled the Client to use this document as a template for future projects.

Bell Street Subdivision

Project Details

River was engaged to deliver a 13 lots subdivision within the town of Dalwallinu. The project was developed through the concept, detailed design, tendering and contract administration phases. The subdivision design included a retaining wall, roadworks, water, sewer including a pump station, stormwater, power and communications.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

The proposed 13 lots subdivision considered the future developments in this area. As part of the concept plan the lot layout was determined by how to service each lot from stage 1 and into the future. Infrastructure was included in stage 1 which will lower the costs of future developments.

Kiwirrkurra Desalination Plant

Project Details

River was part of a design and construction team to provide civil, hydraulic, structural and electrical engineering design and support to rest of the team which included the civil contractor, desalination plant manufacturer and electrical contractor.

The system design included demolition, structural supports and plinths, pressure main and waste evaporation dam design. River also provided input into the desalination plant design to reconfigure the layout to enable the operability of the plant to be simplified.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

River provided an improved outcome to the technical specification when designing the waste evaporation dam. The dam was designed with a view that a portion of the contents will infiltrate with the majority evaporating. It also considered the stormwater catchment around the dam and how to protect the integrity of the dam to cater for high stormwater flowrates.

River also took into account the remote location and the difficulty in constructing with minimal resources around. The design of the structural supports and plinths were formed off-site and delivered in sections negating the need to produce the concrete on-site. This saved on construction programme on the site and subsequently the installation time of the equipment which overall saved money.

Mullewa Sewerage System Investigation

Project Details

River have a range of sewer inspection cameras, hydraulic manhole lid lifting device and pipe inspection locators to detect the head of the camera within the sewer.

The Mullewa sewerage network is owned and operated by the City of Geraldton (City) after the Shire of Mullewa was absorbed into the City. The previous records of the sewerage network was misplaced throughout the years so River were engaged to map the sewerage network within Mullewa providing drawings of the system for the operating staff.

Whilst inspecting the system photographs and videos were taken so a condition report could be provided and subsequently the capital priority replacement program could be developed.

Finally, River provided the operation and maintenance manuals and whole of life projections for the system.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

Whilst on site River came across an access chamber where the lid had seized preventing maintenance of the chamber for the past 10 years. Using River’s hydraulic manhole lifting device this lid was removed gaining access to the chamber which was blocked by roots and debris. River cleaned this chamber and lubricated the existing lid so this could be removed in the future.
River Camera Details

Moora Cattle Feeding Facility

Project Details

River was engaged as the superintendent to a cattle feeding facility for 40,000 cattle. The feeding facility included a VIP building, administration building, hospital and cattle handling facility, feedmill, feeding pens, internal roads, a weighbridge, stormwater drainage, manure pad, sedimentation ponds, effluent dams and a turkeys nest dam.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

As part of the Development Application the minimal infiltration rate of the feeding facility was very hard to achieve with the soils encountered on site. Various methodologies where put together with test sites formed to see which solution would be compliant. The only system that could achieve the specification was a geosynthetic clay liner which was used over the 600,000m2 area.

Roberts Road and Stormwater Upgrade

Project Details

River was engaged to design Roberts Road in the light industrial area of Dalwallinu. The design also included a stormwater catchment system, a silt trap and a storage dam.

The silt trap utilised local products to enable silt to be removed in a safe manner and reduce the amount of silt that could enter the dam. The water in the dam has been designed for the Shires mobile diesel pump to transfer its content to the nearby Water Corporations stormwater storage dam where the water could be used for irrigation around the town.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

Further design of one of the farms crossovers had to be taken due to the farm having B-double trucks (class 2 heavy vehicle) entering their lot. A series of truck movement drawings were produced using AutoTurn to ensure the crossover was wide enough to accept the larger vehicles.

KVR DWQMP and Sampling

Project Details

River was engaged to develop the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan (DWQMP) for the source, treated and consumer water at the Karri Valley Resort. This included the approval from the Shire of Manjimup and the Department of Health.

After approval was received for the DWQMP, River trained the maintenance staff on what was required to run a potable water system including how to take daily and monthly samples in order to comply with their obligations.

River then took over the responsibility of taking the monthly samples for a 2 year period. This involves following the DWQMP and getting the samples to a NATA accredited laboratory within 24 hours of the samples being taken. The results from the laboratory are then entered into spreadsheets and folders which can be accessed by all parties through Dropbox.

Project Challenges and Outcomes

River have extended their service to provide advice to the maintenance team not just on the DWQMP and sampling but also on faults that arise on pump stations, booster sets and chlorine dosing systems.

CERVANTES HOLIDAY PARK STAGE 1

PROJECT DETAILS

River, as a prequalified consultant with Water Corporation, was initially engaged to resolved the sewer issues on the site. This involved a private pump station and 900m of pressure main into the Water Corporation sewer network on the other side of the town.

After resolving this problem, RAC engaged River to project manage and provide engineering services for the civil infrastructure contract. The scope of this work included the roadworks, water, sewer (including the pump station and pressure main), gas (through Kleenheat Gas), fire, structural, underground power, and communications.

PROJECT CHALLENGES AND OUTCOMES

Time and budget were the two most important parts of this project as RAC had taken bookings for the park over the Christmas period. Additionally, half of the park was operational throughout the whole contract.

The practical completion date of the 14 December 2016 was successfully achieved, with the official opening of the park in February 2017.
The tight allocated budget was difficult to control due to lack of underground services documentation. This resulted in the civil contractor always maintaining a plumber and electrician on the site to ensure any damage infrastructure could be quickly rectified.

The budget was finally achieved with the variations not exceeding the contingency.

SOUTHERN CROSS REUSE WATER

Project Details

The Shire of Yilgarn engaged River to perform a number of minor projects which involved provision of:

• A concept design to eliminate odours from the Arcturus Street Pump Station;
• An environmental assessment of the wastewater which is overflowing to the salt lake; and
• High level advice on achieving approval from the Department of Health in reusing final effluent from the wastewater treatment ponds.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

The issue with the pump station was its close proximity to residents and the ability of the pump station to overflow into an open basin upon failure with no alarms being raised.

The proposal submitted included the use of enclosed emergency overflow tanks which will be installed within the existing basin. The system would then send out an alarm via SMS. If there is a power outage then a temporary generator connection point has been included within the existing motor control panel.

SHANNON PARK CAMPGROUND

Project Details

Shannon is an old saw mill area which has been converted into a campground operated by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

River was engaged as a project manager and designer for the project.

Stage 1 involved drawing water from the Shannon dam using a diesel powered pump, filtering and delivering the water to the other side of the South Western Highway, where the campground is situated. This involved installing 2.1km of pressure main with a number of air valves and scour pits along the way.

Stage 2 is for the water and gas reticulation around the campground.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Considerations had to be made with how to reduce the noise of the diesel powered pump as not to cause noise pollution. This was mitigated by insulating the 20 foot container in which the pumps are housed.

Another consideration to the design of the system was the requirement for minimal operator input. The solution provided for a pump that is manually started and will automatically switch off either on the timer elapsing, the storage tanks becoming full (high pressure), or a fault in the system – whichever occurs first. Therefore, once switched on, the operator is not required to return to switch the system off.

SERPENTINE STAGES 8, 9 AND 10

Project Details

The civil consultancy work was awarded to River for stages 8, 9 and of the development.

The contract includes roads, main drain crossings, stormwater drainage, water reticulation, underground power, telecommunications, lighting and fencing in 41 lots, each 4,000 ha in size.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Pockets of clay was experienced on site and compaction rates of the subgrade was a problem in these areas.

A methodology was put together of ripping, blending, wetting and compacting these areas so the specified NATA compaction rates were achieved.

QUEENS GROVE CARAVAN PARK

Project Details

The existing Kenlorn caravan park was demolished and a new 59 bay caravan park was developed, including a new ablution block.

River was responsible for the roadworks, water, sewer, gas, fire, underground power, communications and structural design.

This led to the engagement of a civil contractor, with River undertaking the role of Site Superintendent.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Prior to River being engaged, the client had some sewer and stormwater infrastructure installed and site switchboards manufactured which resulted in design constraints.

River successfully either incorporated the infrastructure into the design or reused it in new locations. This resulted in a direct reduction of project construction costs.

PNG PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Details

River was engaged by a major Consultancy within Papua New Guinea to Project Manage various challenging projects in remote areas.
These consisted of:

• Investigation of seven bridge sites in New Ireland for Nautilus Minerals.
  The project involved survey, drilling, geotechnical, hydrology and bridge
  concept designs and cost estimates.
• Investigation of five bridge sites in Tari, Highlands for Oil Search. The
  project involved survey, drilling, geotechnical, hydrology and bridge
  concept designs and cost estimates.
• 574 lot subdivision for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force as part of
  their retirement scheme in Port Moresby.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Liaison with local stakeholders and the safety of the site team is paramount. Once was resolved or managed then the logistics become the next challenge, especially on the multi site projects. The Highlands project, for instance, required a helicopter to transport the site staff and equipment to the site.

MERREDIN DAM 4

Project Details

River was engaged by a major Consultancy to Project Manage the design, tender and contract administration phases of the construction of a new stormwater storage dam, pump station and evaporation control system.

As part of the contract, a testing regime had to be implemented to check how much water the
evaporation control system could save per annum. After a year of testing there was a total water saving of 2.1ML per year.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

The Client’s brief was to construct the largest dam possible for a value of $800,000. After the initial tenders were received the budget was surpassed, and therefore each tender was rejected.

After negotiations with a couple of the tenderers it was eventually decided to split the contracts into three separate projects being the dam, pump station and evaporation control system.

River successfully managed the three contracts which ran concurrently with the project delivered on-time and within budget. The project was a finalist in the WA Water Awards 2012 for Infrastructure Innovation.

BUTCHER STREET, BRUCE ROCK

Project Details

River were engaged by CEACA to provide six aged care units on the old Bruce Rock bowling green.

Two internal roads provided access to three units and services provided for water, sewer, power and communications together with internal lighting.

The sewer system is designed for a Septic Tank Effluent Disposal (STED) system to enable the septic tank system to be connected into the Water Corporation sewer network. This was scheduled for completion during the project construction phase.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Water Corporation sewer construction work was delayed in Bruce Rock, preventing the aged care units from receiving clearances. Temporary solutions were investigated that included a private pump station and a leach drain system. Both were designed in addition to the STED system to enable the sewage to be adequately treated until connection to the Water Corporation sewer network could be achieved.

CEACA PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Details

The project involves the project management and engineering for an initial 75 lots in 11 different shires in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The contract covers a significant geographical area – from Wyalkatchem in the west, to Southern Cross in the east, Beacon in the north, to Bruce Rock in the south.

The project commenced in February 2016 and is expected to be complete d by June 2018. The master planning for each site is close to completion to enable detailed design to commence.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

Services are a major consideration in determining a suitable site within each shire, effecting construction costs and therefore project budgets.

Sewer, for instance, varies considerably from site to another with considerations being made as to whether the site can be connect to the sewer network, whether a private pump station is required or whether on site treatment is required utilising either septic tanks and alternative treatment systems.

A key consideration is whole of life costs, with the lowest capital expenditure not necessarily being the preferred option with operation expenditure also considered in the assessment.

MERREDIN COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY

Project Details

River was engaged by the Shire to initially assist in obtaining a grant from the Department of Water for the upgrade of the Merredin stormwater system.

After this was successfully achieved River was awarded the ongoing Project Management and Civil Consultancy work to design, tender and contract administer the project through to final Practical Completion.

The project involved the construction of a new pump station to fill the existing dam number 1, the replacement of dam number 1 discharge pump station, and the reconfiguration of the piping system with the Roy Little pond.

Project Challenges And Outcomes

It was decided late into the design process to incorporate a water feature within the design that recirculated stagnant areas within the pond as it had become a health risk to local residents.

The system provides flexibility to circulate the water in three zones together with controlling a water feature which provides much needed aeration into the lake. The affects of the system could be seen immediately with positive feedback from the local residents.