The Hon. John Kobelke MLA, Minister for Water Resources, officially opened the new Geraldton to Northampton water pipeline on Thursday 21 February, 2008.
During the opening, the Minister praised the efforts of all parties that participated in planning, designing and constructing this precious lifeline for the community of Northampton. The whole process from planning and design to completed construction took 18 months which the minister flagged as an exceptional achievement and a credit to everybody involved.
Underground Services Australia working with PPS Partnership was responsible for constructing the 45km long, 300mm and 375mm PVC pipeline. Construction work commenced in July 2007 with the first water flowing to the Northampton tank in January 2008.
By utilizing our own Trencor 65t chain trencher for the excavation process we were able to overcome challenging ground conditions whilst at the same time being able to meet demanding production schedules.
The pipeline crossed the North West Coastal Highway on two occasions. To overcome this challenge we were able to use our Vermeer D80 Horizontal Directional Dril, the biggest unit of this type in Western Australia, to insert steel sleeves under the highway without disruption to any traffic.
To secure completion of the pipeline construction in six (6) months we sourced the majority of the required plant from our own plant pool as well as mobilising significant numbers of construction crews from within the company.
Due to professional planning, use of our own plant and labour resources and efficient construction processes, we were able to construct this significant element of the Western Australian water infrastructure within the exceptionally short construction period.
