Projects

Rio Tinto Iron Ore: Rail Network Renewal Assessment

Project comprised the desktop study, site investigation, laboratory testing and design of remedial solutions for a 50km section of RTIO’s mainline railway to rectify defects which impact operation of the railway.

Assessment of 6 bridges where the transition between the embankment and bridge results in vertical alignment loss was also completed, including design of an effective transition which is now adopted by industry across multiple operators.

We undertook geotechnical supervision of the works during construction.

BHP: Naturally Occurring Asbestos Assessment

Geotechnology WA undertook a review of encapsulation effectiveness for shotcrete and epoxy resin applied to cuttings with asbestos outcrops. The review resulted in development of a management plan for the areas so that BHP could monitor and control changes in the encapsulation effectiveness.

BHP: Plainline Rail Turnout and Crossover Renewals

Assessment of the rail formation, ballast and sleepers for BHP's rail network from mine to port where turnouts and crossovers have reached the end of life and require renewal.

Our scope included the investigation of the ballast quality, providing remedial designs for non-conforming formation and drainage improvements.

We provided 24 hour site supervision for the construction of the renewal works during time constrained shuts.

Fortescue Metals Group: Rail Formation Design

Assessment of railway formation designs where marginal ground conditions are present. Root cause analysis identified the key criteria which could lead to poor performance and allowed design of suitable treatments or improvements to provide a comparable service life to a ‘compliant’ formation design.

Areas of particular success were for subgrades with high plasticity fines, marginally weak subgrade or Sub-Ballast Capping and development of a range of treatments and selection criteria.

BHP: Yeerabiddy Siding Upgrade
Independent Verification and MDR Review

GWA provided a dual role for this project, comprising:

Independent verification of the Yeerabiddy geotechnical design, including identifying improvement for the proposed construction phase to reduce risks. This led to input to specific methods to reduce risk during construction and optimising the geotechnical designers proposed works.
Providing review of the contractor's Manufacturer's Data Report upon completion of the projects construction activities.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore: Slope Inspection Training Package

GWA developed a slope inspection guideline and a training package to allow consistent use of geotechnical terminology by Level 1 inspectors. The slope inspection package was delivered to two groups of civil inspectors with theoretical and practical components. Components of the training package and guideline are currently incorporated into RTIO’s EP-019 document.

BHP: Renewal Execution Support

GWA reviewed and optimised proposed geotechnical remediation works for a series of cuts in the natural landscape within the rail corridor (designed by another company), simplified the remedial works so they were constructable and provided geotechnical inspections and implementation support during a 6-day rail shut. The optimised remedial works allowed the cutting remediation to match the geotechnical conditions on site and the potential failure mechanisms, reducing the required works.

Various clients: Specification Review

Provided technical review and content updates for the earthworks and civil specifications that are utilised company wide. The projects included interfacing with company stakeholders to understand how the updates will interact with their operations. The outputs were typically a review register that ranked the recommended updates in order of operational, environmental and heath and safety risk.