Engineers Australia presents this award for outstanding achievement in the field of engineering and it qualifies the project for the national Australian Engineering Excellence Awards, which will be held on 25 November. Assessment criteria included the engineering aspects of the project, features and solutions, lessons learned, budget and program adherence, and contribution to the economy, world’s best practice, innovation and research & development.
PBC and Coffey subsidiaries, Coffey Geotechnics and Coffey Projects, delivered one of the largest geotechnical trials program ever conducted in the world, comprising a total area of 10 hectares. The project was delivered with the assistance of internationally known ground improvement contractors Austress Menard, Cofra/Boskalis and Van Oord.
The project aimed to acquire knowledge on effective techniques to accelerate the process of reclaimed land development at the Port of Brisbane, and to optimise the treatment solutions for the varying ground conditions encountered across the future port expansion area.
According to Jay Ameratunga, senior principal at Coffey Geotechnics, full scale trials are the ultimate test in geotechnical engineering. However, it is not often that trials are constructed to assess the performance of the subsoils and/or a ground improvement technique.
“PBC and Coffey systematically conducted the trials to determine how effective the various consolidation techniques were for the varying ground conditions. The significant reduction in the land development timeframe from the initial 50 years to 5 – 7 years is a significant benefit to the community, allowing for the provision of high quality land for development in a much shorter timeframe.”
“As a result, PBC is able to confidently enter into commercial arrangements with service providers to develop new facilities for the community with a much better understanding of the appropriate development timeframes. The learnings adopted and know-how gained on soft soils during these trials will ultimately benefit port authorities in Australia and overseas.”
The project concluded on time, within budget and succeeded in establishing optimal ground improvement techniques; some of which were used in Australia for the first time. The design, supply and installation of the ground improvement systems achieved the objectives of developing high quality reclaimed land for the construction of world-class infrastructure.
PBC was so pleased with the results that they awarded a 9.3 hectare vacuum consolidation project to Austress Menard and a 25 hectare wick drain project to Van Oord earlier this year. Both projects include optimised designs based on the lessons learned from the trials, resulting in cost savings. Coffey has been appointed to undertake the wick drain designs and is working closely with PBC and the specialist contractors.
Coffey has been working with PBC since the first stage of the land development project in 2003, when it developed a seawall to contain the dredged material, enclosing the footprint of the expansion area. This initial project won the 2005 ACEA Gold Award for Excellence in Civil Infrastructure.
Media contact
Diana Krause, Global Manager External Communication, Coffey
T: (+61) (3) 9473 1300; M: (+61) 420 959 942; E: diana_krause@coffey.com
