A shoring solution supplied by Coates Hire helped SA Water during the upgrade of their Queensbury Wastewater Pump Station at Hendon in South Australia.
Constructed in 1935, the Pump Station is a key facility in the SA Water network, collecting wastewater from around 20,000 properties and supporting a population of almost 50,000 people in Adelaide’s north-western suburbs.
A 12-month upgrade project began in January this year to improve the ageing infrastructure, with Coates Hire’s revolutionary new Mega Brace and MP150 hydraulic strut shoring system playing a key role in construction.
Coates Hire’s new shoring system delivers a unique solution for Australian customers engaged in large-scale excavation projects. Quick and easy to install, the system saves time and money, with Coates Hire’s technical team also offering support from project planning to project completion to ensure clients gain the utmost value and cost-effectiveness.
Needing heavy duty shoring during construction of a new 9m deep pumping station, SA Water and their contractor York Civil called on the Coates Hire Shoring Engineering and Technical Team to design and supply a 30m x 14m shoring system capable of supporting ground loads in excess of 42 tonnes per metre.
Coates Hire National Sales Engineer, Nigel Robbins explains that a contiguous concrete piled wall was installed to 14m deep around the perimeter, which was topped with a concrete capping beam. During the excavation and construction phases of the pumping station, this wall needed to be propped in the temporary state until the internal walls and floors of the pumping station were constructed.
Two levels of Mega Brace around the perimeter combined with MP150 hydraulic struts provided wall-to-wall intermediate support to achieve the required loads.
After extensive preparation works at Coates Hire’s Sydney (Ingleburn), Brisbane (Eagle Farm) and Adelaide (Albert Park) Depots, which included making the struts, testing the hydraulic components and welding an extensive number of high load sheer stops, the 110 tons of equipment were delivered to the site and installed in only a few days, saving the customer time and money compared to traditional methods of support.
Members of the Coates Hire Technical Team supervised the installation of the system, ably supported by team members from the Coates Hire Albert Park Branch and the York Civil team under direction of their Project Manager Michael Lazaraki. The two large shoring frames were quickly installed, allowing York Civil to progress the works and dig the additional 6m of ground beneath the frames to an overall excavation depth of 9.8m.
Describing the shoring system as an excellent product and very fit for purpose, Michael Lazaraki also praised the service and support provided by Coates Hire. The client was impressed by the speed of installation in such difficult site conditions, and the clear open areas between the struts afforded by the frame design allowed excavators to work with minimal obstructions so excavation could proceed at pace.
Working closely with Coates Hire’s Technical Team throughout the planning stage provided York Civil with a cost-effective, valuable engineered solution, which has now been expanded to accommodate the provision of other shoring products and well point dewatering to support additional trenching works and manhole construction in other areas of the site.
This project clearly demonstrates the latest capabilities of Coates Hire to provide multi-faceted shoring solutions to meet their customers’ needs, and expand product capabilities and engineering expertise to cope with demanding and complex civil engineering projects.
