Port Kembla Gas Terminal Early Works Shortlisted
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Port Kembla Gas Terminal Early Works Shortlisted for World Demolition Award
Liberty Industrial’s Port Kembla Gas Terminal Early Works project has been shortlisted in the Civils Demolition category at the 2022 World Demolition Awards.
Liberty Industrial was engaged by our client Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) to undertake the demolition, remediation, and earthworks at the Port Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT) Early Works project in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, in Australia.
These works paved way for the development of Australia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal – a landmark project being delivered by our client, Australian Industrial Energy, which will see the PKGT have the capability to supply more than 75% of NSW’s energy requirements.
Liberty Industrial was instrumental in the demolition and removal of Berth 101, a heavily reinforced concrete deck that was over 4400m2 and up to 1.2m thick, as well as the extraction of 499 steel piles and 71 turpentine fender piles. At around 25m long, the piles were embedded through sand and stiff clays, terminating in sandstone bedrock. Works also required the bulk excavation of 100,000 cubic metres of fill including material segregation, material tracking, stockpiling, testing and relocation of some materials to the outer harbour for sustainable re-use in the future project.
To add to the sustainability performance of the project, the project team completed the successful commissioning of one of Liberty Industrial’s two owned-and-operated high flow rate Chemically Enhanced Dual Media Water Treatment Plant.
Capable of treating a wide range of organic and inorganic pollutants to levels below laboratory reporting limits, the new plant was used to treat a variety of existing, and potential contaminants on-site, without delay and added confidence to meet the site’s strict Environmental Protection Licence requirements. Achieving flow rates of up to 20 litres per second, within a reduced footprint, proved highly beneficial for the project as it provided readily accessible water for reuse onsite.
Exceptional outcomes for the project included the cutting of 499 piles, using innovative wire sawing techniques developed by the demolition team, and the removal of a 220m long deck with carefully sequenced crane lifts. Some sections of the wharf deck were over 1.2m thick resulting in lifts over 60 tonnes with a swing radius of up to 26m utilising a 300-tonne crawler crane.
The extraction of the steel piles was never before attempted on such a scale and while various techniques were deployed, success was delivered by using the overwhelming force of the ICE1412 Pile Clamp – the largest single pile clamp and vibration unit available in Australia.