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Early works delivered in the Cooper Basin

McMahon Services was contracted by Santos Limited to undertake the Site Preparation Works at the Moomba Plant located in the Cooper Basin. This challenging early works contract was critical for the overall delivery of the CO2 Removal & Utilities Expansion.

The multifaceted contract was undertaken within an existing brownfield site that required extreme caution working in and around the fully operational oil and gas facility. High levels of communication was critical between Santos operational staff and the McMahon Services team to ensure that the facility’s operations were maintained at all times.

The scope of works included the following:

  • Bulk earthworks including winning material from nearby borrow pit
  • Road construction including floodway and tie-ins to internal plant roads
  • Off-site and on-site welding of fire water line, Big Lake Bypass gas line
  • Installation of new Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) raw water line including horizontal boring under live gas transmission pipelines and tie-ins to live critical infrastructure
  • Construction of a new Potable Water load out facility to service the Cooper Basin
  • Installation and redirection of an underground high voltage transmission line
  • Deconstruction, relocation, and reconstruction of the blast proof Operators Building
  • Construction of the CIEP Compound including footings, stormwater drainage and other underground infrastructure
  • Demolition of redundant infrastructure within the operational Moomba Plant

The 12-month project was completed entirely by McMahon Services’ in-house trades and personnel, and over 250 personnel were inducted throughout the duration of the project, with an average of over 55 workers on site each day.

Intract Indigenous Contractors – McMahon Services’ Indigenous labour division, played a significant part in the delivery of the project providing labour and resources. Of the 66,000 man hours undertaken on the project, 27% Indigenous engagement was achieved.

A key challenge on this project was the execution of all excavation activities across the site in accordance with Santos’ strict excavation procedure.

This was particularly challenging due to the large amount of excavations required, the location within the operational facility and the numerous underground services encountered.

McMahon Services’ dedicated Excavation Coordinators worked closely with Santos to develop approved Excavation Plans and obtain the necessary permits. Fatigue management and logistics were also significant challenges to overcome in order to successfully deliver the project in a remote location under extreme conditions. During the summer months, the temperature on site regularly exceeded 45 degrees Celsius.

Moomba Site Prep Pipe 1

Moomba