Removing and crushing more than 780,000 tonnes of roadside material ready for the Sturt Highway expansion
No one ever said relocating 100 dump trucks from Port Augusta to Olympic Dam was going to be easy but, when the trucks in question are some of the largest in the world, it becomes an even more challenging task.
With the trucks weighing up to 700 tonnes fully loaded, the shoulder of the Sturt Highway needed to be extended by one metre on either side. McMahon Services was brought on board to assist with the removal and crushing of more than 780,000 tonnes of roadside material, ready for the expansion.
Having started with a 30 tonne excavator to rip the rock, it soon became clear that a more heavy-duty machine was needed. The D10 bulldozer stepped up to the challenge and began steadily pulling out the rock ready for its first stage of processing through the jaw crusher.
The oversized rock was then passed through the impact crusher for secondary crushing and to bring it within the DTEI specification for road material of 20 millimetres. All material was then passed through the screen plant and sampled and graded to ensure it met the requirements.
It was vital for this project to progress in-line with the scheduled program in order to avoid significant costs that would be incurred if the dump trucks were delayed.
In addition to the tight time, frames a further consideration for this project was its location on Aboriginal heritage land. For the work to proceed permits were needed and workers had to display an on-going awareness of the culturally sensitive nature of the land.
An Aboriginal representative remained on-site for the duration of the works, ensuring the team worked within the clearly marked boundary lines.
Having processed 50,000 tonnes of rock at the time of writing, the project is due to be completed in April 2012.
