Project Overview
Asbestos lagging removal and replacement including sheet metal replacement and scaffolding.
Queensland Alumina Limited is one of the largest alumina refineries by alumina production capacity in the world, located in Gladstone, Australia. Operating since 1967, the refinery has a capacity to produce 3.95 million tonnes of alumina a year.
QAL is a consortium of international aluminium producers and is currently owned by Rusal (20%), and Rio Tinto Alcan (80%). Rusal purchased a 20% stake in QAL in April 2005. Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) commenced in March 1967 with an annual production rate of 600,000 tonnes of alumina. Today QAL is one of the world’s largest alumina refineries, producing some 3.95 million tonnes of the world’s best smelter grade alumina per year. Estimated replacement value of QAL is approximately US$4 billion.
The refinery covers 80 hectares of a 3050 hectare site on the south-east outskirts of the city of Gladstone. Adjacent to the plant is a wharf and storage facility on South Trees Island, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway bridge. McMahon Services entered a three year Maintenance contract in January 2012 that included recruiting a local team of 25 to manage and systematically remove friable asbestos lagging on over 20km of pipes and boilers on-site with a permanent base located within the plant.
In addition to asbestos removal, the team comprises carpenters to build asbestos removal enclosures, scaffolders to provide safe access to plant, insulation installers (laggers) and sheetmetal workers to reclad the working plant. Plant conditions are hot and relatively hostile requiring the utmost care, preparation and planning employing worlds best practice techniques to execute a program that progresses in tandem with a working plant.
At various points in time one of the seven Coal Fired Boilers on-site will be shutdown for repair and maintenance. This generally involves a team of 35-45 McMahon Services employees working around the clock to remove all cladding and insulation for works to be undertaken and then relagging and cladding at closure, a process that takes up to three months. Detailed schedules are created and various workgroups synchronised to ensure maximum efficiency of resources and keep a tight timeframe for the re-firing of the Boiler back into the production process.
