A new rock reamer will be used to build a new 2.5km sewerage pipeline that will service the southern end of the Sunshine Coast.
The project is one of two new major sewerage pipelines Pipeline Drillers is constructing on behalf of Unitywater. The other pipeline will be 3.2km from Mountain Creek under Kawana Way to the Kawana Sewage Treatment Plant.
“Doug” the rock reamer is a 2.2m-long, 2.8 tonne machine with six sets of teeth made of tungsten carbide, which is twice as hard as steel, that will power through the earth to a depth of 35m.
Deputy Mayor Tim Dwyer said it was great to have such an innovative project on the Sunshine Coast.
“It will improve the sewerage pipeline for the southern part of the region and the investment by Unitywater is absolutely fantastic,” Mr Dwyer said.
“Not only will this improve our infrastructure, but the innovative nature of the project means there’ll be minimal impact on the community.”
Unitywater Executive Manager Infrastructure Planning and Capital Delivery, Simon Taylor, said the new pipelines will cater for the growing area.
“With new developments happening and future population growth, we need to ensure we have the right infrastructure in place,” Mr Taylor said.
“This project is one of the largest drilling projects by a water utility in Australia, and horizontal directional drilling is a fantastic way of doing this work compared to excavation as it minimises impacts on the community and environment.”
The two pipelines are expected to be completed in January 2018.
