SA Water has completed its $11.4 million capacity upgrade of the Western Adelaide Wastewater Network which services the majority of the Adelaide CBD and the city’s south-eastern suburbs.
Works on the network involved the installation of a new 2.5km pipeline from West Terrace, through the Adelaide Park Lands, connecting into an existing sewer main at the North Adelaide Golf Course on War Memorial Drive.
The project is a finalist in this year’s Australian Water Association’s (AWA) South Australian Water Awards in the ‘Infrastructure Project Innovation’ category, due to the complexity of the engineering and its emphasis on delivering in a socially sustainable way.
Minister for Water and the River Murray, Ian Hunter, said this part of the sewer system supports an area that is fast becoming a development hub, and this upgrade was imperative in order to maintain a reliable and resilient network.
“During all stages of this project, SA Water and its contractors made a concerted effort to give consideration to minimising impacts on the surrounding area and people,” Mr Hunter said.
“This included mapping the pipeline route and using hydrovac excavation to avoid all significant trees and their roots; directional drilling under arterial roads, rail lines and the River Torrens; and the use of ground-penetrating radar before beginning excavation to detect buried structures, such as the remains of heritage building foundations.”
A strong focus of the project was the careful planning undertaken to limit and continually monitor the impacts of construction on the Adelaide Park Lands environment, community, sites of Aboriginal significance and historical relics.
The upgrade supports expected local growth in urban development and residential population by transporting increased sewage flows and helping reduce the potential for operational or odour issues that could occur if the existing infrastructure couldn’t meet demand.
