projects

Darwin LNG Plant

In 2003, construction commenced on the Liquefied Natural Gas Plant at Darwin’s Wickham Point, the Territory’s biggest-ever private investment project.  Thiess Australia was awarded several contracts by international oil giant ConocoPhillips including site clearing/earthworks, building of the Gas Storage Tank and a 1.4km jetty and loading platform.  As a result, EJA was subcontracted by Thiess to undertake the survey work in these areas.

With respect to the earthworks, a topographical survey of the entire site was conducted solely by EJA.  EJA was very proactive in the use of up to date technology for this purpose.  A robotic theodolite and GPS were used for the engineering survey work.  Machine Guidance Technology (Trimble SiteVision) was also used.

Once the earthworks were completed, work began on constructing the largest above ground gas storage tank in the world.  EJA’s role was to setout and conduct Asconstructed surveys on the outer concrete walls and the inner metal lining.  We were also responsible for positioning the tank’s roof as it was being raised to it’s correct height.

The 1.4km jetty and loading platform was also being constructed in conjunction with the gas tank.  There were many new challenges for EJA with this part of the project due to the jetty’s sheer length and the major tidal differences we had to contend with.  There were also five construction barges in operation at any one time responsible for various works including concreting, welding and pile driving.  EJA provided survey support on each of these barges throughout the entire construction phase.  As with the earthworks, Machine Guidance Technology (Trimble SiteVision) was used for the positioning of Piling Barges and Piles, as well as the recording of Pile locations.  This was a major step forward in the use of this technology as it was the first time it had ever been used for this type of application and EJA were the proud instigators of this.  The use of the equipment for this purpose proved to be very effective and efficient as it was a lot less time consuming than using conventional procedures. 

EJA was also requested to provide survey assistance in monitoring the effect of construction on the surrounding environment.  This included locating and monitoring bore holes and silt deposits.

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