More than 120 guests attended the dinner, which was jointly sponsored by McConnell Dowell and Maloney Field Services. The attendance number was a record for Adelaide.

APIA President Ashley Kellett addressed the crowd, speaking about the exciting times ahead for the pipeline industry. Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Cartwright also spoke about the recent approval of the Energy Pipelines Co-operative Research Centre.

The guest speakers for the event were Adelaide Aqua Project Director Paul Tracey and Engineering Director Simon Bowles. The two speakers provided a detailed description of the Adelaide Desalination Project.

The project is currently the largest desalination project proposed for Australia. The Adelaide Aqua consortium – comprising McConnell Dowell, Abigroup and Acciona Agua – are designing and constructing the desalination plant, which will deliver up to 100 billion litres of water each year. This equates to approximately a quarter of Adelaide’s water supply.

Article continues below…

The project includes the construction of an 11.5 km transfer pipeline to connect the plant to the Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant. The pipeline is being constructed by a joint venture of McConnell Dowell and Built Environs.