The Telfer Gas Pipeline commences in Port Hedland at the existing Epic Energy Compound located at Boodarie. It runs east via the old mining townships of Goldsworthy and Shay Gap and finishes at the Telfer Gold Mine approximately 485 km east-southeast of Port Hedland and some 300 km east of Marble Bar located in the Eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Newcrest is developing the Telfer Project as an extension of the existing Telfer Gold Mine. The estimated maximum power demand for the Telfer Project is up to 92 Megawatts (MW) with a normal operating load of 85 MW.

In early 2003 Newcrest made the decision to provide power to the Telfer Project via a buried gas pipeline from Port Hedland to a new gas-fired power station at Telfer, as the existing on-site diesel generators were incapable of meeting this predicted demand. Subsequently, a wholly owned subsidiary of the GasNet Australia Group, Gas Transmission Services (Operations) WA Pty Ltd (OpCo) was contracted by Newcrest to construct, own and operate the gas pipeline. OpCo in turn entered into an EPC contract with McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd (McConnell Dowell) to design and construct the gas pipeline and associated facilities.

Natural gas will be supplied to the new power station via a 442.5 km long buried pipeline.

The Telfer Gas Pipeline is constructed from 273.1 mm OD x 4.7, 5.6 & 9.3 mm wall thickness 5L Grade X60 line pipe, which was fabricated by OneSteel at their Port Kembla mill. Bredero Shaw coated the pipe with 500 microns of dual layer FBE (Naprock), completed weld margins were coated with FBE applied in the field.

Coated pipe was transported from Port Kembla to Port Hedland by vessel. In total there were four shipments that transported approx 15,500 tonnes of pipe. The entire pipe was delivered to site and stockpiled at Port Hedland by Christmas 2003.

McConnell Dowell appointed KBR to carry out the design of the pipeline and associated above ground facilities. Engineering of the pipeline and procurement commenced in July 2003 with management input from McConnell Dowell personnel to ensure that the extremely tight schedule could be maintained in the design process.

Construction on the pipeline started on 4 November 2003 in Port Hedland and soon after the earthworks began on the Boodarie Compressor Station. Two Solar Saturn 20 compressors have been installed at the compressor station, which compresses the gas before sending it through the pipeline to Telfer. There are also seven Main Line Valve (MLV) sites along the pipeline route of which three are actuated. A midline scraper station with actuated mainline valve is located centrally along the pipeline.

A SCADA system has been installed utilising satellite communication to enable all of these actuated sites including the Compressor Station and Telfer receiving station to be operated remotely from GasNet’s Control Room located in Dandenong in Victoria.

During construction of the pipeline various traditional cross-country pipeline equipment was utilised. In addition, Challenger 85 and Challenger 95 tow tractors were utilised to support the stringing operation with the towing of stringing trailers along the Right Of Way (ROW) due to the sandy ROW conditions experienced. A total of fifteen sand dunes were crossed as the pipeline route followed the famous ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ for approximately 200 km.

Progress during construction saw lowering in completing 11 km in a single day.

During the pipeline construction period the effects of Cyclones Fritz, Monty & Fay hampered the progress. The whole site was safely evacuated for both Cyclones Monty and Fay.

The effects of Fay shut down construction from late March 2004 until July 2004, a report has been published that states the effects of cyclone Fay was a 1 in 3,400 year event for a single rain event at the Telfer mine, and 1 in 700 year event for the flooding of the area.

Fay caused a major reroute of 20 km of the pipeline route due to a 10 km submerged section of ROW and a second 14 km stretch required swamp laying techniques to be adopted with the construction of a Temporary Work Platform (TWP) across the inundated area and through boggy ground conditions. It is quite ironic that such a technique had to be adopted as the pipeline was constructed through the Great Sandy Desert.

The large workforce previously established prior to Fay had to be reduced from 310 down to 210 which caused a reduced production from 6 km / day spread reduced to a 3 km / day spread due to the lengthy approval process and reengineering required from the effects of Cyclone Fay.

Construction across the TWP section was completed late October 2004 including the completion of the hydrotesting activities. Due to the continuity in construction being disturbed by effects of Fay a temporary holding dam had to be constructed that could hold 10 megalitres of water. This temporary dam has since been reinstated back to original.

McConnell Dowell implemented several techniques, including seeding and glue stabilisation, to successfully reinstate the fifteen sand dune crossings. During the construction a marsupial mole was found burrowing next to a pile of skids. This is a rare species and only the fourth ever sighting in Western Australia. The mole was relocated adjacent to the ROW to a safe location and was last observed burrowing under a Spinifex mound.

The pipeline traversed through several indigenous land claimants and one land titleholder is the Martu people. The Martu People had planned to hold a corroboree since 2003 to welcome the pipeline project to their land. However due to the interrupted construction as a result of the cyclones the pipeline project welcoming was carried out in September 2004. Approximately 300 Martu people, some of whom had travelled in excess of 1,000 km to attend the performance observed and participated in traditional dances at a purpose built site adjacent to McConnell Dowell’s third campsite. The evening started with a barbecue including local delicacies of emu sausages and kangaroo fillets.

Commissioning of the pipeline was conducted during November and December with McConnell Dowell working closely with GasNet’s personnel to enable the flow of clean dust free gas to Telfer on 2 January 2005.