When it comes to water pipelines, Austrack Equipment has the background and experience to satisfy even the most demanding projects.
From its inception, Austrack has supplied specialised equipment to water pipeline projects all over Australia.
Numbered among the water pipelines it has provided equipment for are the Dungowan pipeline and the Murray River–Broken Hill pipeline in NSW, the FMG Ironbridge project in WA, and two pipelines in Queensland that are currently under construction – these being the Gladstone to Fitzroy pipeline and the Haughton Duplication pipeline.
Water pipelines can present some challenges beyond the usual encountered on other pipelines. Backfill specification presents as one.
Sand is the usual choice for pipe bedding material due to its superior compaction characteristics. But as it is imported material it needs to be transported to site, making it expensive. Additionally, conventional backfill techniques, where sand is dumped along the line and bucketed in as needed with an excavator, have the drawback of resulting in significant wastage, increasing the possibility of backfilling contamination, and the requirement for additional manpower and machines to complete the task.
Fortunately, Austrack Equipment’s customisation of the Trenchmaster EF450 Sandhopper addresses all of these issues. The integrated unit has a sandhopper holding 60 tonnes of sand which it receives directly from a delivery dump truck. It is operated remotely by a single operator. It moves inexorably at 5km per hour and the sand gets placed precisely where it needs to go by an accurate trench delivery paddle system.
The precise delivery reduces wastage by up to 30 per cent, the backfilling rate is accelerated, and manpower and machine requirements are reduced. All of this results in improved project economics.
Effective pipe handling is another major challenge with pipeline projects. Vacuum lifting technology has been widely adopted in this area due to safety and efficiency benefits.
As water pipeline projects spread throughout the country to keep up with rising urban populations, water pipeline contractors and their clients are looking to maximise productivity and safety.
Austrack’s SafeVac lifting systems have earned a stellar reputation in the pipeline industry for their ability to move pipe reliably at a rapid rate, all while keeping workers out of harm’s way.
The SafeVac 400 (SV400), developed by Austrack, is fast becoming the company’s tried and true workhorse, with a number of these machines making their impressive debut on the $1 billion Gladstone to Fitzroy pipeline project.
The SV400 model incorporates the vacuum lifting system featuring a dual shoe on a spreader bar with a rear mounted vacuum pump and tank. All integrated into a tracked excavator. The finished result is a heavy-duty, high-performing vacuum lift ideal for large-scale projects.
Austrack also recently launched the more manoeuvrable SV200 and is upscaling its fleet of these machines in 2025.
Integrated into a smaller wheeled excavator unit, the SV200 excels on projects where space is limited.
“A single shoe unit fitted to a wheeled excavator is ideally suited to handling a range of smaller diameter polyethylene pipes up to 2500kg,” Austrack Operations Manager Dylan Gamble told The Australian Pipeliner.
“It is precise, nimble and adaptable and all the sophisticated datalogging that has made the SV400 so popular comes as standard on this smaller unit. All the safety and efficiency benefits of the SV400 are also available to users of the new unit.”
From the precise pipe bedding to efficient pipe handling, Austrack is delivering specialised equipment solutions to its partners in the water industry.
Austrack Equipment will attend the upcoming Ozwater 2025 which will be held in Adelaide at the Exhibition Centre from 20–22 May. The team can be found at stand Q08.
For more information, visit the website.
This feature also appears in the March edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
