Power Station Stacks Up

Location:	Bluewaters, Western Australia
Country:	Australia
Client:	Steelcom AS
Fabricator:	Western Construction
Supplier:	WA Cutting Services
Products Used:	AS/NZS 3678 - 250 XLERPLATE® AS/NZS 3678 - 350 XLERPLATE® AS/NZS 3678 - WR350 XLERPLATE®

Western Construction's successful track record in fabrication has seen the company win a major contract to fabricate a chimney stack for the new Bluewaters Power Station. The power station is being built for Danish company Steelcom AS, east of Collie in Western Australia.

Western Construction, a privately owned West Australian business, has already successfully completed three stacks for Alcoa Wagerup and one for Worsley Alumina.

The company chose WA Cutting Services as its supplier for approximately 400 tonnes of steel.

"We chose WA Cutting because they had the right price, the right service and the right steel," Western Construction's Construction Manager, Jim Smith said.

WA Cutting Services, also based in Western Australia, was recently acquired by the Southern Steel Group, the largest privately owned steel distributor in Australia.

With facilities in both Bibra Lake and Malaga, WA Cutting Services has developed a strong relationship with BlueScope Steel, enabling the company to easily source products for the project such as Grade 250 and Grade 350 XLERPLATE® steel and WR350.

"Each stack is in eight sections, consisting of an inner stack and an outer skin which are bolted together," Mr Smith said. "The most challenging part of this project is the erection of the different sections, each weighing up to 70 tonnes."

This new stack will be used to extract gases from the Griffin Energy owned coal fired power station which will provide electricity and steam to developing industrial projects in the Bluewaters area. The project is a clear sign that the future for local mining is looking bright.

Mr Smith said Western Construction was looking forward to successfully meeting the demands of the challenging project.

Western Construction's facilities include a Kwinana based main workshop with 5,000 square metres of covered workshop area on a three hectare site. It also provides complete on site services for larger site contracts.

Steel supplier WA Cutting Services offers precision cutting services using multi head plasma cutting, multi head oxy cutting and drilling. They also specialise in tapping and counter sinking of mild steel, wear plate, stainless steel and aluminium.

The strong relationship between Western Construction, WA Cutting Services and BlueScope Steel has ensured that this significant Western Australian project will have all the hallmarks of success.