Thiess Services Applies SURELINE® Solution At Monto

Location:	Monto, Queensland
Country:	Australia
Client:	Monto Minerals Development
Project Team:	Hill Michael Associated (HMA) PLD Consulting Thiess Services
Products Used:	SURELINE®

Construction of a 66kV power line to the Monto Minerals development 100 kilometres south of Gladstone in central Queensland became a top priority when rising minerals prices assured the financial viability of the site.

Project Managers, Hill Michael Associates (HMA) retained PLD Consulting for design work and called in Thiess Services to handle construction and commissioning of the line to the feldspar, ilmenite, apatite and titanomagnetite mining area.

As a specialist division of Australasia's largest construction, mining and services provider, Thiess Services has extensive experience in power line construction, including the use of BlueScope Steel's SURELINE® steel pole solution.

"When we began discussions with HMA we indicated that the lightweight SURELINE® steel sub transmission poles were our recommendation for the project," Thiess Services Commercial Contracts Manager, Electrical Division, Rod Chalker said.

"The work involved construction of a 24 kilometre line from the existing Ergon grid out to a zone substation at the Dakiel mining lease where the power was distributed to the processing units."

"HMA's surveyors had chosen the best possible route, but it was still up hills and down gullies, through areas where we would have to cut our own tracks."

Several months earlier Rod Chalker and the Thiess Services crew selected for the Monto job had confirmed the suitability of the SURELINE® steel sub transmission poles while supplying power for another mining lease at Mungana, 250 kilometres west of Cairns.

"We bid on the Monto job with SURELINE® poles because we had found their light weight makes them easy to work with and easy to transport," Rod Chalker said. "The terrain at Monto would have been a nightmare for getting heavier poles to where they were needed."

With the work awarded to Thiess Services, BlueScope Steel progressively delivered the poles to a temporary site established along the power line route.

Despite their high strength, SURELINE® sub transmission poles typically weigh less than alternatives. Their unique two piece construction also simplifies transport arrangements by avoiding the necessity for long load rigs.

"For Monto there was a range of predominantly 18 metre, 21 metre and 25 metre sub transmission pole sizes involved, but also two three-piece 32 metre poles," Rod Chalker said.

"We had to install the 32 metre sub transmission poles to take the line over existing Ergon infrastructure because clearance restrictions meant that we couldn't go underneath."

The pole sizes made construction easy for Thiess Services, and also allowed PLD Consulting to design the line with the standard product specifications.

With the experience gained using SURELINE® poles at the Mungana mine site, Thiess Services were able to pre-plan drilling requirements and worked with BlueScope Steel to ensure all poles were delivered to the Monto site pre-drilled and ready to dress.

BlueScope Steel's SURELINE® Market Solutions Manager, Jon Laurenson, had visited the installation crew on the earlier Mungana job to provide instruction on the installation of the SURELINE® sub transmission poles.

The first demonstration of the assembly of the two piece sub transmission poles and application of the SURELINE® pole in-ground corrosion protection blanket was all the Thiess Services crew needed to be able to work with SURELINE®.

"The installation of the poles at Monto went very well," Rod Chalker said. "Even if you haven't worked with them before, there's nothing complicated about assembling the SURELINE® sub transmission poles."

"We line dropped the two halves of each pole and assembled them at each spot where they were needed. On the Mungana job we had made good speed, so this time with many of the same crew involved we worked even better."

"We used our own HIAB equipped trucks and our crane borer with plenty of assistance from a rock excavator. I suppose you could have used heavier poles, but it would have been much more expensive and time consuming than what we achieved with the SURELINE® poles."

"In that terrain we wouldn't really have been interested in doing the job if we'd had to use heavier poles."

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