Varanus Island gas explosion report slams Apache

US oil-and-gas giant Apache Energy has failed to block a scathing review of the Varanus Island gas explosion, which cut 30 per cent of Western Australia’s supply and cost the economy an estimated $3 billion. Apache claimed the explosion at its plant off WA’s North-West coast in June 2008 was “unforseen and unforeseeable”. But a [...]

Call for funds to fix Melbourne’s Loop problems

  MELBOURNE’S City Loop has ”heavy” concrete corrosion, water ”leaching all over the place” and emergency systems that should be improved, inspections by Victoria’s independent transport safety watchdog have revealed. Alan Osborne, the man in charge of safety on Victoria’s rail system, has called on the Baillieu government to commit significant funds to fix the [...]

$20m (AUD) to fix Canberra’s Scrivener Dam

Up to $20 million will be spent repairing Canberra’s Scrivener Dam after a safety audit uncovered corrosion problems. The annual safety audit of the dam three weeks ago found corroded bolts in the flap gates of the dam wall which are opened during flooding to regulate the level of Lake Burley Griffin. It recommended 120 [...]

$100m corrosion & cathodic protection project for Sydney’s tallest office building

WHEN it was finished in 1978, the 67-storey MLC Centre in Martin Place was not only Australia’s tallest office building, but also the biggest reinforced concrete structure in the world. Thirty-three years later, the Harry Seidler-designed structure is showing its age. Its concrete facade is breaking up and the owners have agreed to spend $100 [...]

WWII spitfire MJ789 plane to be preserved from corrosion

For 66 years, the remains of a brave Spitfire pilot and his plane lay on a river bed off Normandy in France. The pilot, identified as Flight Lieutenant Henry `Lacy’ Smith, 27, from Sydney, was buried with full military honors in France in April. Now a team of experts in Melbourne are doing their best [...]

Corrosion problems identified in Melbourne’s City Loop

Serious structural problems in Melbourne’s City Loop – including cracking tunnel walls, concrete corrosion  - have been ignored by successive state governments and train operators despite repeated warnings. A 2001 report, also obtained by The Age, revealed the loop was suffering from long-term structural corrosion caused by possible contamination of the original concrete mix. Damage to [...]

Canterbury-Bankstown’s sewer submain `substaintially overstressed’

SEWAGE tunnels beneath Canterbury-Bankstown are “substantially overstressed” and have a “marginal capacity” to withstand current flows, a Sydney Water document reveals. A tender document released by the authority indicates that a 2108m section of the concrete sewer beneath High St, Canterbury, and the Wolli Creek aqueduct, Earlwood, requires $5.6 million worth of structural repair. The [...]

Putting force majeure to the test

ALCOA’S decision to pursue the collected ownership of the Varanus Island gas disaster for $158 million in damages and costs is likely to have a host of Australia’s high-volume energy suppliers keeping a very close eye on the foreshadowed proceedings in the Western Australian Supreme Court. Because, at its essence, this case looms as a [...]