Engineering

In its latest update, Snowy Hydro has advised that a new tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be deployed to help keep the Snowy 2.0 project on its delivery timeline. New ground testing techniques have provided a better understanding of the full extent of a complex fault zone on the route of the 17km tunnel that will connect Snowy 2.0’s upper reservoir to its underground power station.

MAKS Caravan Centre apprentice Zackary Tozer, from Westbrook, is a finalist at the 2024 TAFE Queensland – SkillsTech CSQ Apprentice Awards. The Apprentice Awards has run since 2018 and identifies top apprentices in a range of categories, with only 14 winners on the night out of more than 12,000 eligible apprentices, thanks to a raft of sponsors led by Construction Skills Queensland.

Sebastian Calderon. A new satellite built by South Australian-based companies will aim to deliver critical space data for use by government and research institutions, including data covering the Riverland, particularly in the areas of sustainability and climate impacts. The State Government-funded satellite Kanyini was successfully launched into orbit last week onboard a SpaceX rocket, being the first of its kind in Australia, built by SA-based companies – SmartSat, Inovor and Myriota.

Booming investments into biofuels, set out in government’s  ‘Future Made in Australia’ plan, presents a huge opportunity for Australia’s regional agricultural producers and farmers, according to Airbus. Airbus Chief Representative for Australia and the Pacific, Stephen Forshaw, recently warned that a “Future Made in Singapore”, not Australia, could be a reality if local industry does not embrace these opportunities now to tap into domestic gains. Australian Rural & Regional News interviewed Stephen and learnt a good more about just what's involved and the prospects for Australia and Australian farmers.

Tractor manufacturer Massey Ferguson treated dealers and farmers to what Product Manager for Hay and Harvest, Sam Mulkearns, said was the biggest Field Day Massey Ferguson has ever conducted in Australia, with over 80 pieces of tractor equipment and 60 brand new shiny tractors on display all bound to excite farmers and dealers.

"Every project a surveyor is supposed to work on will be delayed if they are unable to upgrade in time.   Notably that would be infrastructure such as bridges, roads and rail.   But also housing developments in regional and rural areas.   If the 4 and 5G coverage doesn’t take in all the areas formerly covered by 3G then there will be new blackspots.": Michelle Blicavs, CEO Surveyors Australia.

Yamba Welding and Engineering celebrated its 50th anniversary ... one of the Clarence Valley’s premier export businesses ... started in 1974 by Bill Collingburn in his garage and has grown to become Australia’s go to supplier for premium quality, high performance vessels, for the Australian Defence Force, Border Force, Marine Rescue, Coast Guard and the SES.

You could easily say that Leanne McKenzie is a high flyer - but not in the traditional sense of the word.   Leanne is a pilot but she’s also President of her local aero club in Albany WA and she’s one of less than a handful of females to hold such a position. But Leanne has another venture underway and it’s one that her aero club is actually famous for as the Albany Aero Club was once a global hub for self-built planes.

The Snowy 2.0 Cooma precast manufacturing facility has hit another significant milestone and completed production of 100,000 of the 130,000 concrete segments needed to line 27 kilometres of tunnels for the pumped-hydro megaproject.

The landmark federal-state CarbonNet project, which aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from the Latrobe Valley and sequester them under Bass Strait, has got the go ahead for a vital part of the project – the plan to build a pipeline that will carry liquefied CO2 to the coast. The 100 kilometre-pipeline – 80km buried onshore and a further 20km offshore – will take liquefied CO2 to a carbon capture and storage hub at Golden Beach, creating a connection for multiple carbon capture projects.

Monday, September 18, saw the Webb windmill restored to its former location at Apex Park. The completion of a near-on 20-year project, funded by Donald 2000, involved the use of a crane from West Cranes, Stawell, and the erection drew the attention of many locals and visitors alike to the popular park and camping site at Donald.

An important milestone has been reached by Snowy Hydro, the Snowy 2.0 project and for one of its three tunnel boring machines (TBM). TBM Lady Eileen Hudson was the first machine to start tunnelling on the pumped-hydro mega project, the first to complete a tunnel and is now underway on her second tunnel excavation.

Despite recent news about time and cost blowouts, the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro mega project has achieved another important construction milestone, with a second tunnel excavation completed at Lobs Hole. The 2.93-kilometre emergency, cable and ventilation tunnel (ECVT) has been excavated and fully lined with 13,140 locally-manufactured concrete segments by tunnel boring machine (TBM) Kirsten.

The Northern Territory is currently on show at the Northern Australia Defence Summit – a key industry event to promote opportunities and enhance support for the defence industry. The Northern Territory is positioned as a key enabler for defence in the Indo-Pacific region and the Northern Territory Government is undertaking a range of strategic investments to support a capable and resilient defence industry.

The rail transport initiative will see Forestry Corporation of NSW deliver around 270,000 tonnes of sawlog timber to Tumut and Tumbarumba processors over the next three years. This timber was initially set for export, however the impact of the Black Summer bushfires and local timber shortage have meant Australian timber mills have been given priority.

The first of three spans of girders are now in place as the basis of the new Towong Bridge deck slab begins to take form. The first five pre-cast bridge girders were craned into place early this week with each spanning up to 20 metres in length and weighing up to 30 tonnes.

Lismore City Mayor Steve Krieg and Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier Gurmesh Singh have opened the new Keerrong Road Bridge ... specialist Bridge Crew replaced the damaged culvert with a new 16.1m x 7.2m single span concrete structure. This new structure founded on steel driven piles has been designed and constructed to achieve a 100-year design life while improving its flood immunity and safety for local farmers and truck drivers.

If you think Australian farmers are worried about the availability of spare parts, then spare a thought for Russian farmers who are suffering under the impact of ever tightening sanctions as a direct result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine ... Open the door to Russian ag mechanics ... Is China a parts risk?

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the site at Torbanlea will be home to a brand new train manufacturing workshop where 65 new trains will be built as part of her government’s $7.1 billion Queensland Train Manufacturing Program.

Back in those dreary days of 2021 when we were still being locked down, Atlassian announced that its workers would need to attend at the office just four (yes, 4) times per annum ... So why has the NSW Government kicked-in $48.2m to assist in providing an office for… people who won’t be there? Especially when, as Atlassian management states in their latest Shareholder Letter, they are "Running a software company with nearly $3b in revenue".