Rocla boosts pole production

• Concrete sleeper overhaul puts rail freight back on track

• RAAF defends environment with ecoRain®

NOVEMBER 2008

Rocla invests in plant expansion

to increase production capacity

Our cover story this issue details the multimillion dollar upgrade to Rocla’s concrete poles plant in Rockhampton, Queensland. In response to strong demand in the region for concrete poles, Rocla decided in 2007 to proceed with a major expansion of the plant to increase concrete pole and pile production volumes, reduce delivery lead times, and increase efficiencies.

This issue also highlights some interesting projects Rocla has delivered in recent months. They include a rainwater harvesting program for Australia’s largest RAAF base at Amberley, custom manufactured “upside down” culverts for the Techport naval hub in South Australia, and the laying of the last new concrete sleeper for the Northern Alliance in

Grafton as part of the ARTC’s Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane concrete re-sleepering project – which just happens to be one of the 1.35 million concrete sleepers Rocla supplied to the project.

We also feature the first Plastream® pipe story since Rocla’s acquisition in August of the plastic pipe and stormwater detention business of Caliber Australia.

As we approach the end of 2008, amidst a climate of uncertainty created by the global financial crisis, we are keeping our focus on the things we can control. While market conditions are difficult and building activity remains low, particularly in New South Wales, this has been offset by strong levels of infrastructure spending and non-dwelling activity in other parts of Australia.

Looking into 2009, we are hopeful that government funded infrastructure work together with commercial projects from sectors such as mining and utilities will continue to create demand.

As this is our last issue for the year I would like to take the opportunity to offer the compliments of the season to all our customers, business partners and friends. On behalf of Rocla, I wish all our readers a happy and safe holiday and all the best for the coming year.

If you would like further information on any of the products or solutions featured in this issue of Rocla Works, please call our toll-free number 131 004 or visit www.rocla.com.au. Stephen T. Baker General Manager

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Welcome to the latest issue of Rocla Works.

2

RoclaWorksRocla is a leading supplier

of precast concrete

solutions for the civil

construction industry

SRC PIPES

SRP PIPES

CULVERTS

HEADWALLS

ACCESS SYSTEMS

PRECAST BRIDGES

RETAINING WALLS

CONCRETE BOARDWALKS

WATER QUALITY

POLES & PILES

RAILWAY SLEEPERS

RURAL PRODUCTS

Published by

Rocla Pty Limited

ABN 31000 032191

A member of the

Fletcher Building Group

Tower A, Level 5,

Zenith Centre,

821 Pacific Hwy,

Chatswood, NSW 2067

Products featured in this issuePOLES & SLEEPERSRocla poles plant upgrade 31.35 million sleepers for ARTC 9

PIPES & PRECASTPlastream® ducting at RACV Country Club 4RCBC service tunnel at Techport site 5Rocla donates products to TAFE students 5

BRIDGES & EARTH RETENTIONM-Lock® bridge in Cardinia Shire 4PermaTrak® underpass at Henley Beach 6Nine PermaTrak® bridges at Awaba Bay, NSW 8MassBloc® diversion channel at Redbank Plains 10

WATER QUALITYecoRainPlus™ systems at RAAF Amberley 7CDS® Units at Taronga Zoo 8First Defense™ at ALDI store, Wangaratta 10

3 Call 131 004 www.rocla.com.au

The $4 million plant upgrade included a factory extension, new pole-spinning and computer controlled curing facilities, upgrading of existing machinery and overhead handling capacity, as well as the streamlining of production flow and elimination of bottlenecks.

When combined with the recent upgrade of Rocla’s Victorian pole plant at Wodonga, the Rockhampton expansion provides a significant increase in production capacity and consistency of supply for major pole customers in Queensland and NSW.

Project management of the factory extension was carried out by Rocla’s Manufacturing Engineering

and Technology (MET) division. MET engineers designed the facilities with input from Poles personnel.

The factory extension was designed by Maunsell Australia and built by Landsdene Constructions of Yeppoon. Despite the busy construction market in Queensland, the project was completed on time and within budget, with minimal disruption to the existing production works.

Rocla® steel-reinforced and prestressed concrete poles are made using a centrifugal spinning process that creates a high density, hollow concrete pole with great strength and stiffness and a long, maintenance-free service life.

Concrete poles and piles offer a range of benefits, including high durability, resistance to termites, corrosion and bushfires, low whole-of-life costs and structural efficiency. Fittings for attachment of cross-arms, insulators, etc., can be built-in during manufacture of the poles.

Rocla has developed the in-house engineering expertise to create optimum solutions for all aerial support applications, including lighting, power transmission, high mast, communication and outdoor signs, as well as for concrete piles for bridges, foundations and marinas.

A further advantage of the Rockhampton plant expansion is an increase in Rocla’s ability to supply high volumes across the full pole range, particularly heavier poles for applications in 132, 220 and 330kV transmission lines.

The new Rocla “strong pole” range includes poles up to 55 metres in height. A typical strong pole for a high voltage transmission line is 35 metres with an ultimate tip load of 220kN.

Rocla’s national Poles Manager, Ken Beattie, said the completion of the upgrade gave Rocla the manufacturing capacity to fully meet customer needs across the eastern states.

“We also have the capacity to further increase production in higher capacity poles for power transmission,” Mr Beattie said. “This is an important market where we can offer cost effective and innovative solutions, and we have already received interest in the new products from electricity authorities and major power users.”

A major expansion of Rocla’s pole plant at Rockhampton in Central Queensland has increased production capacity and reduced lead times on delivery of concrete poles and piles.

Major plant expansion boosts pole production capacity

For further information on Rocla poles and piles call (03) 9549 4540 or visit the Rocla website. www.rocla.com.au

Meinhardt recently specified Plastream® pipes at the redevelopment of the RACV Country Club at Healesville in Victoria.

The redevelopment by Abigroup will add 80 rooms of accommodation over four levels, multi-storey carpark, dining, lounge and function areas, golf support facilities, refurbishment works to existing building, swimming pool, day spas and landscaping.

The pipes were used for the in-ground works of the swimming pool, to supply conditioned air to the perimeter pool floor outlets. The floor outlets direct air internally up against the perimeter glass walls to prevent fogging.

The pipe was chosen because its smooth interior provides low airflow resistance, and its installed strength. Some 200 metres were laid in a rectangle

with 40 spigots as vents. The pipes are laid with normal drainage falls so that residual water can run back to a drainage sump/pump.

Plastream® drainage pipe is the strongest long-term plastic pipe product available and combines the advantages of a smooth PE bore with the structural strength of steel.

The steel reinforcement is fully encapsulated within the UV-stabilised polyethylene pipe wall, allowing the manufacture of robust, lightweight pipes with high stiffness. Further

advantages include light weight and resistance to creep.

The unique properties of Rocla Plastream® steel-reinforced polyethylene drainage pipe have seen it used in a number of applications for underground air-conditioning ducting.

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Plastream® pipe finds new niche as

underground air-con ducting

The fast, no-fuss solution for ageing

timber bridges

As part of the council’s ongoing upgrade of existing timber bridges, the timber bridge on Denhams

Road at Koo Wee Rup, 50km south-east of Melbourne, was earmarked for replacement in the 08/09 financial year.

By utilising its own project engineer and employees, the council successfully erected the 9-metre long, 8-plank wide, 15-degree skewed bridge with a minimum of fuss.

Once the headstock was placed and grouted on to

the piles, the planks and end protection beams were placed within half a day, requiring only the completion of associated road works for the opening of the new bridge, which now gives the rural road a reliable bridge with a guaranteed HLP320 load rating.

The Rocla M-Lock® bridge system has again provided a council with a quick, easy solution for the replacement of an ageing timber bridge. A bonus for Cardinia Shire Council in Victoria was that they were able to install it themselves.

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Techport Australia is being developed by the South Australian Government as a naval industry hub to support the Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) project. ASC (formerly the Australian Submarine Corporation) is building the destroyers at its base in Osborne, in Adelaide’s northwest, where it built and is now maintaining the Navy’s Collins class submarines. The SA Government is investing more than $300 million

at Techport Australia to support ASC and attract other shipbuilding and repair opportunities.

Techport Australia will feature common user shipbuilding facilities, including Australia’s largest ship lift, a transfer system and wharf, plus a 35-hectare supplier precinct for sub-contractors, as well as a commercial and education precinct. Rocla manufactured the 1800 x 2400 box culvert inverts

in 2.4 metre lengths for MDBEJV to construct a services duct. The tunnel runs for some 700 metres under the perimeter of the massive pavement of the common shipbuilding area, where the destroyers will be assembled. To ensure the tunnel was watertight, membranes were placed between the box culverts, which were jacked together under 5 tonnes of pressure.

The service tunnel carries high voltage power, compressed air and potable water, as well as seawater for cooling and fire fighting. Rocla manufactured special

“upside-down” moulds to make the culverts, which had to be poured legs-up (rather than legs-down) with starter bars protruding from the top to connect to the pavement slab. Special concrete was also required to cope with the marine environment and the acid sulphate soils at the site.

Rocla’s Adelaide facility recently supplied around 300 specially manufactured box culverts to the Techport Australia shipbuilding hub.

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Culverts made to order for Techport Australia naval hub

When Rocla staff in Brisbane heard that the only experience students had of precast maintenance holes was looking at illustrations, they supplied

a complete Rocla® Sewer Access System which students could assemble in their “sand pit”. Rocla also supplied brochures and made a representative

available to deliver presentations during the course module dealing with the installation of pre-fabricated inspection openings and enclosures. Sunshine Coast TAFE, at Nambour, Queensland, trains around 150 fourth-year apprentices each year. Further product

donations are planned to give the trainees hands-on experience with Rocla RKO™ and CPO® stormwater pits, as well as Rocla Water Quality products. This is the first alliance with a Queensland TAFE and it is hoped the program can be rolled out to other interested colleges.

Rocla Northern Region has brokered an alliance with Sunshine Coast TAFE Construction School to educate fourth-year plumbing apprentices in the use of prefabricated drainage products.

Rocla donation gives trainee plumbers a feel for the real thing

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As well as providing safe access to the beach for pedestrians and cyclists, the 135-metre boardwalk forms the final stage of the River Torrens Linear Park, a continuous trail running for 35 kilometres along the river and connecting the Adelaide hills to the sea.

The walkway provides a connection between the Linear Park and the Coast Park, another pedestrian and cycle path under construction

which runs north-south along the coast of Gulf St Vincent for 70km.

While it was possible to walk and ride the entire length of the Linear Park from east to west without obstruction, users were forced to come to a halt at the Henley Beach end and wait to cross busy Seaview Road.

The height of the bridge carrying Seaview Road over the mouth of the River Torrens

provided an opportunity for a walkway under the bridge. The concrete revetments of the river banks, although dating from the 1930s, were still in excellent condition and provided a stable foundation for the boardwalk.

Consulting engineers Parsons Brinckerhoff specified the PermaTrak® system for its design flexibility and durability in the marine environment. The boardwalk is cantilevered off the sloping bank, with footings on the revetments as well as piers in the river bed.

The system was installed by Civil Tech using Rocla® flush joint concrete pipes as piers, with PermaTrak® precast stumps, and bearers and treads in 2m and 3m lengths.

Project Pedestrian UnderpassLocation Henley Beach, SACouncil City of Charles SturtConsulting Engineers Parsons BrinckerhoffProject Manager Civil TechConcrete Boardwalk System Rocla PermaTrak®

A pedestrian underpass at Henley Beach in South Australia has allowed Rocla’s PermaTrak® concrete boardwalk system to become an important element of Adelaide’s unique Linear Park.

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PermaTrak® now a permanent

part of Adelaide’s Linear Park

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Amberley is the largest RAAF base in Australia, with some 3500 personnel currently working and living on site. A major expansion and redevelopment is in progress which includes new accommodation and common use buildings, offices and training facilities, workshops, vehicle shelters, deployment areas and car parking.

Ecologically sustainable development principles were applied throughout the planning stages of

the redevelopment, in keeping with the Defence Environmental Policy. A key part of the Amberley program was the harvesting of rainwater from all roof areas, with storage tanks and pressure pumping to supply water for landscape irrigation and toilet flushing.

Department of Defence required an efficient and clean storage solution. The Rocla ecoRain® rainwater utilisation system was recommended by consulting engineers GHD because

of its durability and flexibility, and the design support offered by Rocla’s engineers.

The scope of the project is illustrated by the systems already installed by Ed Ahern Plumbing (Gold Coast), which form only the first part of Stage 3 of the works and include a 210kL storage system for a large mess building plus 5 separate 110kL systems for live-in accommodation blocks, with more systems on order.

The ecoRainPlus™ system designs include a water treatment device, a 10kL primary storage tank with provision for pumping

equipment, and secondary storage tanks of varying sizes and configurations constructed from large-diameter Rocla® SRC pipes. The ultimate storage volume of the ecoRainPlus™ system is virtually unlimited.

A feature of the systems is the use of a Rocla CDS® Nipper compact gross pollutant trap in place of the usual high-volume filter. CDS® Units use a self-cleaning continuously deflective screen and an advanced design to capture and store gross pollutants, sediment and hydrocarbons.

Rocla is proposing to supply ecoRainPlus™ rainwater utilisation systems for the RAAF Amberley Base project in a range of sizes from 80kL up to 650kL.

Project Rainwater RecyclingLocation RAAF Amberley Base, QldOwner Dept of DefencePrincipal Contractor AbigroupProject Manager Thinc ProjectsConsulting Engineers GHDPlumbing Contractor Ed Ahern Plumbing (Gold Coast) (Package 1, Stage 3)Rainwater Utilisation System Rocla ecoRainPlus™

The Department of Defence is showing the way in environmental sustainability in South-East Queensland with a large-scale rainwater harvesting program at its rapidly expanding Amberley RAAF Base.

RAAF defends the environment at Amberley base

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Although the system was designed principally for durability and low environmental impact, an added benefit of concrete over timber is that PermaTrak® treads can’t be removed or burnt.

This was a critical factor for the National Parks & Wildlife Service when

rebuilding a track at Awaba Bay, on the foreshores of Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. The timber bridges along the track had been destroyed several times by deliberate fires.

Nine timber bridges, with spans up to 7.5 metres, were replaced with PermaTrak® concrete treads mounted on

steel bearers. Steel bearers allowed unsupported spans without disturbing the watercourses and middens along the foreshore. The steelwork was fabricated off site and footings and concrete landings were

constructed over a period of a month. Lack of vehicle access required the use of a helicopter, which dropped the concrete treads in four hours, then all nine bridges were erected within a week.

Resistance to vandalism is emerging as one of the key benefits of the Rocla PermaTrak® concrete boardwalk system.

Mt Annan bridge with fascia panels

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Concrete boardwalks solve

vandal dilemma for Parks & Wildlife

A CDS® P1512 unit is being used to pre-treat stormwater flows from hard surfaces on the higher western side of the site, prior to mass storage of around 1 megalitre of untreated stormwater in above-ground concrete tanks. An existing 500kL tank was recently supplemented

by another 500kL tank. The plant delivers high grade water through a range of treatments, including chemical dosing, clarification, microfiltration and UV treatment. The harvested water is reused for many water-related activities at the zoo such as hose-down, moats and toilet flushing. Previously,

tanks had to be cleaned out twice a year but the addition of the CDS® Unit, which captures gross pollutants, sediments, organics and oils, will simplify cleaning. The second CDS® Unit (a model P2018) is part of an additional stormwater storage system with three 300kL in-ground tanks, recently constructed on the eastern side of the zoo. Flow from these tanks is fed at a controlled rate to the treatment plant as needed.

The CDS® Unit allows pre-treatment of stormwater at flows up to 600 litres per second, before discharge into the storage tanks. The stormwater catchment includes access roads, footpaths and buildings. Maintenance of the CDS® Units will be carried out on site by simply emptying the non-blocking CDS® basket and removing sediment by suction, providing a more flexible cleaning regime for maintenance staff.

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has improved its stormwater harvesting systems with the addition of two Rocla CDS® Unit gross pollutant traps.

CDS® Units improve stormwater

harvesting at Taronga Zoo

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The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) “unveiled” the final sleeper at a ceremony in Grafton, where most of the concrete sleepers were produced for the NSW North Coast section of the works.

As well as concrete re-sleepering of the line, other improvements include new crossing loops, crossing loop extensions and upgrades, bridge rehabilitations and junction upgrades. The three-year project was carried out by the ARTC’s Northern Improvement Alliance partners Laing O’Rourke and Balfour Beatty.

The works are part of the ARTC’s larger North-South Improvement Strategy, which encompasses the upgrade of the entire Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail line. ARTC allocated around $400 million to replace wooden and steel sleepers on the Melbourne-to-Brisbane rail corridor with around 2.2 million new concrete sleepers.

ARTC Chief Executive Officer, David Marchant, said the North-South

Improvement project would usher in a whole new rail era between Melbourne and Brisbane.

“Consistency in rail sleepers may not sound significant,” Mr Marchant said, “but it will mean a more reliable track and reduced transit times between the main eastern state demand centres.”

“Overall, this upgrade is perhaps the largest rail project since the rail corridor was originally laid,” he said. “For ARTC it marks rail’s resurgence as a realistic freight option.”

The new concrete sleepers will provide a more rigid track and allow the removal of previous speed

restrictions on sections of the line with deteriorating timber sleepers.

It is expected that when the project is complete ARTC will be able to offer the freight industry transit times as low as 10 hours 40 minutes between Sydney and Melbourne and 15 hours 35 minutes between Sydney and Brisbane, making rail more competitive again.

Nearly 1500 kilometres of new concrete sleepers are being laid along the main rail line between Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as along the main coal export line in the NSW Hunter Valley. The project is scheduled for completion in February 2009.

To meet its commitment, Rocla carried out major upgrades of its sleeper plants at Mittagong and

Grafton, with both factories operating 24 hours to manufacture 15,000 pre-stressed concrete mainline sleepers a week.

Installation of new mould beds and extensions of existing manufacturing lines increased the production capacity of the Mittagong plant by 75% and the Grafton plant by 25%.

Rocla also supplied the Southern Improvement Alliance (between ARTC and John Holland) with concrete sleepers for sections of the line between Canberra and Newcastle. Rocla’s contribution to the entire North-South Improvement Strategy totalled 1.35 million concrete sleepers.

Rocla recently supplied the last sleeper for a major upgrade of the rail line between Newcastle and the Queensland border.

Major concrete sleeper overhaul heralds new era in rail freight

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Rocla carried out major upgrades of its concrete sleeper plants at Mittagong and Grafton to meet the delivery requirements of 15,000 sleepers a week

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The original specification of gabion retaining walls was rejected by Ipswich City Council because of the loading requirement of an adjacent road.

Council engineers familiar with the MassBloc® system also felt it would provide a more appropriate long-term solution. The large, permeable concrete

blocks of the MassBloc® system interlock to create retaining structures that are mortarless, quick to install and require minimal base preparation.

Design and construction of the channel was carried out by PMW Constructions as part of the subdivision drainage works for developers Corymbia

Corporation, under the supervision of DKS Consulting.

Stormwater from a multi-pipe outlet enters the channel, which runs more than 100 metres beside a built-up road before eventually draining into bio-retention bays.

The free-draining black clay soil required geotechnical design of the footings and backfill, but once the detailing was completed, PMW Constructions were

able to construct the MassBloc® retaining walls quickly using a GPS-enabled excavator. Some 500 blocks and half-blocks were used, which were fitted with starter bars to connect to no-fines concrete backfill.

A rock chute at the stormwater outfall and Reno mattresses on the bed of the channel visually complement the stony appearance of the MassBloc® units, providing an aesthetically pleasing as well as an easy-to-build, permanent solution.

A stormwater drainage channel at a residential subdivision in Redbank, near Brisbane, provided an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of the Rocla MassBloc® earth retention system.

Mt Annan bridge with fascia panels

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Attractive, permanent solution

for drainage channel walls

Recently an FD450 model was installed at a new ALDI

supermarket at Wangaratta in Victoria by A. Murray & Son of Albury. Installer Jim Robinson changed the original specification to the First Defense® vortex separator. “The local shire had already installed a few Rocla water quality devices and had no problems with them,” Jim

said. “The First Defense is simple to install - it’s a single-pit unit and went in fine,” he said. “We just supplied Rocla with the invert levels and they made up the product for us, ready to install.”

The First Defense® vortex separator is a simple, robust device which removes sediment, floatables and other pollutants at operating flows up 230 L/sec. A larger

FD600 model is available for operating flows up to 510 L/sec.

The FD450 unit at the ALDI supermarket included a surface inlet as well as a connection to an existing stormwater pipe. A major advantage of the First Defense® design is that pollutants are retained in the device and can’t be washed out during high flows.

The Rocla First Defense® vortex separator is finding increasing acceptance as a simple means of treating stormwater at source.

Single-pit solution treats stormwater

at the source

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The contents of this publication are copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of Rocla Pty Limited. Product applications described in this publication are to be taken as illustrations only, and are provided without liability on the part of the company or its employees and agents. ®™ Trademarks of Rocla Pty Limited. ABN 31 000 032 191. A member of the Fletcher Building Group. First Defense trademark used under exclusive licence from Hydro International PLC. Plastream trademark licensed from Rib Loc Pipe Pty Ltd (ACN 111 107 852) for exclusive use in Australia and NZ.

MassBloc trade mark used under exclusive licence from MassTec Industries Limited and Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure Limited. ©Rocla Pty Limited, November 2008.

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• Glen Innes • Grafton • Canberra • Wodonga • Melbourne • Avoca • Traralgon • Brisbane • Toowoomba

• Rockhampton • Mackay • Cairns • Adelaide • Perth

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