ENVIRONMENT
"One of the biggest challenges facing business today is sustainability. The opportunity exists to mitigate risks and create positive outcomes. At GHD, we collaborate with our clients to help them identify impacts, prioritise key actions and implement strategies for success."
Stephen Trainor
Environment
Business Stream Leader
Advanced sustainability outcomes from waste facility
The EcolibriumTM Mixed Waste Treatment Facility in South-West Sydney is a key sustainability initiative from WSN Environmental Solutions (WSN), a major operator of waste management infrastructure in Sydney, Australia. The plant will utilise patented ArrowBio waste processing technology from Arrow Ecology to convert 90,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year into energy, recyclable resources and soil enhancement products. In doing so, approximately 70 percent of the waste received at the gate will be diverted from landfill and 2 MW of renewable energy will be generated. Some of this energy will be used for powering the plant, with the balance exported to the grid.
GHD’s engineering staff worked on improvements to the site layout, and designed the major buildings and site infrastructure to integrate the specialist waste processing equipment to comply with local standards. Working closely with WSN and Arrow Ecology staff, GHD assisted with procurement of plant items, including the biological plant tanks and the biogas power plant, and had an important role in tendering of the main civil, mechanical and electrical services contracts. The project utilised the skills of more than 50 engineering, architecture and environmental staff from GHD’s Sydney, Melbourne and Wollongong offices, and has firmly established GHD as a leading provider of integrated services on waste infrastructure projects.
The plant is the first of its size to be built using the patented ArrowBio mixed waste treatment technology and will become a demonstration plant for this technology worldwide. It is expected to be fully operational around March 2009.
SAVING CORAL IN THE MIDDLE EAST
GHD is is playing a pivotal role in one of the world’s largest coral translocation projects. Our environment team in the Middle East recently surveyed 22 hectares of the marine environment off the Dubai coast in preparation for a series of proposed reclamations in the area. During the survey, the team identified a mature artificial reef of significant ecological value.
The Dubai Dry Docks breakwater, which was constructed in 1983, was found to host over 18 species of corals covering up to 50 percent of the artificial reef. It provides a habitat for at least 30 species of reef fish, along with various species of sponges, seasquirts, urchins and other organisms.
During a series of workshops with the client, local universities and construction contractors, a number of options were considered to avoid the destruction of the coral reef resulting from the planned reclamation.
Our team’s success in communicating the ecological value of the site and knowledge of the local marine environment, combined with the strength of its relationship with the local regulatory authorities, resulted in obtaining regulatory approval to advance the relocation of the coral reef. As a result, the coral-encrusted boulders are being moved on slings attached to eye-bolts drilled into the rock and towed underwater by barges 500 metres to a new location.
