After identifying commercial opportunities in Queensland (QLD) for the haulage of coal on the Goonyella rail system to the Port of Hay Point, Pacific National implemented a train provisioning and maintenance facility, approximately 10 kilometres south of Nebo, near Mackay. This purpose built facility supports the operations of locomotives and rolling stock.
BG&E provided civil and structural engineering, and flooding and drainage services for the $180 million state-of-the-art facility, specifically:
- design of the buildings and other components within the facility including: the maintenance building with an associated administration facility, a wash-down building, large warehouse, wheel lathe building, turntable, two provisioning buildings including sanding system and fuel farm, gatehouse, water treatment facility, water storage dam and tanks, fire water storage, sticky coal elevated ramp, traction control unit and locomotive testing facility;
- design and documentation of seven kilometres of rail, including a rail maintenance yard and the design and documentation of six kilometres of service road to Department of Transport and Main Roads (QLD) standard;
- design and documentation of three major corrugated steel pipe culvert crossings;
- a flood study of the three surrounding catchment areas (including some 125 hectares) to determine the upstream afflux flooding effects of installing the three major culvert crossings;
- production of all civil specifications;
- construction support; and
- involvement in the road safety in design audits and review.
The facility enables the provisioning and maintenance of Pacific National trains to ensure reliable and efficient operation, including the refueling of trains, routine train inspections and wagon and locomotive maintenance work.
