Ausco answers environmental challenge in $50 million Gorgon gas project
4 December 2009
Ausco Modular will take unprecedented steps to safeguard the ecology of Western Australia’s Barrow Island, during a $50 million building project for Chevron Australia’s Gorgon Project.
Australia’s largest modular builder has been engaged to design, build and deliver 530 individual building modules including everything from laboratories to lunch rooms.
However, because of Barrow Island’s delicate ecology, Ausco will adhere to the strictest quarantine standards when delivering the buildings.
As a result, the 195 single and multi storey site facility buildings will be fumigated and shrink-wrapped before transportation – essentially quarantining the modules until they are unwrapped again on the island. This will prevent transportation of any animal or plant life from the mainland.
Ausco Modular’s Managing Director Paul Bailey said the company had worked closely with KJVG, who is managing the project and the client, Chevron over a four month period to develop a unique solution to meet the project’s requirements.
“Ausco’s position as Australia’s largest provider of factory-built buildings means we are uniquely placed to answer challenging requests from clients,” Mr Bailey said.
“What ever the building challenges of a particular project might be, it’s likely that Ausco has encountered similar issues before and has a solution on hand. And if we don’t, our national network of building experts can devise one quickly.”
Mr Bailey said Ausco’s market strength also ensured it was able to deliver large-scale projects on time and on budget.
“This gives clients certainty about their project timelines, and also means Ausco is able to take on other major building work at the same time.”
Each building module for the Gorgon Project will meet the standard of “Region D+” cyclonic buildings, meaning they are designed to withstand winds of up to 340km/hr.
The buildings will also be manufactured to suit the Gorgon Project’s corrosive ocean environment and the particular life cycle demands imposed by the site and employees.
The buildings’ lighting has also been specially designed to minimise the impact on the island wildlife. All luminaires will be type six classification, providing minimal upward light output with either yellow dichroic filters or low pressure sodium lamps to minimise turtle and insect attraction to the light sources.
The Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (Operator), ExxonMobil and Shell, to develop the Greater Gorgon gas fields, located between 130km and 200km off the north-west coast of Western Australia. The Greater Gorgon gas fields contain resources of about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas, Australia’s largest-known gas resource.
Media contact: Cole Lawson Communications (07) 3221 2220
4 December 2009