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| CSIRO | SOLVE | Issue 3 - May 05 | |
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ARTICLE
INFRASTRUCTURE:
Soils Pressured to Perform By TONY KAYE
GETTING THE FOUNDATION OF BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY RIGHT IS VITAL. With billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects under way, the construction boom across Australia is showing no signs of slowing down. Cranes continue to dominate the skylines of major cities; their skeletal gantries towering above the sites of hundreds of commercial and residential developments in various stages of construction.
Such projects are by nature a melange of hurdles and challenges, but a less obvious area that requires significant technical analysis and problem solving - in fact, the foundation, literally, of most projects - is the nature and structure of soil. Different soil types - or geostructural circumstances - can add considerably to construction costs. It is also an area that allows for no mistakes. Geoff Hughes, Melbourne-based laboratory manager for Golder Associates, a geotechnical engineering consultancy with offices around the world, explains that soil testing is absolutely vital before work can start on roads, buildings or landfill sites. Soil permeability, in particular, can determine the fate of many development proposals as environmental protection authorities become resolute in safeguarding groundwater supplies from contamination. Consequently, the accuracy and reliability of permeability tests is fundamental to the business of consultancies like Golder Associates. In the case of landfill - a common preconstruction requirement - the company relies on a method developed by CSIRO's Material Science team, within the Manufacturing and Infrastructure Division, to measure the permeability of proposed clay liners. Preconstruction soil (or geostructural) testing has been practised in Australia since it was pioneered after World War Two, when the Scientific Services Laboratory, now recently acquired by CSIRO and part of its extensive Industrial Research and Consulting Services, was charged with undertaking foundation studies for all new Commonwealth facilities such as schools, airports and other large buildings. Geostructural testing soon became a prerequisite for buildings, roads, tunnels, highways and other large infrastructures as size, scale and loads increased. The technology behind the measurements has also needed to be continually improved. As well as geomechanical testing, CSIRO Industrial Research and Consulting Services provides the building and construction industry with more than 20 different consulting engineering and testing services, including corrosive testing, fire safety engineering and testing, slip resistance, structural engineering, façade engineering and concrete and cement testing. For CSIRO it is a service area that it is keen to develop further with industry, and it is planning to expand its testing range. Ken Lofhelm, Materials Science manager, says CSIRO now has a unique testing capability, and can test soil permeability against various liquids and sludges. "We can actually simultaneously measure two or three types of liquid going through a soil sample, which is much more cost effective than standard in-house company tests that can only work with one permeate at a time," he says. In the important area of soil permeability, soils are tested in laboratories to measure how quickly water or other liquids can flow through different soil types. The process uses geomechanical testing to measure the physical properties of the soil sample. Then liquid is forced through the soil and the amount that comes through under different pressures and conditions is measured. The procedure sounds straightforward, but tens of millions of dollars worth of building activity hinge on the outcomes because governments, councils and EPAs today limit which and where projects can proceed, according to soil permeability. Most authorities are today keen to avoid repeating mistakes of the past where industries such as foundries and tanneries were sited on land that decades later is unusable because of soil contamination.
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And even at ground level, and below ground, construction activity is burgeoning with infrastructure projects such as the Mitcham-Frankston tollway hub in Melbourne and the cross-city tunnel project from Sydney's North Shore.
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