Powercor Project

The Project

Electricity provider Powercor has committed to a regulatory framework to ensure their assets are kept up to date, guaranteeing consistent power supply to their customers throughout Melbourne. 

Stemming from this framework is a move to develop a new depot at Brooklyn, VIC, reallocating resources from the nearby Ardeer depot. 

The ageing Ardeer depot was initially established as a gas and fuel site and was not constructed to service an electricity distribution business. As a result, it suffers from poor layout, including an oversupply of office space but insufficient space for material and fleet storage. 

Constructing a new depot at Brooklyn provides an efficient way for Powercor to meet capacity requirements for the rapid network growth in Melbourne’s western region.

The Challenges

The site chosen for the new Brooklyn depot was previously used as a landfill area, with characteristic poor soils and a low CBR. The site for the piling rig needed to be prepared thoroughly before construction could begin.

Providing reinforcement and strength to support the piling rig were the main concerns; ensuring that the site’s poor soils would not affect its new development into an efficient and practical works depot for the Powercor team.

Our Solution

The Polyfabrics team assisted the geotechnical designer in designing a piling platform over the existing landfill cap, using Terrastop 300/300kN High Strength Woven geotextile.

This was installed in conjunction with 300mm of 20mm crushed rock, providing a stable and reliable base for the piling pad. 

Terrastop woven geotextile is a high strength polyester fabric available in strength from 100-1200kN/m suitable for solving complex engineering problems. For this application, the team recommended the 300kn/m variant, which is an ideal solution for reinforcing soils where extremely high tensile strength with low elongation is required.

This woven geotextile is also used in applications such as reinforcing granular soils and embankments, retaining structures, and subgrade improvement. 

For more information, download the high strength woven geotextile specification sheet or call our team for engineering advice for your next project.