NEWS FROM ROCLA PIPELINE PRODUCTS · Rocla Pipeline Products Tower A, Level 5, Zenith Centre, 821 Pacific Hwy Chatswood, NSW 2067 A business unit of Rocla Pty Limited ABN 31000032191

Rocla® precastclimbs the alpsRocla® precastclimbs the alps

400,000 litreOSD system

Developer winswith rain reuse

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 5

N E W S F R O M R O C L A P I P E L I N E P R O D U C T S

Longest M-Lock®

Bridge in Australia

Rocla Piper

ISSN 1032-7282

Rocla Pipeline

Products is a

leading supplier

of precast

concrete

solutions for the

civil construction

industry

SRC PIPES

CULVERTS

HEADWALLS

ACCESS

SYSTEMS

PRECAST

BRIDGES

RETAINING

WALLS

CONCRETE

BOARDWALKS

RURAL

PRODUCTS

WATER

QUALITY

SOLUTIONS

Published byRocla Pipeline Products

Tower A, Level 5, Zenith Centre,

821 Pacific HwyChatswood, NSW 2067

A business unit of Rocla Pty Limited

ABN 31000 032191Member of the

Fletcher Building Group

In this issue we highlight the versatility of

Rocla’s precast concrete products by

showing how our customers are using

them to create innovative solutions across

a range of civil construction applications.

However, you should also know the untold

story behind every one of these projects,

namely how the customer’s order is designed,

manufactured and delivered to site, on time

and in full.

This involves technical processes such

as engineering and design, manufacturing,

testing, quality control, logistics and IT

functions, along with managment methods

like value chain management. All these

processes can be grouped under the

banner of “customer service”.

In other words, this story is all about you

the customer. Ultimately, all manufacturing

companies are involved in the service industry.

Even manufacturers of traditional industrial

products, whose manufacturing methods

may change little over time, must constantly

re f ine and improve their management and

communication processes to better serve

their customers and remain competit ive.

Knowing our customers’ needs and meeting

their expectations is the driving force behind

innovation at Rocla. Our customers are not at

the end of the value chain but at the heart of

continuous process improvement.

Most of our internal processes are

constantly under improvement, and in every

case the real goal is the same - enhancing

customer service. To mention a few, we have

made a major investment in IT support, we have

a new Customer Relationship Management System

operating nationally and have moved to

electronic ordering and invoicing.

Our Engineering Team has a new document

management system that allows intelligent

searching of the thousands of drawings they

Continuous improvement isall about you, the customer

produce each year, quickly locating existing

design solutions that can demonstrate our

capabilities to customers and save on design time.

We are also continuously reassessing our

internal and external communications,

upgrading computers, software and our Intranet.

Our internet website is currently being

redeveloped to make it more customer-friendly.

Our Marketing Team is reviewing our national

marketing activities, again with the aim of improving

communication with customers.

New manufacturing technology is also an

important part of ensuring our customers' needs

are met. We have recently invested in automated

manufacturing equipment in Brisbane, upgraded

our box culvert capability at Penrith and extended

our Concrete Poles plant at Wodonga to boost

production output and increase our ability to

produce larger and more complex poles.

In short, we are investing across the

entire business to improve our resources and

capabilities so that we can better meet our

customers’ needs. And since joining the Fletcher

Building Group earlier this year we are making

this investment with the confidence of being

backed by one of the largest building products

groups in Australasia. So please keep this in mind

when you are reading The Piper, and look between

the lines for the untold story - the one about you.

If you would like more information on any of

the products or applications in this issue just

call our free sales inquiry number 131 004.

Stephen T. BakerGeneral Manager,Rocla Pipeline Products

Three

A leading land developer has set a new

benchmark for water conservation by

offering housing lots ready-fitted with the

Rocla ecoRain® rainwater utilisation system.

Melbourne-based international developer

Wilbow Corporation wanted to create an

environmentally conscious community at its

Vaucluse Estate residential development at

Doreen in northeast Melbourne.

After investigating the latest in environ-

mental technology, Wilbow decided on the Rocla

ecoRain® system as the most innovative rainwater

harvesting product on the market. Allotments

in the first stage release were provided with

a 10,000-litre Rocla ecoRain® tank.

The response from the public was so

positive that Wilbow has committed to including

the rainwater tanks in subsequent stages of

the 25-hectare development.

Wilbow's Victorian development manager,

Tony Johnson, said the move was a commercial

and community success, with wide acceptance

from homebuyers as well as from local and

water authorities.

“This is the first serious attempt to introduce

this level of water harvesting into a major

residential development that already has water

infrastructure at its disposal,” Tony said.

“The system will also significantly reduce

flooding because the tanks act as a detention

system for rainwater run-off,” he said.

“This will have a big impact on stormwater

pipes because they will be smaller and there

will be fewer of them.”

Tony said the tanks can potentially save

each household up to 100,000 litres of water

a year: “When you consider Vaucluse will consist

of 300 homes, that’s a saving of more than

30 million litres a year,” he said.

He said the system will give homeowners

instant access to filtered rainwater that can be

pumped eletronically into laundries and toilet

cisterns, as well as providing water for garden

irrigation and car washing.

A major advantage of the Rocla® system

for homebuyers is that the large capacity concrete

tanks are below ground where they don't take

up valuable land.

Developer breaks newground in water saving

Four

Thirsty drain can swallow100-year floodRocla® Pipeline Products supplied almost

one kilometre of 2100mm diameter

reinforced concrete stormwater pipe to

G&S Fortunato for a major Melbourne

Water drainage project at Knoxfield, in

south-eastern Melbourne.

The Kent Park Drainage Scheme design,

completed by URS Australia, will provide flood

relief for residential and industrial properties

by draining stormwater via the pipeline into a

sediment basin and wetlands at Knox Park

Retarding Basin in Knoxfield.

Flow is being directed away from an existing

retarding basin in Gilbert Park, the site of a

baseball field that is flooded several times a year.

The new 6-cumec capacity pipeline

can carry the overland flow from a 100-year

ARI event, leaving the old basin at Gilbert

Park as a standby for catastrophic storms.

Huge OSD systemquick to install

ProjectOn-site stormwater detention

LocationEdgewood EstateWollongong, NSW

DeveloperThe Village Building Co.

Civil ContractorGlennos Construction

Engineering ConsultantsKF Williams & Associates

OSD SystemRocla Water Quality

A modular Rocla® on-site detention (OSD)

system provided a fast and efficient

solution for Edgewood Estate residential

development in Woonona, near

Wollongong.

The huge OSD system can hold more than

400,000 litres. The original design was made

with precast box culverts in mind. However,

discussions with Rocla led to the adoption

of a simpler system constructed from large-

diameter reinforced concrete pipes.

The 24 sections of 3000mm diameter pipes

with rubber ring joints proved to be not only the

most economical option, but also the fastest

- an important benefit because of pressure to

release the lots on to the market.

Because of site constraints, part of the

system runs under a roadway - unusual for an

OSD system but no problem for high-strength

Rocla® pipes, which can be manufactured for

highway loadings.

Five

The longest Rocla M-Lock® bridge in

Australia (and the second longest in the

world) has just been completed in WA.

The 456-metre long road bridge

provides a reliable two-lane crossing over a

flood plain near Carnarvon.

The Bibbawarra Road crossing replaces a

gravel road across the dry bed of the Gascoyne

River that is used by local traffic, tourists and

the Aboriginal community at Ingada Mission.

Every time the river flowed the road was

washed out, resulting in it being closed for as

much as five months of the year and forcing

a 34km round trip detour via the Gascoyne

River Bridge.

Main Roads WA provided funding for the

bridge, which is to be managed by the Shire

of Carnarvon. The Rocla M-Lock® precast bridge

system was adopted to reduce design and

construction risks.

Remote crossing sets new record for M-Lock® bridge

The 456-metre long bridge is 8.4 metres

wide and includes 38 spans, each of 12 metres.

It is supported on 156 Rocla Duraspun®

concrete piles, each 12 metres long and 585mm

in diameter.

The bridge deck is set approximately

1.5 metres above the riverbed and includes

precast castellated kerbing cast to the edge

planks on every span. Bridge components

were manufactured at Rocla’s Perth factory.

ProjectFlood Crossing, WA

LocationCarnarvon, WA

OwnersMain Roads WA/Shire of Carnarvon.

Construction ContractorBocol Constructions

Design ConsultantBruechle Gilchrist & Evans

Precast Bridge SystemRocla Pipeline Products

Spun Concrete PilesRocla Concrete Poles

Tough little bridge shrugs off major floodTwo days before this Rocla M-Lock® bridge

was opened to traffic it suffered a textbook

“one in one hundred year” storm event.

The bridge, over the Minnamurra River

near Kiama on the NSW south coast, was

overtopped by two to three metres of fast-

moving floodwater.

When the water subsided and hundreds

of tonnes of debris were removed, the little

bridge was unscathed.

It is one of two similar M-Lock® bridges

on the river built by Kiama Municipal Council

to replace ageing timber crossings.

This one, designed by KF Williams of

Wollongong, is a single-lane, two-span bridge

with a 30-degree skew.

Kiama Council's Director of Engineering,

Bryan Whittaker, was very pleased with the

outcome: “While it was designed to cope with

that and more, it's unusual for a bridge to be

put to the ultimate test before it even begins

its service life,” he said.

Six

The Rocla MassBloc® earth retention

system has proven itself in alpine

applications and blazed a trail for other

Rocla® precast products to climb

the Victorian Alps.

Precast concrete is a natural choice as

an alpine construction material, with time being of

the essence during the limited building season.

Falls Creek village provided an ideal

opportunity when an old drystone retaining wall

beneath Attunga Lodge showed signs of instability.

The decision was made to build a modern

retaining wall, but limited space between Attunga

and the adjacent lodge made the gabion and

poured concrete options undesirable.

Stan Cantwell, operations manager for Falls

Creek Resort Management, knew of the Rocla

MassBloc® earth retention system and saw that

it could overcome the site restrictions.

“No contractor was needed,” Stan said.

“We were able to place the blocks and the

no-fines concrete behind the wall with available

manpower and machinery.”

Stan said the wall was performing well in

the climate because the voids in the permeable

blocks made them drain so well that the

freeze-thaw factor was not an issue.

However, building the wall meant that

Attunga Lodge was deprived of its back patio

area because the ground between the wall

and the resort had to be battered down to a

lower height.

Attunga Lodge manager Charles Warren

said the preferred solution was to construct

Rocla® precast systems find a home 1

2

3

5

Seven

above the snow linea substantial suspended deck, but metal

would be too noisy and timber has obvious

maintenance issues in the harsh climate.

Enter the Rocla PermaTrak® precast

concrete boardwalk system. “We constructed

the deck ourselves on a concrete foundation

with a steel sub-structure using a local crew,”

Charles said. “The precast treads were easy

to install and gave us a solid, durable deck with

the added advantage of being maintenance-free.”

Since then, Falls Creek has also installed

its first precast water quality product - a Rocla

CleansAll® gross pollutant trap (GPT). Stan

Cantwell said the GPT cleans about a third of

the village's stormwater, preserving water quality

for downstream users, as well as preventing

seed transfer from weeds.

Meanwhile, the MassBloc® system solved

a problem for the neighbouring Mt Hotham

Alpine Resort Management Board, who required

a low wall to stabilise a slope. The board's

Nathan Rebesco said the problem was that a

carpark was planned for the site in the future.

“We didn’t want anything permanent,”

Nathan said. “The MassBloc segmental system

is ideal because it’s easy to build and we can

dismantle the wall, store the blocks and reuse

them wherever and whenever we want.”

It seems applications for Rocla® precast

systems are snowballing, as resort managers

realise the benefits of products that can be

delivered to site, installed immediately and are

durable enough to be left to the elements

for decades.

4

1. The MassBloc® earth retention system provided a quick, easy replacement for a crumbling drystone wall at Falls Creek. Note the PermaTrak® boardwalk above.

2. This slope-stabilising wall at Mt Hotham will be moved and reused when a planned carpark is built on the site.

3. A temporary pedestrian barrier at Falls Creek provides a useful storage solution until a better use can be found for these MassBloc® units.

4. PermaTrak® precast treads were used in place of timber at Attunga Lodge in Falls Creek, eliminating maintenance problems.

5. CleansAll® GPT at Falls Creek keeps snowmelt clean for downstream water users.

Rocla® Sewer Access Systems are being

used as sewage collection stations in a

vacuum sewer line at the billion-dollar

Calypso Bay residential-commercial

development at Jacob's Well, on the

Queensland Gold Coast.

The Rocla® pits provide sumps that collect

sewage from up to five or six properties via

gravity mains. The sewage is then pumped via a

vacuum sewer line to a treatment plant.

Vacuum sewer specialists AIRVAC-RSM

designed the system, which is being installed

by Neumann Contractors. More than 60 Rocla®

Sewer Access System pits are being supplied,

each with a precast benched base and short

pipes already installed in pre-bored holes ready

for connection

The development is on a former swamp,

with flat, sandy terrain and a water table at a

depth of only 1.2 metres. Neumann’s Ric

Wilson said the pits would have been very

difficult to build in situ, with some of the gravity

pipe inverts below the water table.

“Connecting the pipes would also have

been very challenging because all the inlet and

outlet pipes are offset,” Ric said. “But we can

install the precast pits in about 20 minutes and

just connect up to the installed pipe sections,

which gives us a much more professional and

reliable result.”

Largest CleansAll®

in East Gippsland

Eight

Housing and canal development at

Paynesville, on the Gippsland Lakes in

eastern Victoria, prompted the installation

of the largest Rocla CleansAll® gross

pollutant trap in the region.

East Gippsland Shire received funding

through the Storm Water Quality Management

fund issued by the EPA which, along with

the Shire's own contribution, allowed the

1200mm-inlet CleansAll® gross pollutant trap

(GPT) to be installed on one of the major

drains in Paynesville.

The Shire appointed Bairnsdale Road

Services to install the GPT in King Street Reserve

to collect gross pollutants from stormwater in

the southwest corner of Paynesville, including

the football ground and land subdivisions, before

it entered the Gippsland Lakes system.

Bairnsdale Road Services installed the

system in five days, with advice from Rocla staff,

who assisted from the design stage through

to completion.

Readymade manholesfor vacuum sewer

Nine

Economicalbridgesolution

Rocla Pipeline Products recently

supplied almost 700 precast box culvert

crowns for a road realignment at

Ardlethan in southern NSW.

Reed Constructions is carrying out a

realignment of the Newell Highway for the Roads

& Traffic Authority, including replacement of a

narrow bridge over Mirrool Creek and causeway

improvements south of the creek.

The new raised road includes two huge

multi-cell culverts, with 50 and 35 cells, to drain

excess water when the creek floods, greatly

improving the reliability and safety of the

Newell Highway at its intersection with Burley

Griffin Way.

Rocla Pipeline Products supplied two

precast culvert bridges with special

safety barriers for the new Mawson

Transport Hub, north of Adelaide.

The public transport interchange at Mawson

Lakes will link bus and rail services with a new

east-west road from Salisbury Highway to Main

North Road.

The bridges will convey buses, private

vehicles and pedestrians to the interchange

and train station, over Dry Creek and open

stormwater drains. The bridgeworks were formed

from 3600x2120 crown units and 3800 link

slabs, topped with the 12-tonne L-shaped safety

barrier units, which also acted as partial link

slabs, providing an economical and easy-to-

construct solution.

ProjectMawson Transport Hub Culvert Bridges

LocationMawson Lakes, SA

AuthorityDept of Transport,Energy & Infrastructure

Consulting EngineersTonkin Consulting

ContractorBardavcol

Fast precastfix forfloodway

Ten

Sewagedetentiontanksprotect Perth rivers

to pump raw sewage from gravity collection centres to treatment plants. As part of

the current risk management program, pump stations in environmentally sensitive areas

(such as close to rivers) are being retrofitted with detention tanks to prevent sewage

overflow to the environment in the event of pumping problems such as power failures.

Rocla Pipeline Products in Perth is supplying Mako Civil with Rocla® OSD Systems

for six sites around the metropolitan area. The tank shown here comprises 13 standard

2.44-metre lengths of Rocla® sewer-rated steel-reinforced concrete pipe.

What is this pipecrew doing wrong?

Nothing. They are demonstrating that a

job worth doing is worth doing well,

particularly when it comes to concrete

pressure pipes, which require extra care

during jointing.

The Rocla® 1350mm Class 3 rubber-ring

joint pipes form part of an emergency overflow

at the Shellharbour Sewage Treatment Plant

on the NSW South Coast.

During an amplification of the plant by

Sydney Water, engineering consultants United

KG installed the steel-reinforced concrete

pressure pipes over unstable ground, made up

mostly of low-grade backfill from previous

earthworks. Each pipe section had to be mounted

on a concrete pile to avoid uneven loads.

When the pipe sections were lowered into position,

a combination of slings and a chain block were

used to keep them at the correct grade and

orientation. They were then pulled home using

a crossbar attached to hand winches to ensure

the rubber ring rolled smoothly and evenly into

the socket. Thanks to United KG engineer Greg

da Corte for the photos and for showing that a

professional approach to pipe laying will result

in a straight and true line every time.

The Water Corporation in WA is

undertaking a $98 million five-year

program to improve Perth's sewerage

system, a major component of which is

the provision of increased emergency

storage at pump stations.

Perth relies on around 550 pump stations

Eleven

There have been some changes to Rocla’s NSW sales

force. Paul Cammans has been appointed Central Region

Sales Manager. Paul is well known from his roles as Capital

Works Sales Manager and Western NSW Area Manager.

NSW also welcomes two new faces, Nino DeVitis and

Damien Kim. Nino, a Newcastle local, is servicing our

customers in the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid-North Coast

regions. Damien is a Sales Engineer based in Sydney. Both bring

a wealth of experience in private and public sector construction.

New faces at Rocla

Precast boardwalktiptoes over snags

Join the satisfiedcustomers in this issue who have

benefited from Rocla®

precast solutions.

Call the RoclaSales Hotline

131 004

In the mid-1960s a group of Sydney

consultants agreed to meet for lunch

regularly to discuss common civil

engineering issues.

Rocla offered to sponsor the event, as well

as provide guest speakers. At the time, no one

could have guessed the lunch would still be

going strong in the 21st century. Over the years

the bi-monthly Rocla Luncheon has become

an industry institution that has nurtured many

close relationships. In honour of the 40th

anniversary lunch, the venue was changed from

a leagues club to a 4-star hotel, complete with

panoramic harbour views, giving a new lease

of life to the time-honoured tradition.

The lunchthat lasted40 years

Paul Cammans

Nino DeVitis

Damien Kim

From left: Rob Robson (retired Rocla MD), Ivan Skellet (retired), StephenWolstenholme (Rocla Central Region Manager), Ray Brown (MichaelBell & Partners), John Owen (JC Owen & Associates), Norman Mann(Michael Bell & Partners), Rod McMaugh (Norwest)

This pathway beside the Tyabb Airport, on Melbourne's Mornington

Peninsula, is part of a $10 million Shared Pathways Strategy by

Mornington Peninsula Shire to construct more than 80km of paths for

pedestrians and cyclists.

Although at first glance it appears that a simple asphalt footpath would have

sufficed, this particular trail was fraught with hidden problems. The ground was

undulating, so the footpath would have to be raised in some spots, which would

have acted as a dam for run-off from the airport. Re-grading of the levels, or even

building a conventional timber boardwalk, would have meant dealing with a range

of obstacles lurking under the surface, including high voltage cables, gas pipes

and a water main.

The council solved all these problems simultaneously by using the

Rocla PermaTrak® concrete boardwalk system, which sits lightly on its own stump

risers and can be assembled quickly and easily with no more preparation than

providing a level bearing surface.

Akron Roads constructed the 80-metre long, 2-metre wide path for Mornington

Peninsula Council. A specialist engineering consultant was not required as ground

conditions were reasonably stable, and the boardwalk system is pre-engineered

by Rocla's own design team, who generated site-specific layout drawings and typical

construction details for the pathway.

The contents of this publication are copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without

the prior written consent of Rocla Pty Limited. Product applications described in this

publication are to be taken as illustrations only, and are provided without liability on the part of

the company or its employees and agents. ®™ Trademarks of Rocla Pty Limited. ABN 31

000 032 191. Trading as Rocla Pipeline Products. A member of the Fletcher Building Group.

MassBloc trade mark used under exclusive licence from MassTec Industries Limited and

Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure Limited. ©Rocla Pty Limited, October 2005.

For further information on products from

Rocla Pipeline Products and Rocla Water Quality

Call Rocla on 131 004

E-mail your inquiry to [email protected]

Visit our website www.pipe.rocla.com.au

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Wodonga

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Perth

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