Falcon ROV in Record Australian Tunnel Penetration

24-Aug-2009 A partnership between, Gold Coast based ROV Downunder and Seaview Systems, Inc. from the US recently carried out what is believed to be the two longest Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) tunnel penetrations in Australia.

The record breaking ROV penetrations were carried out to inspect the intake and outfall tunnels of the new Gold Coast Desalination Plant at Tugun in Queensland.

ROV Downunder’s Bill Bulloch project-managed the inspections in conjunction with the Seaview Systems US team. Seaview Systems air freighted its modified Falcon DR, a custom umbilical winch and peripheral equipment to Australia to investigate the 2.2 kilometre intake tunnel and the 2 kilometre outlet tunnel.

The Falcon DR has been modified with a SeaView Systems in-house surface power supply, umbilical and tunnel modeling software.

Access to the tunnels was by 60m depth vertical access shafts, once in the tunnel the vehicle reaching penetration distances of approximately two kilometres. The ROV captured video and profiling sonar data which allowed SeaView to develop a 3 dimensional model of the tunnels internal surfaces. Both the video and 3D model will be used as a baseline for future inspections.

The plant was constructed by the Gold Coast Desalination Alliance (GCDA) for WaterSecure, the Queensland Government authority responsible for the supply of desalinated water to the South East Queensland Water Grid.

GCDA comprises John Holland, Veolia Water, Sinclair Knight Merz and Cardno. While John Holland was principal contractor for the construction, Veolia Water Australia will take primary responsibility for the operation of the plant. Initially, the investigations were performed from onshore, with GCDA requesting an additional investigation of the offshore structures.



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