Client name: BHP

Location: Multiple mining camps across North of Western Australia

Duration: 2021 – ongoing

Services provided:

• Structural engineering design
• Architectural design
• Project management
• Liaising with subcontractors and door vendors
• Site mobilisation of teams

BHP Village Security Project Structural and Architectural Upgrades

Following adverse publicity concerning on-site safety issues, BHP took the initiative to improve the security of all residential villages and environs across their mining operations in Western Australia. This project was on an unprecedented scale and included challenges that our team at Tetra Tech Proteus consistently found innovative ways to manage and overcome.

Scope of Works

BHP has many camps across 12 locations in the North of Western Australia, all of which were built by different manufacturers over several decades. This meant there was a great deal of variability in the existing infrastructure that our design solutions had to accommodate. Our tasks included:

• Measuring over 10,000 doors across all camps, including over 120 different door designs from 8 manufacturers
• Designing and retrofitting new doors in related rooms
• Liaising with sub-contractors to ensure the best possible outcome for our client

Project Challenges

 

A project of unprecedented size and complexity

• The initial scope of the project was largely architectural, but as the variability of the client’s existing infrastructure quickly exceeded this scope, it was apparent that engineering expertise was required.
• Tetra Tech Proteus has teams of specialists from a range of engineering and design backgrounds, which meant we were able to expand and maintain a dedicated working group within our company.
• As a result, our team was able to deliver quality works in an efficient and timely fashion and keep up with the increasing complexity of the project over time.

Wind Region D cyclone safety standards

• Lack of vendor information regarding cyclone ratings of the existing infrastructure meant we were unable to ascertain if doors met the cyclone ratings required by the client.  Testing was undertaken to establish which doors were compliant with the client’s security standards and cyclone ratings.
• Tetra Tech Proteus provided windspeed and pressure requirements to Azuma Design for testing to inform the design of the doors.

Sensitivity of measurement tolerances

• In order to deliver the most effective security upgrade, measurement tolerances for this project had to be as narrow as possible.  This made gathering the requisite information difficult, so our team developed a bespoke standardised measurement recording and data compilation procedure.
• A sensitivity analysis was conducted of all site data to determine the appropriate tolerances for all doors to be manufactured to minimise variability in the new designs.
• Detailed and dimensioned engineering drawings were provided that contained shop detail level of information, not usually present in standard engineering drawings.

Client and sub-contractor communication

• Communication inefficiencies between client, Tetra Tech Proteus, subcontractors and door vendors were slowing down the installation process. This was remedied by preparing presentation sessions to convey design intent and requirements for site installers. This reduced the amount of on-site learning required and increased the onboarding process to improve productivity.