Simpson Barracks remediation works

The brief

Simpson Barracks in Watsonia is a 55 acre property, located approximately 18 kilometres northeast of the Melbourne CBD. Today, the site is predominately a Forces Command training base, it’s covered in a mix of buildings and dense gum tree growth which is environmentally managed and cannot be disturbed.

Industrial Environmental Services won an open tender to undertake various pollution prevention and remediation works at Simpson Barracks. The project comprised four discreet projects addressing wastewater drainage, asbestos contaminated soil, stormwater infrastructure and underground fuel tank decommission and extraction.

Execution

Improving wastewater capture and drainage: skip bins containing kitchen waste were leaking liquid when emptied by garbage trucks. Industrial Environmental constructed a series of bunds around the asphalt under the bins. Kerbs contain liquids within the defined area and channels direct any spills into a triple interceptor. A pit was created to collect any spills, treating it as trade waste and diverting it away from both the ground and storm water network.

Asbestos soil remediation and replacement: while not located on the Simpson Barracks property, asbestos was found in a dried creek bed that runs down the boundary line. The client opted to assume responsibility for soil remediation to ensure the safety of its personnel. Our team positioned a small excavator along the top edge of the steep creek bed to extract asbestos impacted soil from the walls and base. The soil was separated from the asbestos and returned to the creek bed. The asbestos was safely loaded onto transportation and removed from site.

Decommission and removal of underground fuel storage tank: one of two 22,500 litre diesel storage tanks that supported back-up generators was no longer required. Our team decommissioned one tank, detached the fuel lines and infrastructure from the building, exhumed the steel tank and removed it from site to be recycled.

Yallambie Creek Stormwater flow correction, headwall and pipe replacement. Yallambie Creek flows through Simpson Barracks with bush roads crossing over it, supported by a network of concrete pipes that allow the movement of water underneath. Water flows over the years had eroded the under road headwalls. We replaced the headwalls and added rock beaching to stabilise the shoreline.

Outcome

Industrial Environmental ran all four projects in concert with one another to ensure the work caused minimal disruption and to hand the sites back to the client in a timely manner.  The project was delivered on time and within budget.

The creek bed which contained asbestos was verified by an independent Occupational Hygienist to confirm remediation was to Australian Standards and a certificate was issued. We enabled flow correction and effective capture of liquid waste from refuse. We improved infrastructure directing the flow of a natural waterway, protecting it from future erosion. A diesel fuel tank was removed, recycled and surrounding soil remediated. As per the client’s wishes, all native plants remained undisturbed during the five-week project.