West Dapto Package 3 (Cleveland)

At around 5pm on Tuesday 12 November, our crew spotted smoke billowing across the road from Dapto High School. Without hesitation, they jumped into action, deploying 3 water carts and several team members to contain and extinguish the fire before it could spread.

When the local fire brigade arrived, they commended our crew for their swift response and valuable support. 👏🔥

Well done to everyone involved for stepping up and keeping the community safe!

Project status

Our team continues to kick goals with the work they're doing on-site. To date, over 5 kilometres of new wastewater pipes have been installed, with almost one kilometre installed in the last month alone!

We've also started work in Reed Park. While the park is still open for recreational use, we want to ensure that your safety is first and foremost while we are working. A reminder to please be mindful around our worksite If your ball or any other item accidentally lands in our work area, please talk to one of our friendly crew members who will safely retrieve the item for you. If the worksite is empty, please do not climb over the fence, we'll arrange to return your belongings to you when we're back at work.

We've also started upgrading the pumping station on the corner of Fairwater Drive and Riverpark Way. This upgrade is expected to take about 10 months, weather permitting.

We currently have 6 pipe-laying crews working in the area. These crews install new wastewater pipes by digging a trench, laying the new pipe inside the trench and then filling it. Most new wastewater infrastructure is installed this way. We're not only talking about rural areas, but also busy urban centres like Sydney. These crews have completed 31% of the 7.8-kilometre pipeline between Dapto Road and Cleveland Road, and 88% of the 1.2-kilometre pipeline west of Fowlers Road.

Alongside our pipe-laying crews is our microtunnelling crew. They're responsible for drilling under the hard-to-reach areas, such as under creek beds or rivers and under the local rail line. Before the drilling can start, the crews need to dig 2 very deep shafts. One shaft will be used to launch the drilling machine underground and the other will receive the machine when it's finished drilling.

This crew has constructed 9 of the 22 shafts needed. These shafts, as can be seen in the picture, are very deep. Our deepest is 8.6 metres and took our crews 12 days to build.

This month will also see the start of our water main construction on Bong Bong Road. We'll update you on our progress statistics in the coming months.

We'd like to thank the local community for their patience and support as we expand the local wastewater network to support growth in the area.

Although we've experienced some delays – mostly due to wet weather and the resulting impact of groundwater – we've now laid over 33,000 metres of pipe, and construction has started on 17 new maintenance holes in the area.

We're now installing the pressure wastewater main pipeline along Fairwater Drive up to Bong Bong Road. This is open trench work, and will have some temporary impacts to the roadway and traffic in the area.

We've started work on the new water main on the southern end of Cleveland Drive and are about to start another section at Fairwater Drive near the Fowlers Road intersection. The new pipeline is being installed by a process called microtunnelling, whereby a remotely controlled excavation drill is placed belowground to work on tunnelling the new pipe's placement, while the aboveground roadway remains intact.

In addition to the above, October will amplify our progress even further, when we start construction on the 365-metre water main pipeline on Bong Bong Road.

There's still a way to go, and the many sections we're working on concurrently, along with the construction of other services, can look a bit daunting. We're committed to our purpose of improving the liveability of the West Dapto and are mindful of the impact our work can have to get to the end goal. For this reason, we'd like to extend a big thankyou to the community for your patience and understanding so far.

Installing new infrastructure in rural areas comes with its own unique environmental challenges, one of which is how to navigate our work around the lifeblood of rural communities: water!

We're installing over 10 kilometres of new wastewater pipes. It's inevitable that our alignment crosses various water bodies, including creeks and dams.

For creek crossings, our team has modified their construction methodology to ensure we tunnel under creeks. However, for smaller bodies of water where tunnelling is not a viable option, we need to trench through them.

Our crews are currently trenching through a small creek with great success. This success can be attributed to the planning and preparation that we do before working on or near waterways.

When installing new infrastructure, it's essential rural water bodies remain intact and are not permanently impacted by our work. The way we do this is to dam, dewater and defish, and pump around.

• Dam: Step 1 is to create a dam to stop water entering our future construction area.
• Dewater and defish: Step 2 is to remove water and call the ecologist to safely remove the fish. We've found some lovely freshwater fish, such as the native Striped Gudgeon. Once fish are safely removed, we can start working.
• Pump around: When work has started, it's essential we have pumps in place to continually move clean water around our worksite. Our teams regularly check these pumps are working and that the water remains clear. In the event of heavy rainfall, and this year has been particularly wet, we ensure our work areas are covered to avoid sediment seeping into the water course. As soon as our work is done, our crews meticulously reinstate the area to ensure ground levels match pre-construction levels, and the flow path of the water body is stabilised. Protecting rural waterways is essential, even as we make modern advancements. They support wildlife, provide clean water and are vital for communities. Preserving them ensures a healthy environment for future generations.

Work has started to connect the new wastewater main drilled underground between Fairwater Drive and Galway Court in Horsley to the existing wastewater system.

This connection will occur on Bong Bong Road, so please be mindful of changed traffic and pedestrian conditions in this area.

Work on Riverpark Way and Bridgewater Drive is continuing. We thank residents impacted by this work for their patience.

Work on the nearly 8-kilometre long wastewater gravity main continues near Darkes Road.

A big thankyou to the community around Selwyn Grove, Bridgewater Drive, Boddington Way and Galway Court for their understanding and patience during a long day of work stringing the new wastewater pipeline.

Our crews were up before sunrise on Tuesday 14 May 2024, pulling the 450-metre pipe along Selwyn Grove before inserting it into the drill pit at the corner of Fairwater Drive and Boddington Way. Once inserted, the pipe was pushed underground and resurfaced at Galway Court.

This picture shows just how long the pipe was. Well done to the team for their mammoth effort, and we extend our heartfelt appreciation for the invaluable support we have received from the Horsley community.

With the pipe stringing finished, the drilling team will soon dismantle their site compound at the corner of Fairwater Drive and Boddington Way. However, our work continues at Galway Court where our crews will soon start the installation of the pipeline towards Bong Bong Road.

Progress update

Unfortunately, the recent wet weather is impacting our progress in Dapto and Horsley. We're gearing up to start installing a new wastewater gravity pipeline near Darkes Road and along Riverpark Way. Work is also underway to repair damage to our access tracks that occurred following recent rains.

To date, we've laid over 200 metres of pipe for the new wastewater gravity main.

The pilot drill for the wastewater pressure main is now finished. Next, we'll drill to enlarge this hole before we can pull through the new pipe.

The drill rig is now at Galway Court, ready to continue hole enlargement and pull the new pipe through from Fairwater Drive. You may notice some noise and extra work vehicles in the area during this time.

We're set up at the corner of Fairwater Drive and Fowlers Road, laying pipe for the wastewater gravity main.

Construction in Dapto

In mid-April, we'll have a crew starting on Darkes Road, preparing to install the new gravity wastewater main.

Preparations underway

We're also gearing up to start installing the new gravity wastewater mains, starting at Darkes Road and along Riverpark Way. You may see us in these areas locating existing services as we prepare for construction.

This month will see the start of construction for the new wastewater pressure main. We'll start by installing the pipe directly underground via horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology.

This will require the excavation of 2 pits, one at the corner of Boddington Way and Fairwater Drive and the other will be excavated with the reserve at the end of Galway Court. These 2 pits will allow us to lower our drilling machine underground and retrieve it once it has installed the pipe. While some vegetation will need to be removed at Galway Court, HDD greatly minimises the impact to traffic and parking in the area.

Project approvals

Our environmental approvals are in place and will shortly be uploaded onto our webpage.

We're also continuing to meet with property owners. If you think your property will be impacted by our work, please contact us as soon as possible.

Preparations underway

We're also gearing up to start installing the new gravity wastewater mains, starting at Darkes Road and along Riverpark Way. You may see us in these areas locating existing services as we prepare for construction.

We've established our temporary site compound off Cleveland Road, and have started constructing temporary access roads through properties that will be used by our vehicles and machinery during construction.

Meetings with directly impacted property owners are underway. If you think you own a property that is directly impacted and we haven't spoken to you yet or arranged a meeting with you, please contact us as soon as possible.

Our environmental approvals are well underway, and we'll soon update our website with the remainder of our documentation that has been approved by the Department of Planning.

We'll soon be starting construction of the pressure rising main along Fairwater Drive and Galway Court. This will involve horizontal directional drilling (HDD) the pipe from Boddington Way to Galway Court to avoid trenching through existing private driveways. A drill rig will need to be set up on the corner of Boddington Way and Fairwater Drive at the entrance pit for the drill shot, and some vegetation on the corner of Galway Court and Bong Bong Road will need to be removed for the exit pit of the drill shot.

We're currently working through approvals with Council and will mail a notification to surrounding residents to give them more details about this work.

We're also gearing up to start the installation of the new gravity mains starting near Darkes Road, and from the existing wastewater pumping station on Fairwater Drive heading along Riverpark Way. You may see us in these areas locating existing services as we prepare for construction.