More than half the amount of steel used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge is being rolled in the Illawarra and delivered to far-western NSW, for use in what will be one of the state’s fastest-built infrastructure projects.
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It’s full steam ahead for steelmakers at BlueScope’s Port Kembla plant, where the 28,000 tonnes of hot rolled coil needed to build the Wentworth to Broken Hill pipeline are being produced.
Construction of the 270km pipeline, which will provide a long-term secure water supply for Broken Hill, began in mid-January – about three months after the government revealed the successful tenderer for the project.
About 10,000 tonnes of BlueScope’s hot rolled coil has already been supplied to manufacturing plants in Somerton (Melbourne) and Kwinana (Perth).
There, it is transformed into spiral welded pipe – a product that resembles the centre of a toilet roll, just at a larger scale.
Each section of pipe being used to build the overall line is about 13.5 metres long and weighs about three tonnes.
The remainder of the BlueScope-produced steel will be sent to the pipe manufacturer by August. The pipes are being delivered to the project site via a combination of rail and road transport.
The entire pipeline, which is being constructed from both ends, is due to be completed by the end of the year.
The Illawarra’s parliamentary secretary Gareth Ward toured the hot strip mill, where slabs of steel are rolled to thickness, at Port Kembla on Friday.
Mr Ward said the pipeline build would be one of the steelworks’ most significant projects.
“To put it into context there was around 50,000 tonnes of steel in the harbour bridge,” he said.
“This amount of steel could make four Australian Navy frigates.”
Asked whether only Australian steel would be used in entire pipeline project, Mr Ward couldn’t rule out the use of some overseas-made components.
“Obviously, the coil is all Australian steel. There may be other steel components to it and I’m not aware of what that percentage may or may not be,” he said.
Minister for Regional Water and Industry Niall Blair said the $500 million pipeline project was a win for the Illawarra and those in the state’s far west.
“This is really exciting, we’re shipping steel from the Illawarra back to the home of BHP in Broken Hill, you couldn’t get more iconic than that,” Mr Blair said.
Andrew Pearson
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
