Shortly after the decision to progress the Gattonvale project, SunWater held talks with coal miners in the northern Bowen Basin about their additional water needs for new mines.  This consultation work led to the commercial development of three additional pipelines to support the growing coal mining industry in the area.

These projects demonstrate SunWater’s commitment and capacity to undertake major projects that will provide commercial returns to the state while supporting Queensland’s industry development program.

Eungella Pipeline Eastern Extension

The first of the pipeline projects to be progressed was the $21m Eungella Pipeline Eastern Extension to deliver water supplies to three new coal mines being developed to the east of Moranbah.  It is capable of transporting 5,600 ML of water per year.

Construction of the 47 km pipeline commenced during 2005-06.  At 31 December 2006 all infrastructure had been commissioned, and interim water supplies were available on demand to the three mines.  Water transportation contracts commenced on 16 February 2007 and the pipeline now successfully delivers water to the coal mines.

Burdekin-Moranbah Pipeline

The second and largest development was the $280m Burdekin-Moranbah Pipeline to underpin major new mining developments around Moranbah.

The 218 km pipeline was fully commissioned in August 2007.  The pipeline will transport about 17,000 ML of water per annum from the Burdekin River to the Moranbah area.

The pipeline begins at Gorge Weir and joins the Enertrade Gas Pipeline route before running east to join the route of the existing Eungella Water Pipeline to Moranbah.  It crosses 40 km of freehold land, and 200 ML of the pipeline’s capacity has been designated for stock and domestic supply to the landholders providing easements, as well as for pipeline operational losses.  The remaining length of the pipeline traverses land tenured to the State.

The project's major infrastructure consists of:

• A pump station at Gorge Weir
• 218 kilometres of pipe from Gorge Weir to Moranbah
• A 600ML balancing storage 35km north of Moranbah, which provides for supply continuity
• Three booster pump stations
• A 6ML terminal storage at Moranbah with the capability to interconnect to the existing 200ML Moranbah Terminal Storage at the terminus of the Eungella Pipeline.

The pipeline was laid at record rates, with the entire 218 km being installed in about nine months.  The civil works and pump stations followed that progress and the result was a highly successful project, the cost of which was extremely close to budget set two years previously.

The pipeline can be augmented at a later date to provide additional capacity of 6,000 ML, as the pipe and other components were designed to enable installation of additional pumping capacity.  Already this upgraded capacity is almost totally committed.

Eungella Pipeline Southern Extension

The third development was the $20m Eungella Pipeline Southern Extension, which will provide 2,500 ML of water for two major coal mines to the south of Moranbah.  Construction of the 70 km gravity pipeline was completed in October 2007 and the pipeline was fully operational following commissioning in December 2007.  Currently the mines are arranging port facilities and constructing on site infrastructure to receive and store water from the pipeline.  The pipeline is in a position to deliver water to the coal mines once these facilities are in place.

The Burdekin-Moranbah pipeline was one part of a total water supply solution for the Bowen Basin and SunWater looked forward to carrying out further investigations into the Connors River Dam project which will deliver further water security.

Project Map

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