The Kooragang site proved more challenging than first anticipated due to the site being heavily contaminated with over 20 years of previous SMM metal recycling operations. Furthering on this, SMM was determined to keep the site operating due to the Kooragang facility being the biggest metal recycling facility in the southern hemisphere, leading to the split staging program of the facility. This allowed SMM to maintain control of majority of the site, ensuring minimal impact to the operations. Stage 1 consisted of performing 2/3 of the sites bulk earthworks and installing the 270mm thick Dramix concrete yard slab and 450mm thick engineered metal stone pavement to form stockpile areas.

Knowing the soil was heavily contaminated with heavy metals, it was not a suitable sub-grade to be built upon. To provide SMM with a suitable cost saving against replacing all this contaminated material across the site, RTC implemented a ‘Powerscreen’ machine with a magnet attachment to sift the metals from all the excavated soil on-site. This allowed majority of the soil to be reused as sub-grade material, but furthermore allowed the captured metals to be recycled by the client and turned into profit. An outcome the client hadn’t expected when the project began.

Safety and environmental planning have been constantly kept under microscope by RTC’s Construction Manager with the intensity of both parties operations across the site. RTC’s audits and safety procedures are proving to be the outstanding factor in maintaining operations for SMM and keeping client confidence strong throughout the works.