FAQs - Construction Approach
AWRC and Pipelines
consulting early and frequently with local communities
preparing detailed construction and traffic management plans
ensuring safe pedestrian routes
changing pipeline alignments where possible
timing construction to avoid peak times, and community and memorial events
notifying impacted residents of all scheduled work including any potential night works
putting noise and light mitigation measures in place.
What it is the project’s timeline?
We appointed our delivery partner, John Holland, in September 2022 and commenced early work including heritage salvage in February 2023.
Construction of the AWRC will begin in the coming months. Construction of the brine and treated water pipelines will begin later in 2023. The project is due for completion in 2026.
The AWRC will subsequently be expanded in the future to accommodate future population growth up to 2056. By staging the project, we will avoid investing in infrastructure before it is required.
How will you minimise construction impacts?
The EIS includes detailed reports by specialist consultants on a wide range of environmental issues including waterways, biodiversity and heritage (both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal), air quality, noise and traffic. These reports identify impacts, their significance and how we will minimise them. Most impacts will be short term and related to construction.
We are committed to working with communities and stakeholders throughout detailed design and construction and encourage feedback on how we can minimise the impacts of this project.
We will do everything we can to avoid or minimise impacts including:
Will Sydney Water need to take out easements or acquire land for the project?
The two new pipelines will be built underground, mostly in road reserves and public spaces. However, some sections of pipeline will need to be installed across private properties.
In some cases, Sydney Water may require easements on private land. Easements may be acquired over land to legally protect Sydney Water’s property from damage and to ensure access to Sydney Water’s assets for operations and maintenance where necessary.
For further information on the acquisition process, visit the NSW Government website, brochures are available in eight languages or view our Easement Guidelines Procedure.
Will there be increased truck movements and road closures?
Truck movements will be carefully managed throughout the project in accordance with project approval and traffic routes. Forecast traffic volumes are included in our planning and when developing Construction Traffic Management Plans (CTMPs). Traffic disruption will be minimised as much as possible however, at times, there will be a need for road or lane closures.
We work closely with councils, affected stakeholders and communities to minimise disruption as much as possible and provide further details as progress to construction. Safety is at the forefront of our planning, including having traffic controllers in place to guide vehicles, pedestrians and other road users around our work sites.
Will there be noise and vibration impacts during construction?
We’ll try our best to minimise construction impacts on residents, businesses and the community and will keep you updated during construction.
Before construction work starts, we’ll undertake dilapidation surveys and condition assessments of structures and properties as required and will discuss directly with any affected landowners.
Read more about how we will manage noise and vibration here.
AWRC
How will you construct the AWRC site in Kemps Creek?
The AWRC will be built in stages. Stage 1 of AWRC site will require construction activity over the entire three-year period. Key construction phases include site establishment, earthworks, civil works, mechanical and electrical installation, commissioning, and landscaping and restoration.
Pipelines
How will you construct the pipelines?
Construction will occur in several locations at one time, with works moving progressively along the alignment at each location. Once each element of the project is built, temporary restoration will be completed, and it will undergo commissioning tests to make sure it is ready to operate. Work to restore permanently disturbed areas will follow.
Open Trench Construction - the most common installation method where a trench is excavated to the required depth and alignment. The pipes are assembled together and placed on a level surface at the bottom of the trench. Once the pipe is laid, the trench is backfilled. The typical construction corridor width for open trench construction is 15-30 metres with pipes generally two metres deep. Pipes will be installed in sections of about 12-14 metres at a time, taking one to five days to complete.
Trenchless Methods - include Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) where pipes are installed without the need to dig up open trenches to lay the pipes. A launch pit (to launch the drilling machines) and retrieval pit (to retrieve the pipe sections) is required. Ground-borne vibration would be short term along the alignment. While trenchless construction is not suitable for all pipe installation, it minimises the impact to environmentally sensitive issues. This method will be used to cross the Nepean River, Prospect Creek, Upper Canal, the railway line at Cabramatta, M7 Motorway and some other roads and creeks.
What construction techniques will you be using for the pipelines?
All pipelines will be built underground using open trenching or trenchless methods.
So that our construction has minimal visual impact on the local community, we will restore the disturbed areas as parts of the pipeline are completed. We will make Pre-construction Customer Agreements with landowners on how we will restore disturbed parts of their property as close as possible to pre-construction condition and provide updates as we prepare for construction.
A visual explanation of typical construction corridors is available in the EIS, Figure 4-20, Volume 2, Part 2, page 160.
Where do the pipelines go?
The two new pipelines will be built underground, mostly in road reserves and public spaces. The locations of the pipes are based on technical, operational, environmental and other factors. We try to locate pipes within road reserves and public spaces however sometimes, this is not possible, meaning we have to construct on private properties.
The new treated water pipeline will be built from the AWRC in Kemps Creek to the Nepean River at Wallacia. The brine pipeline will be built from the AWRC in Kemps Creek to Sydney Water’s existing wastewater network at Lansdowne.
Our delivery team will finalise the detailed design for the brine and treated water pipelines by mid-2023, indicative maps are shown below.
