Digester lid lifted into place

On Wednesday 23 August things were flying high at the West Camden Water Recycling Plant, namely the fixed lid that sits atop the plant's newest Digester.

A crowd of onlookers gathered around to watch as the 13m diameter lid which weighs 22.5 tonne lifted into position.

The lid was pre-fabricated off site using a variety of mild steel components and brought to the West Camden site in two pieces, due to its oversized dimensions. It was then placed on purpose built trestles, where it was aligned and levelled, ready for lifting onto the newly constructed 10m high Digester (concrete tank).

Before it was lifted, handrails were installed around the lid and the team from Hydroflux Epco and Nepean Engineering & Innovation spent three weeks completing the welding, grit blasting and painting activities to join the two pieces together. The remaining fixtures were then installed atop the lid before it was lifted into position.

After many quality checks, risk assessments, and approvals, the team from WGC Cranes used their 160 tonne crane to lift the lid into position with millimetre precision.

Passers-by during the lift could have easily mistaken the lid for another type of flying object (maybe if it was at night with lights on). Whilst the lid is in position, the arduous task of drilling 180 holes 270mm deep into the concrete structure to secure it in place now begins.