Balpara was engaged by Powercor Network Services to provide geotechnical soil testing services at the Ballarat North Zone Substation. Balpara's team performed a Soil Contamination Assessment as part of an initial investigation necessary to categorise soil for off-site disposal. The geotechnical soil testing work was carried out prior to site engineers commencing trench excavation to allow for the installation of new underground assets.

Project Overview

Ballarat North Zone Substation now supplies twelve distribution feeders (22kV) which supply the Ballarat CBD and the area from Clunes to Daylesford.

This project covered the migration of this substation system to a resonant earthed network and required the installation and operation of a ground fault neutraliser. Balpara was engaged to categorise the soil contamination at 19 substation locations and perform a thorough Soil Contamination Assessment to correctly categorise soil for off-site disposal.

Project Scope

• Worked collaboratively with on-site personnel to locate the boreholes necessary to complete the geotechnical soil testing objectives.
• Provided detailed bore logs indicating the subsurface conditions encountered during the soil sampling.
• Conducted a Soil Contamination Assessment and laboratory analysis of 19 soil samples.
• Created a comprehensive report evaluating data and recommending suitability of the soils for reuse and disposal.
• Facilitated concrete and road pavement cutting activities to enable access to soils.
• Liaised and consulted with site representatives for total project collaboration.

Value Add

As Balpara's initial geotechnical soil testing revealed levels of arsenic in the soil, a larger area of testing was undertaken. Following this, our team determined that the arsenic levels were due to natural enrichment from the known gold mining region. Soil was therefore categorised and deposited as landfill, resulting in significant financial saving for our client.

Relevant Accreditation/Quality Standards

• All work was conducted by persons with necessary VESI training.