Boral Limited has commenced a new phase of operations at its Emu Plains site with the official opening of a precasting facility dedicated to supporting the Western Harbour Tunnel project.
The facility was opened this week by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Roads and Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison.
The company has leased 18 hectares of the former quarry site to Acciona, a global infrastructure and renewable energy provider, for the development of the precast facility.
A purpose-built concrete batching plant operated by Boral will supply approximately 90,000 cubic metres of concrete for the production of more than 13,000 segments and nearly 1,400 culverts for the tunnel project, which will link the Rozelle Interchange to the Warringah Freeway via a crossing beneath Sydney Harbour.
Boral CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal said the new facility continues the site’s longstanding role in Sydney’s growth.
“The establishment of a precast facility at our Emu Plains site – a former quarry and now recycling operation – continues its proud history of providing construction materials to landmark infrastructure projects in the Sydney region,” Bansal said. “It is also proof of our ability to recycle assets.”
The Emu Plains site, which operated as a quarry from 1883 until 2014, has previously supplied materials to major projects including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Warragamba Dam and Sydney Olympic Park.
The wet mix concrete batching plant, located adjacent to the precast facility, is capable of producing up to 120 cubic metres of concrete per hour.
Boral Executive General Manager NSW Concrete and Quarries Mark Campbell said the plant was manufactured in Queensland, transported by truck and commissioned on-site.
“A wet mix plant allows for concrete ingredients to be mixed within the plant with the wet concrete then transferred directly into precast tunnel segment moulds,” Campbell said.
“The plant utilises raw materials from our integrated upstream quarry operations at Peppertree and Dunmore, along with cement manufactured from our Berrima plant.”
Boral continues to operate recycling activities at Emu Plains alongside the new facility. These operations include the processing and blending of stored quarry materials and the receipt of virgin excavated natural materials (VENM), which are repurposed into aggregates, sands and engineered fill products distributed across the Sydney market.
