Last night Cohuna based, AWMA Water Control Solutions received ‘Fabricator Project of the Year 2022 – Process Industries Award’ from the Australian Stainless Steel Development Association (ASSDA).
Over the past six years AWMA has partnered New Zealand’s Rangitata Diversion Race Management Ltd (RDRML) to successfully deliver one of the world's largest fish-friendly water extraction facilities.
The Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) extracts water from the New Zealand South Island’s Rangitata River, 365 days of the year. The ‘race’ is a 67 km long channel which diverts water from the river for irrigation, stock water and hydropower generation. It was crucial to RDRML that this process no longer came at a cost to the environment, primarily, native fish populations.
AWMA were awarded the design and construct contract to supply an environmentally sustainable diversion screen solution, that will deliver the required 30c3/sec flows, whilst excluding sporting fish (primarily salmon and trout) and a variety of native fish, so they can return, unharmed, back into the river system.
The environmentally sustainable solution AWMA designed for the RDR project features a stainless steel screening structure that is self-cleaning, fish-friendly, has a low whole of life cost, is compliant with fish screening guidelines, meets client requirements and sets a new standard for the design of intake screen technology.
Managing Director Brett Kelly comments “we have committed over 20 years developing a very solid and skilled workplace here, so it’s very empowering for the team to receive national recognition. It’s also a great opportunity to highlight the caliber of regional Australian manufacturing for an international project”.
This project is only one of many multi-stage, multi-million dollar, international projects AWMA has secured. Brett went on to add “the diversity of our business operations is also an excellent platform for personal and professional growth. AWMA is always looking for new team members, new partners, new allies. Should you be interested in contributing to a company that is making positive changes to the environment and is recognised for our high level of innovation and quality across the Australian water and manufacturing industries, then we’d love to hear from you!” said Brett.
Tony McCormick, RDRML CEO stated “AWMA have played a key role in the success of our strategically important fish screen project – the largest of its type anywhere. They came on board very early in our project and provided valuable input to the design development with timely technical and commercial information. Their delivery has been outstanding! The fabrication and construction quality of the very large stainless components has been truly impressive, and they didn’t miss a thing in the delivery programme – everything in place, on time. Brett and his team at AWMA have been fantastic partners to work with.”
AWMA would also like to thank ASSDA for showcasing innovation and excellence in stainless steel design and fabrication and congratulate all other award winners and nominees.
