Award-winning irrigation modernisation upgrades for Murray Irrigation's Mulwala Canal in NSW.
AWMA received a national award for stainless steel fabrication following the successful delivery of stainless steel water control gates, for the largest irrigation canal in the southern hemisphere.
Additionally an International Award was presented to ASSDA for this project by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF); a Silver Award for Best New Development.
AWMA delivered custom designed water control gates for Murray Irrigation’s ‘PIIOP Round 3’ which substantially increased water efficiencies, enabled ordering flexibility and significantly reduced leakage through infrastructure upgrades.
All gate structures were purpose-engineered and manufactured by AWMA to meet exact site and operational requirements. AWMA work in partnership to offer as much support and advice as possible in the early stages of a project, to ensure stakeholders receive an end-product that will satisfy all objectives.
The award winning Murray Irrigation Limited (MIL) PIIOP project required AWMA’s team of qualified tradesmen to process over 250 tonnes of stainless steel which required approximately 7.5km of welding, 1.43km of purpose-engineered stainless steel wire rope cables, 65 grade 431 stainless steel shafts, 260 grade 2205 stainless steel hinges and over 27,000 grade 316 stainless steel bolts.
These works included 21 Mulwala Canal sites (65 LayFlats and 26 Undershots), Lawson Syphons (two Undershots), the Edward River Escape (two Bulkheads gates) and the Wakool Canal Offtake (three Undershots). All gates will be connected to the Murray Irrigation SCADA system to be managed remotely, a capability that has radically changed the way water can be delivered to customers.
Gate solutions for the modernisation program include tilting LayFlat (overshot) gates and ULF (undershot) gates, both proven designs currently operating across many national and international irrigation schemes.
MIL Construction Manager - Major Engineering Projects Jorge Luengas stated: “Following the development of a technical specification and a competitive tendering process, we narrowed down our options and had them reviewed by a third party subject expert. The long term value for money and 50 year design life achievable with stainless steel was perfect for use in a large scale irrigation application like the water regulating infrastructure present in the iconic Mulwala Canal.”
The ‘Australian Project Fabricator of the Year’ Award was presented by the Australian Stainless Steel Association (ASSDA), a non-profit organisation supporting innovative fabrication of stainless steel materials. They stated: “AWMA won out in a highly competitive category against other innovative and high quality projects. We were particularly impressed with the scale of fabrication, quality of workmanship and the ability to work with stainless steel to deliver a superior outcome.” - Chris Waltos, ASSDA.
Murray Irrigation had up to $114.8 million in funding approved from the Australian Government under Round 3 of its Private Irrigation Infrastructure Operators Program (PIIOP). Mulwala Canal is Australia’s largest irrigation canal. It spans 165km and has the capacity to deliver more than 1,500,000ML of water per year to irrigators in the Southern Riverina helping to generate about $500 million of gross agriculture revenue per year for the region.
