Energy & Resources

The Illawarra region contains some of Australia's best coking coal resources. These have been mined since the 1880's, providing coal for both export through Port Kembla and for use in the steelworks (now operated by BlueScope Steel).

To maintain supply for steel making, BHP Billiton is developing the Dendrobium Coal Mine. This underground mine will recover coal from the lowermost 3.2m of the 9m thick Wongawilli Seam by longwall mining methods (see an individual chock in the panel to the right) at a rate of up to 5Mtpa ROM for 30 to 40 years. Coal from the Wongawilli Seam is an essential component of 'Illawarra Blend' premium coking coal, which is known for its specific steelmaking qualities.

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Located off the grid in a remote part of the County, the school generates its electricity with two old, oversized diesel generators. GHD was engaged to find a solution to reduce costs and improve reliability while incorporating renewable energy. We assisted the School Board in obtaining funding and designing a diesel battery hybrid system that is “plug and play” ready for the addition of photovoltaic panels pending additional funding.

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Located off the grid in a remote part of the County, the school generates its electricity with two old, oversized diesel generators. GHD was engaged to find a solution to reduce costs and improve reliability while incorporating renewable energy.

We assisted the School Board in obtaining funding and designing a diesel battery hybrid system that is “plug and play” ready for the addition of photovoltaic panels pending additional funding.

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GHD participated in the Human Capacity Building in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy System Maintenance Project funded by a US Department of Energy 1st Steps Grant. We conducted energy audits of more than 90 percent of the buildings on the reservation, performed solar and micro-hydro energy systems inspection, repairs, and potential siting analyses, and participated in community outreach and staff training in energy issues.

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GHD participated in the Human Capacity Building in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy System Maintenance Project funded by a US Department of Energy 1st Steps grant.

We conducted energy audits of more than 90 percent of the buildings on the reservation, performed solar and micro-hydro energy systems inspection, repairs, and potential siting analyses, and participated in community outreach and staff training in energy issues.

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The Humboldt Bay Power Plant, which was the first nuclear reactor ever built in California, has been out of commission for several years. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has begun the dismantling process and is removing the diesel and natural gas generator units to make way for a new power plant.

GHD is providing the structural engineering for the dismantling of the fossil fuel portion of the plant as well as performing the lead and asbestos surveys for the demolition. Our structural engineers are developing plans for the rigging and removal of the fuel rod rack from the containment pool to allow PG&E to remove any nuclear fuel remnants. To aid in the dismantling, we are designing access roads, which may also lead to the site design for the new power plant.

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To enable mining to safely continue in a high-use area, GHD’s Newcastle people developed an innovative, ‘world first’, safety management system.

This allowed Xstrata to maintain its mining operations beneath the railway line without disturbing train operations above.

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The Millerton cutting was constructed in 2006 to provide a safer and more reliable access to Solid Energy’s Stockton Mine on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Unfortunately, the 30m high rock cutting suffered from stress release and failure resulting in a highly fractured rock mass posing an unacceptable level of instability and rock fall hazard to the 1000+ mine vehicles using the road each day. The physical environment (8m of rainfall per annum), the unfavourable geological structure and the rock mass properties have also exacerbated the problem.

Solid Energy has appointed GHD to complete a geological and geotechnical survey and mapping exercise in order to complete a semi quantitative risk assessment.

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GHD engineered and managed the dismantling of California’s first commercial nuclear reactor, shut down in the 1970s, and orchestrated removal of hazardous materials from the site.

Project History:

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GHD was commissioned by Solid Energy to provide geotechnical and geological assessment of 7 km of soft sediment core through the Miocene deposits of the Gore Lignite Measures.

The study was required to delineate the geological and geotechnical parameters and domains of the basin sediments in the context of the proposed open cast lignite mine.

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Weed Beach is an extraordinarily valuable asset to the Town of Darien. Located along the Connecticut shoreline of Long Island Sound, this park offers both active and passive recreational activities.

In May 2005, the Town of Darien Parks & Recreation Commission retained GHD to prepare a Master Plan for Weed Beach Park. The Master Plan was for the upgrade and expansion of an existing, heavily used, 22± acre park facility that contains a public beach, light craft launch area, picnic area, tennis courts, paddle tennis courts, children's play area, a number of buildings, 250± parking spaces and undeveloped woods. GHD services for this project included participation in public meetings, public outreach, park design and implementation phase assistance.

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