Snowy 2.0 marks manufacturing milestone

More than 230,000m³ – over 550,000 tonnes – of concrete have been used to manufacture the seven-tonne precast segments, which are being installed by the three TBMs used on the Australian project. 

Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said it was pleasing for the project to be manufacturing and investing locally, while also providing employment opportunities. 

“About 200 people from the 3,000-strong Snowy 2.0 workforce work at the precast factory operated by our project contractor Future Generation Joint Venture,” said Barnes. “The facility supports local employment and also on-the-job training for a number of school-based apprentices from Monaro High.”   

The precast facility includes a concrete batching plant and onsite laboratory to check the quality of every segment produced. Many of the raw materials, such as aggregates, are sourced from local quarries at Mt Mary and Nimmitabel.

Snowy Hydro says the design of the concrete mix, which includes waste material, has reduced the production’s environmental footprint while improving the segments’ durability and performance.

Carousels using robotics to automate the process of demoulding, cleaning and application of the release agent on the segment moulds have been used in the manufacturing process.

One of the two carousels has now been modified to produce the precast segments for the Snowy 2.0 inclined pressure shaft (IPS). The very steep 1.65km shaft will be excavated by TBM Kirsten and will link the underground power station with the headrace tunnel coming from Tantangara.

The IPS segments involve a world-first force-activated coupling system (FACS) designed to withstand the powerful internal forces of water moving through the 10m diameter inclined tunnel.

Installing segments with FACS eliminates the need for a second tunnel lining, thereby improving the quality, safety and the rate of tunnel completion. 

The Snowy 2.0 precast factory will produce approximately 9,000 IPS segments, with nine used in each tunnel-lining ring. The first ring prototype has been completed, with mass production expected to start next month.

In January, Snowy Hydro announced the breakthrough of the final three metres of the power station’s 223m-long transformer hall cavern crown.

The Snowy 2.0 power station will be located approximately 800m underground at Lobs Hole in the Snowy Mountains. When completed, the machine hall will be 251m long and 52m high and the transformer hall 223m long and 46m high. Together they will form one of the largest and deepest caverns in the world, big enough to accommodate the Sydney Opera House.