Wagstaff Piling was contracted by McConnell Dowell to manufacture and install over 550 No. 400mm Square precast concrete piles up to 42m long at the new Murray River crossing at Echuca-Moama. The project was a joint venture between the Victorian and New South Wales state governments and provided an additional crossing over the Campaspe and Murray Rivers connecting the two border towns. The piles were cast off-site in Wagstaff Piling’s specialist precast yard in Melbourne. The piling rigs used were two Junttan PM25Hs with 9T hydraulic hammers which provided the necessary impact energy to penetrate the very stiff soil layers present on site. Wagstaff also used Soilmec drill rigs to pre-drill up to 12m due to very hard soil layers at the surface. The project was particularly challenging due to the government restrictions arising from its response to Covid-19 which resulted in the NSW border being shut to Victoria early on in the project. The border closure proved to be a complex challenge as careful planning was required to deliver the piles, crew, plant and equipment over the VIC-NSW border daily in order to complete the works. Despite the enormous logistical challenges, the project was successfully delivered on program and time.
