During October, the Works Delivery Mobile Maintenance Team (MMT) embarked on an ambitious program of works delivery on the Esperance Branch Line (EBL) which included the Widgiemooltha (‘Widgie’) shutdown.
Months of planning went into the Widgie shutdown, which saw significant upgrades take place in a short space of time, with the Arc teams and contractors working together to get the job done.
The extensive works were completed in just 63 hours, utilising two 12 hour shifts which ran non-stop 24 hours a day for the duration of the project.
The final scope comprised of:
- Complete track removal of 3km between Lefroy and Higginsville
- Geo textile placed across full length of rebuild
- Full ballast renewals
- Full depth concrete sleeper replacement
- Minor rail replacement
Head of Maintenance Delivery Garry Bird said good planning and flexibility were key to the delivery of the project.
“The teams leading the campaign showed incredible resilience to complete the works and allow our customers to get back on track as quickly as possible. A large part of the success comes down to the comprehensive planning undertaken to support and prepare this project for success,” he said.
Prior to the project kicking off, the Arc Works Delivery teams developed innovative delivery workshops bringing together all the teams including the
contractors.
“The workshop approach helped to give everyone involved a better understanding of the requirements of the project,” Garry said.
As always, safety was paramount throughout the planning and duration of the works.
“We are proud to say that there were no incidents or injuries throughout the whole project. It means that everyone was able to go home safely, which is one of our key objectives at Arc,” Garry said.
The project was delivered by a number of teams working together on site and behind the scenes, including Goldfields Region; Environmental, Planning and Contract Services, Operations and Logistics, Projects, Network Operations, Asset Management and Long Term Planning, HSE Delivery and Procurement teams.
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