West Angelas Southern Spur Rail Project

Robe River Iron Associates (Robe) was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the 2003 Golden Gecko Awards in recognition of excellence in environmental management throughout the detailed planning, construction and associated rehabilitation of the West Angelas Southern Spur Rail Project.

The Southern Spur Rail is a 49 kilometre rail line which connects Robe River’s West Angelas iron ore mine to Hamersley Iron’s main railway.

The construction of the West Angelas Southern Spur Railway, through an area of difficult terrain and high environmental value running through the environmentally sensitive landscape of Coondewanna Flats. The project was carried out to an exceptionally high standard and sets a new benchmark for the construction of low-impact railways.

The project’s approach involved detailed planning, tight procedural controls, open communication and cooperation with contractor companies and government agencies. This ensured the protection of significant vegetation associations and rare flora species along the selected route.

The project involved numerous companies, including Robe as the client, North Major Projects as the project manager, ecologia Environment as the project environmental manager, Fluor Australia as the main contractor for detailed planning, engineering, procurement and construction management and Henry Walker Eltin for earthworks and drainage construction.

• Ecologia’s role encompassed:
• Undertaking flora and fauna surveys of rail route alignments
• Detailed rare flora population mapping & impact management
• Development and management of environmental approvals applications
• Development of environmental management plans
• Appeal negotiation and process management
• Regulator and stakeholder engagement strategy and management
• Input to development of detailed design specifications for rail construction
• Development of contractual requirements
• Overall environmental coordination & management of construction phase of the project
• Development of induction and awareness packages
• Audits & inspections

Coondewanna Rail PDF: