Local success story at Sino Iron project

A committed workforce at all levels of operation and management is driving the success of local contractor Murphy Pipe and Civil.

Murphy Pipe and Civil is a leading Australian civil construction company which provides clients with some of the most advanced innovations in purpose-built equipment ever developed for the water, gas and mining sectors.

Working in collaboration with CITIC Pacific Mining (CPM) and lead engineering, procurement and construction contractor MCC, Murphy Pipe and Civil recently completed three major pipelines, each around 30km long, at the Sino Iron project.

It is the second project Murphy Pipe and Civil has delivered for the project, after completing the 17km tailings return pipeline late in 2010.

At the peak of construction, Murphy Pipe and Civil employed more than 340 workers on site, including welders, machine operators, labourers, coating technicians and quality assurance inspectors. Machinery used in operation included 25 excavators, 11 side booms and eight 40-tonne dump trucks.

The workforce was a combination of Murphy Pipe and Civil key project management personnel and a construction team sourced from WA and other parts of Australia.

Murphy Pipe and Civil Project Manager Barry Heverin said it was a huge effort to mobilise so many workers and so much machinery in such a short space of time.

“However, we were able to work with CPM and MCC very effectively to deliver the project on time and on budget,” Mr Heverin said.

“We have a fantastic workforce, from the guys picking up skids and driving the trucks, right through to our QA employees and the management team. Everyone has worked together to make this a success for our company and for the client.”

The work done by Murphy Pipe and Civil is just one example of CPM’s commitment to using local contractors and suppliers.

CPM’s Executive Director Commercial Services Fei Xu said over the last 12 months CPM had awarded contracts for goods and services worth almost $350 million. “Of those, 97 per cent of the value went to Australian-based companies, with 81 per cent going to Western Australian-based companies,” Mr Xu said.