In 2016, McElligotts was contracted by Hydro Tasmania to remediate the Wayatinah Penstocks in Wayatinah, Tasmania. An important part of Tasmania’s power systems, the Wayatinah Penstocks are a group of three steel penstocks that run 220m into 3 spiral castings, powering the hydroelectric run of the river Wayatinah Power Station.
To begin the project, McElligott’s first had to remove the existing coating of coal tar using ultra high water, pumping the waste water back to the top and treating it so it could be re used back through the system. This was important to us as we are a company that values sustainability, so we made every effort to reduce water waste during this project
After removing the existing coating, we were able to set up the abrasive blasting robotic system so that we could achieve a class 3 blast and also apply a holding primer to keep the abrasive coating in place. Once the abrasive blasting and waste garner was removed and cleaned, the welds and pitted areas were stripe coated.
Finally, the spray robotic system was put into each of the penstocks to apply one full coat at 500 microns, which saw the project complete at two years after the start date.
McElligotts were proud to have been able to play a part in remediating one of Tasmania’s most important power systems, which proved to be a rewarding experience.
