Project:Thickener Tank Failure, Kalgoorlie, WA
Client:Major Insurance Group
A large mine tailings thickener tank in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia suffered serious leakage and failure of the floor slab shortly after being commissioned. The resultant damages to mine plant equipment gave rise to a substantial construction insurance claim against the design engineer for recovery of the remedial works costs, alleging 'faulty design'.
Shirley Consulting Engineers were engaged to advise, on behalf of the design engineer, on the various design aspects of the thickener tank and the probable causes of the failure.
The study involved extensive investigations into the methods of the fill placement, tank slab joint construction, determination of the failure sequence and technical aspects of the liability issues.
Ultimately, and after much involvement with legal and insurance personnel, the causes of the failure were found to relate to faulty work by the contractor, in particular, faulty compaction of the site materials and construction defects in the concrete slab joints.