Brown Port Almonds - high voltage infrastructure

As Australian agriculture shifts its focus away from wheat, beef and wool farms, a new Almond farm has been taking shape near Mildura.

Horticulture, made up of smaller industries such as fruits, nuts and grapes all hold a particularly bright economic prospect. Impacted by new technologies such as robotics, plant breeding and hydroponics, benefits to the industry include boosted production and numerous technologically driven cost efficiencies.

Our involvement at the Mildura Almond farm included delivery of the underground high voltage/low voltage infrastructure to power numerous irrigation pump houses, equipment workshops and farmers' residences.

The irrigation needs of the farm are staggering. Each almond requires 4.2 litres of water to grow to maturity, and with over 9500 acres of crops, excessive amounts of water, close to a billion litres needs to be transferred around the site annually.

Using specialised equipment, such as a chain trencher, excavators and cable winches, we laid over 8.5km of high voltage cabling across the site.

At the pump houses and equipment workshops, we also facilitated the complete installation of the transformer kiosks, combining civil capabilities and electrical capabilities.

During the construction of the Almond farm, several challenges had to be overcome. Due to the remote location and general inaccessibility of the area, detailed planning and preparation prior to mobilisation was required. We had to be self sufficient and able to handle the installation requirements of the project as well as deal with changes to proposed locations of the pump houses.

The weather and terrain also played a major factor. Winter brought rain turning the site into a giant mud pit. Our vehicles were getting bogged and certain areas were inaccessible forcing works to be completed at different areas of the site. Summer brought sun, dust and flies, making it difficult to maintain sterile work environments for high voltage terminations.

We completed the works safely and efficiently and as a result the Mildura Almond farm has power in order to function.