00:00To help secure our region's water supply, Hunter Water is working with John Holland
00:05to build a desalination plant at Belmont.
00:08A key part of building the plant is tunnelling and marine works
00:12that will bring sea water into the plant.
00:15A jack-up barge will be stationed about 830 metres off Nine Mile Beach.
00:21That will build the direct ocean intake structure on the seabed.
00:25You may notice additional vessels and helicopters in the area as materials
00:30and workers are transported to the jack-up barge.
00:33To keep everyone safe, a 500 by 500 metre marine exclusion zone
00:39is in place around the marine construction area.
00:43Surveillance is in place to monitor activities at all times.
00:47Large concrete rings called caissons will be lowered from the barge using a heavy lift crane
00:53stacked into the seabed to form the direct ocean intake structure.
00:58A microtunnel boring machine will dig a tunnel from the plant site to the offshore intake,
01:04laying concrete pipes behind it to form a continuous intake pipeline.
01:09This method protects the beach and marine environment by staying beneath the seabed.
01:14Finally, the microtunnel boring machine will break through the caisson
01:18to connect the plant to the direct ocean intake structure.
01:21Once the tunnel boring machine is recovered from the intake,
01:25a dome roof will be added to protect marine life.
01:28The jack-up barge will leave the site when construction of the direct ocean intake structure is completed.
01:36Seawater will enter through low velocity intake screens and travel to the plant for treatment.
01:42Once in operation, the Belmont Desalination Plant will be able to produce up to 30 million litres of
01:48drinking water a day, helping to keep the lower hunter's taps flowing, even during drought.
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