SPA: Expanding reach

Stabilised Pavements of Australia is using its expertise to support the delivery of energy and renewables projects, and its knowledge to aid all-weather, long-term access to these sites. Roads & Infrastructure Magazine learns more about what is an emerging and growing space for the company.

For 40 years, Stabilised Pavements of Australia (SPA) has been an integral figure in the roads and transport sectors, leading innovations in sustainable and cost-effective pavement solutions.

As the largest fully Australian-owned and operated stabilisation company, SPA is expanding its scope by recognising the growing need for stabilisation in access roads, hardstands, and blade finger pads.

These solutions play a critical role in supporting the development and maintenance of major energy and renewable projects, including battery, wind and solar farms

Christopher Cleaton, Regional Manager, Victoria – SPA, says the sustainability benefits of stabilisation are generally well known but are even more impactful in an energy or resource project setting, mainly due to the relative remoteness of many of these sites and a lack of high-quality building materials.

“By incorporating stabilisation, the project can reduce the carbon footprint associated with traditional construction methods as stabilisation allows for in-situ soil improvement, minimising the need for hauling and handling new materials from off-site,” he says.

“This process not only considers the conservation of natural resources, but also enhances the longevity of infrastructure, with less maintenance over time, by weatherproofing these pavements.”

Despite the obvious benefits, methods such as stabilisation tend to fall down the priority list when it comes to early project development, says Mark Hope, BDM Resources and Energy – Stabilised Pavements of Australia.

He says the civil construction aspect, including stabilisation, is often overlooked in renewable energy projects, with the focus more on the electrical and mechanical components. He adds that many people overlook items such as the access to site and the smooth running of the works throughout all seasons of the year.

“To ensure the best outcome, it’s important to be actively involved and engaged with the project consultants themselves. Some of these consultants don’t necessarily have the stabilisation expertise,” Hope says. “That’s where we come in.”

Through stabilisation, contractors can ensure that they have adequate access to sites for construction, operation and maintenance.

Without the option of stabilisation, weather events can cause catastrophic delays to these types of projects, leading to significant cost and time blowouts in the construction phase. Not to mention the risk of a breakdown of supply for electricity into major and capital cities if these sites were not able to be easily accessed for repairs and maintenance in wet weather events throughout the life of the farm.

“We’re building resilient roads to allow the contractors and providers to access deep into these renewable energy project areas. If these roads weren’t there, these projects would just come to a grinding halt, potentially for months throughout wet periods and times of flooding,” Cleaton says.

“Putting the effort into the stabilisation works up front gives confidence to the project in the construction phase and also allows maintenance teams to have access, even during severe flooding events.”

One example of the effectiveness of stabilisation has been SPA’s works on the Girgarre Solar Farm. The site, near Shepparton and Stanhope in Victoria, has an operational capacity of about 95 megawatts, capable of providing power to more than 40,000 homes annually. As such, access to and from the site for construction and maintenance was essential.

SPA was responsible for delivering about 10 kilometres of access track, which involved using scrapers to cut back the topsoil to the clay and sandy sub-grade, stabilising the in-situ materials and introducing a capping layer.

Shortly after completing these works in 2023 the area suffered a historic flooding event, which would later be described as a one in 100-year event.

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The entire solar farm site, including entrance tracks to the solar farm, were underwater for weeks. Cleaton says that despite this extreme weather event, the stabilised tracks remained accessible, even as the floodwater receded, with the contractor having full access to the substation areas.

This allowed the project team to inspect the site and resume works, including access to piling rigs and necessary equipment for the installation of the remaining solar panels.

Cleaton says that without the stabilised tracks, the site would have been impassable for an extended period, even after the water had receded.

“As a method, stabilisation provides surety, knowing that you’re going to be able to have all-weather access for a 20-year period on these renewable project access roads. It just gives everyone security,” Cleaton says.

And why the 20-year period?

“In some instances the roads only need to withstand three or four passes of the cranes to build these large wind turbines. However, after that, there’s routine maintenance for the life of that asset for the next 20 years or so,” Cleaton says.

“Using traditional methods, you might be able to get away with putting a crane here or there throughout summer. Any longer than that and the risk of maintaining access and remaining on the critical path of construction reduces and you’re potentially looking at even more costs just to maintain your access.”

Both Cleaton and Hope emphasise that education is a crucial first step in making stabilisation a preferred construction method. This involves not only raising awareness of its environmental benefits but also highlighting its ability to reduce risks in construction.

Another is earlier engagement. Hope says that early collaboration is crucial to ensure sustainable construction practices are incorporated from the beginning.

“It will allow project teams to fully understand and leverage the advantages of stabilisation,” he says.

Cleaton adds that project teams need to move beyond the assumption that existing ground conditions will be suitable without stabilisation, especially in areas prone to wet weather. He says anticipating and planning for challenging site conditions from the outset will help to ensure the infrastructure is built to withstand them.

“As Mark mentioned, when these billion-dollar projects are getting started and designed, most of the money and time is spent on the civil side, the number of turbines, or the number of solar panels. Thought goes to the electrical infrastructure and substations and more, but the actual pavement work and access roads are sort of overlooked,” he says.

Regardless, Cleaton says the growth of the space overall, and identification of potential future projects, shows there’s a bright future for the renewables market in Australia, as well as a clear pipeline towards sustainability.

Both are areas that SPA has excelled in for years, thanks to its expertise in sustainable pavement construction, rehabilitation and maintenance, with a strong focus on community.

“It’s encouraging to see Renewable Energy Zones being identified and earmarked for future developments in the region. The ultimate goal is a reduction in the nation’s carbon footprint, and services like stabilisation will play a crucial role in both the fast construction and long-term maintenance of these renewable energy projects,” Cleaton says.

Hope says SPA is looking for more projects and project types, with stabilisation being the best path forward for sustainable infrastructure development.

“We see significant opportunities to grow our dedicated pavement design and stabilisation capabilities,” he says. “This will help to support the increasing number of renewable energy projects across the country.”