Truedek being Civil at Kembla Grange

In preparation for a new urban development at Kembla Grange, 10km west of Port Kembla, Truedek Steel Decking and Dincel Civil Solutions joined forces on a civil project for two large culverts.

The first culvert was 55 metres long with a span of 6.1 metres and the second, 70 metres long spanning 3.7 metres.

After excavation, the base slabs were poured and 1200mm high Dincel side walls were added.

At only 900mm off the base slab to the bottom of the culvert roof, both culverts would have been near impossible to prop, so Truedek panels were manufactured for the top slabs in single unpropped lengths.

Truedek TD160 panels were used for the larger 6.1 metre span culvert, in a full Truss (T/T/T) configuration and the second 3.7 metre culvert used Truedek TD140 panels in an alternate Truss/Pan/Truss (T/P/T) configuration, where every second panel is designed with an Infill panel between the Truedek panels.

The leading entries into the culverts were angled, so a small number of one-off Truedek panel sizes were made to cover the different spans.

One of the main benefits with a single span culvert is water flow, which is much more effective in high flood prone areas. Using Dincel walls for the support walls and Truedek panels as permanent formwork for the top slab spanning the entire width, virtually eliminated the potential of debris buildup, often a major problem with standard pre-cast concrete segments used in culvert projects, that can potentially cause debris to buildup and block the flow into the culvert entrance.

The civil construction was done by Seawolf Building Company, under the guidance of Director Dane Johnson. Seawolf service the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and South Coast areas.