West Nowra Recycling and Waste Facility

MIEngineers were engaged by council to undertake the architectural, structural and civil design of a new transfer station at West Nowra Waste depot.

The requirements were dictated by the clients as to the size and load capacity of the slab for the machinery used for sorting.

The proposed building is located on an old waste cell, which required detailed communication with the EPA to ensure there were no negative environmental effects from the construction. Given the uncontrolled waste the solution to mitigate the risk of settlement was to pile through the waste.

This required a detailed safety in design plan due to the risks of piling through uncontrolled waste, including gas monitoring and driven piles to avoid exhuming any waste.

Due to the waste cell a vapour barrier and natural ventilation were incorporated into the design to minimise the risk of any gas accumulation within the transfer building.