SPECIAL REPORT
From quarries to roads:
blasting the way ahead
With recent growth and expansion of the
Victorian aggregate market, Francis Haden
and Leigh Hahn take a look at a significant
road construction project, and user of quarry
products – the Craigieburn Bypass.
F
rom April 2002, Abigroup has been designing a much-needed
bypass linking the Hume Highway at Craigieburn with the
Metropolitan Ring Road in Thomastown. The federally-funded,
$306 million project managed by VicRoads has required the blasting
of cuttings, ramps and pre-split walls along its 17-kilometre length.
Upon completion, the project will have used over 100 thousand tonnes
of crushed rock for pavements, built 14 bridges and excavated 2.4
million bank cubic metres (BCM) of bulk earthworks.
The Craigieburn Bypass will link the Hume Freeway near Mt Ridley
Road at Craigieburn, to the Metropolitan Ring Road at Thomastown*
This significant road construction project in Victoria is due to be
completed in the second half of 2005.
BLASTING REQUIREMENTS
From its base at Deer Park, and in its role as blasting contractor,
Orica Quarry Services provided a load, tie and fire service to the site
16 Quarry April 2005
using Orica Technical Services for blast design and environmental
monitoring. Bulk explosives were manufactured on-site using
Orica's Mobile Manufacturing Units (MMUs). These units are
capable of producing a range of bulk products to suit different
ground conditions.
Blasting along the length of the freeway was conducted in four areas:

Taylor's Cut

Craigieburn Road East Cut

Northern Cut

Railway Cut
TAYLOR'S CUT
Initial blasting commenced at the Taylor's Cut during January 2004.
Blasting of bedrock was required along the full width of the
carriageway for a distance of 440 metres. For this stage of the
project, blast sizes typically featured, on average, 600 blast holes of
89mm diameter. A maximum of 800 blastholes were loaded and
fired in one day.
The significant number of holes to be primed, loaded, stemmed
and connected demanded prompt bulk product delivery and loading
efficiency. To assist with the tying in of up to 800 blast holes, Orica
employed EXEL Goldets, which are non-electric signal tube-based
detonators, consisting of a constant in-hole delay detonator with a
surface delay detonator. These detonators are configured as a single
unit, simplifying blast design and tie-up. After stemming, the surface
connector is drawn across to the corresponding blasthole on the next
echelon and snapped onto the signal tube from that particular hole.
This removed the need for a separate surface delay detonator (EXEL
Connectadet) other than for tying in the control row. Due to the very
large number of holes and the uniform design, this increased the
productivity for tying up each blast.
Leigh Hahn of Abigroup said, "Orica was still able to tie a large
number of blast-holes (providing Abigroup with a greater amount of
excavatable material earlier) and also conduct those blasts during
Abigroup's normally scheduled lunchbreak - thereby not disrupting
other activities, especially the earthworks haulage fleet."
CRAIGIEBURN ROAD EAST CUT
In conjunction with the need to fire large blasts was the requirement
to do so near pressurised pipelines and overhead cables. As with
Taylors Cut, Craigieburn Road East Cut required bulk explosives
deliveries and 'paddock' style blasts up to 550 blastholes. This
section of the project was located parallel to the Craigieburn Road
East and adjacent to Australbricks' office and factory. On the north
side of the Craigieburn Road East were overhead powerlines (22kV
and 66kV), and beneath them a 150mm high-pressure gas main and
telecommunication service. These services were 50 metres away at
the closest point during blasting. Abigroup and Orica arranged to
survey the blast sites then monitor the services, as well as close the
road for the duration of each blast. This information was then used to
create a site vibration law for further environmental blast management.
buried optic fibre lines, Orica organised and conducted a full-scale
field trial with the asset owners, in the Taylor's Cut section.
Sections of optic fibre supplied by the asset owner were directly
laid adjacent to a blast. The distance from buried cables to the near
edge of the blast was chosen to reflect and replicate conditions
throughout the site, in an attempt to assess the potential destruction
of cable transmission and relate this to PPV. Accelerometers capable
of handling much higher vibration levels than traditional vibration
monitors were used for monitoring. After firing each shot, all cables
were tested by the asset owner and found to be unaffected.
Blasting was then successfully completed for over a kilometre, at
times firing more than 17 tonnes of Handibulk Supawet GT at
distances less than 30 metres from the cable. This enabled Abigroup
to continue bulk excavation and prevented what would have been an
excessive delay and enormous cost if blasting was not able to proceed.
RAILWAY CUT
This cut contained some of the deepest blasting throughout the
project, and was technically the most challenging. Blasts routinely
required two MMUs as blasting operations approached the
Melbourne--Sydney railway boundary from the southern side. The
requirement for blasts to be loaded and fired promptly became
increasingly important as blasts approached the rail corridor. Firing
times were dictated by the need to inspect all three tracks immedi-
ately after the blast, to ensure no fragments had intruded. This was
achieved by railway representatives physically walking each line for
several hundred metres.
This final stage of blasting was complicated because of the location

NORTHERN CUT
This was the major area of blasting with a total of 21 blasts occurring
between December 2003 and March 2004. The Northern Cut at its
south end was bordered by the Melbourne-Sydney railway line and
optic fibre services. The optic fibre ran parallel to the eastern
boundary of the cut. As the depth of the cut increased, it drew closer
to the optic fibre services. Further restrictions came from two
bridges: one under construction, and another previously completed.
The completion of this cut was of critical importance to Abigroup's
bulk earthworks program. The peak particle velocity (PPV) limits
imposed by the asset owners, proximity of the services to the blast
site (< 30 metres), and shallowness of the cut potentially meant that
earthworks could be stalled. Given that initial areas of ground to be
blasted were shallow in depth, it became crucial to maintain an
advance of blasted material ahead of earthmoving equipment. The
confidence to fire large blasts close to fibre optic cables was,
therefore, of paramount importance in maintaining project excava-
tion rates. As no historical data existed for blasting adjacent to these
AWE030475
SPECIAL REPORT
of fibre optic communications contained within the rail easement,
which was not accessible to the blasting team. These communica-
tion services were of particular concern:

The nearest services were parallel to, and only three metres from,
a pre-split and five metres from production blastholes.

The direct laid cables could not be relocated because they were on
inaccessible land and the nearest access points were kilometres apart.

Two of the three services were active and carried a significant
volume of Melbourne-Sydney data and communications.

Each service was owned independently so no redundancy existed
should any or all three assets be damaged.
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Faced with the challenge of not damaging or disrupting
communication services, Orica employed several strategies to
prevent damage, and manage risk while blasting the final ground. A
site law was developed specifically for the area, using prior
knowledge of sustainable vibration levels when blasting next to fibre
optics. This information was incorporated in the blast design.
Accurate timing and complete loading control was vital for
managing vibration levels as successive blasts approached the
buried cables. A combination of packaged explosives types were
used to control charge weights: Buster, a packaged emulsion, and
Shearcord a high strength (70g/m) detonating cord. The delay
'scatter' associated with pyrotechnic detonators meant that only
electronic detonators would provide peace of mind in knowing
exactly when charges would fire. Orica's electronic detonator
system, i-kon, enabled engineers to design each blast with precise
control over the maximum charge weight of explosives firing at each
millisecond instant. The absence of delay 'scatter' ensured accurate
sequencing of all blasts, and enabled blasts to be sped up or slowed
down to improve digability and fragmentation. Adjustments were
made to designs following feedback from plant operators.
All blasts were fired successfully without damaging the fibre optic
cables. After firing during lunchbreaks, blasted material was
immediately excavated: this minimised disruption, and generated a
steady volume of material for excavation.
* Source: VicRoads website.
Francis Haden works for Orica Quarry Services
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