13 March 2009 | OPR to undertake low level geotechnical offshore drilling at Oakajee

OPR is scheduled to undertake its offshore geotechnical drilling at the Oakajee port site, 25 kms north of Geraldton from mid March 2009.

OPR’s offshore drilling is one of a range of studies being undertaken for the company’s Oakajee port project, to construct a new deepwater port at Oakajee, in Western Australia’s mid west region.

The program will involve drilling up to 25 bore holes over the proposed dredge area, located 1 – 2km from shore in order to recover core samples of insitu material. The samples are studied and subjected to different forms of testing, with the results fed into the project design process.

The purpose of the offshore drilling is to provide important planning information, in particular the strength of the seabed materials, to assist in determining the optimum locations for dredging, and for wharf and dolphin mooring structures.

This work follows on from the onshore drilling program which commenced in November 2008 and concludes in April 2009. The onshore program was designed to confirm the existence of sufficient quantities of armour rock onsite, provide information about the rock quality and assist in the development of a quarry management plan.

Further information relating to the Oakajee Port and Rail Project and related drilling at Oakajee can be found through the links below.

 OPR Project Update - No 1 (276.92 Kb)  

OPR Fact Sheet - Version 3 (0.78 Mb)

or

OPR Geraldton Community office: 260 Foreshore Drive Geraldton Ph: (08) 9964 7698

Kim Pervan Manager Community & Public Relations  Ph: (08) 9486 0777