Work on the composters began in February 2008 with the final shell being delivered by the deadline in November 2008.

Due to the size and logistical challenges in moving the equipment, the two composters were built in halves at the RCR Welshpool workshop. Each half was then transported to Neerabup along a carefully planned route which required help from the WA Police and an escort by Western Power to the Neerabup site.

The four sections of the composters were individually delivered on a 6 hour road trip to its destination at Perth’s new $80 million dollar waste management project site by a purpose-built, 128-wheeler that could take the 160-tonne cargo from Welshpool.

Once the sections were welded together on site, the two composter drums were more than 65 metres long and will each hold more than 420 tonnes of waste at any one time.

RCR Construction and Maintenance (Welshpool) were contracted to assemble, align and weld the composter halves together at the Neerabup site.

The two composters were fabricated from 320 tonnes of plate and forged materials, which were sourced from Western Australia, East Coast of Australia and Korea. The 25mm – 75mm thick and 14.5 m long sheets of steel were cut, prepared and rolled to form the cylinders, prior to welding.

The cylinders were then welded together with sub arc welding. Welding was ultrasonically tested to thoroughly check for welding defects or cracks. No failures were recorded.

The acquisition and completion of the composter project has been a great success for RCR.  This can be attributed to close working relationships between Fabrication, Engineering, Heavy Machining, plus Construction and Maintenance.  The integrated team approach resulted in RCR being able to complete the job without outsourcing, allowing the composter to be delivered on time with a high quality of workmanship.

The first stage of the planned three-stage Resource Recovery Facility is to be constructed on 10-hectare site in the Neerabup Industrial Area will treat up to 100,000 tonnes of household waste annually and convert about 70 per cent of waste into market-quality compost.  The facility, operated by BioVision 2020, jointly-owned by SITA Environmental Solutions, is expected to be producing compost in the first half of 2009.