Roller compacted concrete at the Savage River Mine, Tasmania

Several civil engineering structures have been constructed from Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) at the Savage River Iron Ore Mine on Tasmania’s west coast, including river crossings, spillways and hardstand areas. This paper discusses the design, construction and performance of one of these, a river crossing structure built to replace a previous structure, which had collapsed during flooding. The conditions leading up to this collapse are discussed. As there was a need to urgently construct the new crossing an RCC structure was proposed; to allow for winter construction and to provide long term overtopping capabilities. During the construction phase further flooding in the Savage River necessitated the adoption of a modified design, which incorporated the innovative use of a shipping container adopted to act as both a diversion culvert and formwork within the main RCC embankment. The river crossing was completed in time and the structure has been overtopped since final completion with little damage. Brief explanations of other RCC structures are included in the paper.