Borden upgrade to keep trucks moving

Work has officially started at the Borden marshal-sample-weighbridge upgrade, one of this year's major site upgrades underway as part of Network Investment.

Contractor WCP Civil mobilised at our Borden site in the middle of May, establishing a site office and starting the significant task of earthworks for this year’s project.

Central to the Borden project is the relocation of the site’s new marshal-sample-weigh (MSW) area, road and supporting infrastructure, including:

CBH Group Project Delivery Manager Chris Ong is taking care of the expansion at Borden and says it’s great to be able to improve the site efficiency by redesigning and expanding the marshal-sample-weighbridge area.

“Truck congestion has become a real challenge at the Borden site in recent years,” Chris said.

“By redesigning the traffic flow and site layout, we are able to maximise the footprint we have available and provide marshalling options.”

Area 17 Manager Bradley Bootsma said growers, truck drivers and employees should notice a smoother, more efficient experience at Borden when the upgrades are complete.

“Growers should notice a decrease in cycle times when delivering at Borden and the existing bottlenecks around the circular storages removed,” Brad said.

“This will also lead to an increase in safety for CBH employees and growers on site, with fewer trucks cycling around the site, thanks to the new marshalling area.

“Importantly, this expansion will enable outloading to continue simultaneously while growers are delivering during harvest.”

In addition to the new MSW area and the benefits it delivers, four open bulkheads will have their frame heights extended from 1.2 metres to 1.8 metres for an incremental increase in storage capacity.  

Chris is managing three main contractors who are responsible for delivering the project scope: WCP Civil is carrying out civil and earth works; Mason Electrical Engineering Contractors (MEEC) is managing the electrical scope of work; and Ellett Contracting is in charge of mechanical and structural installation.

Working directly with the three main contractors provides Chris and his CBH team with increased control and visibility over the project execution.

“We’re pleased to be working with contractors that have the quality and experience of WCP, MEEC and Ellett, who understand CBH’s needs and scope of work,” Chris said.

“To be able to get this project underway – with the aim to finish the upgrades during this year’s harvest – will deliver a better delivery experience for growers, and outloading experience for contractors in 2024 and beyond.”

Borden is one of five major site upgrades – along with the Nyabing, Latham, Narngulu and Morawa sites – CBH is undertaking as part of its Network Investment plan for 2023. 

Investing in the CBH network is a significant part of achieving the Co-operative’s ‘Path to 2033’ Strategy of achieving a peak monthly export capacity of 3 million tonnes by 2033.