Walking On Water (nearly)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

There has been a requirement to drill and sample the sea bed in the Port Hedland harbour and peripheral areas of the harbour such as mud flats and Mangrove forests, for the RGP 5 project. To get into these areas at high tide is not such a problem, but at low tide it is very difficult and hazardous due to low water levels and mud.Conventional vehicles are no good nor are boats. What we needed was something that could float and drive on mud, and was
environmentally friendly.

Therefore the Argo all terrain vehicle which can run on water, mud or dry land was purchased for the ADP Port projects. The Argo’s tracks reduce the ground bearing pressure when fully loaded to 4.6 kPa (0.67 PSI) allowing the vehicle to traverse soft areas that would be difficult or impossible to access on foot. To date, the Argo has been used to ferry drillers
to the Jack Up barge in the harbour and to transport scientists and researchers on the mud flats to collect samples.

The Argo is fitted with various safety accessories including; ROP S, forward facing seats, seatbelts, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, battery isolation, lights on feature, reflectorised striping, rotating beacon, hand holds, radio communications, additional lighting, sun canopy, and reversing and handbrake alarms. A Ferno 71stretcher and custom rack is also fitted for emergency rescue.

The Argo now has a towable trailer which handles exactly the same terrain as the Argo itself and a brand new easy access trailer for transport to and from the marine areas. This was a very good initiative started and handled by Gary
May, the Environmental Superintendent for the MPD JV at the ADP Port projects. Well done Gary and thanks for your ideas
and continued contribution to HSEC.

Please visit: www.bhpbilliton.com