Haughton Pipeline Stage 2 project celebrates first pipes into the ground

Townsville’s long-awaited Haughton Pipeline project has taken another step towards reality after celebrating a ‘significant milestone’. Get the latest update.

Townsville’s long-awaited water security initiative, the $274m Haughton Pipeline Stage 2 project, has celebrated a “significant milestone” with the first of its pipes going into the ground this month.

Worth a total of $474m when factoring in the completed 33km first stage, the project will see the 1.8m diameter pipeline extended 28.5km from the Haughton River to the Clare Weir.

The project will support the Ross River Dam water catchment by providing up to 364 megalitres per day of raw water to top up the dam during periods of very low rainfall.

Water and Resource Recovery general manager Travis Richards described the pipes going into the ground as a “significant milestone for a historic, generational project for the region”.

“Now we can actually track physical length, and it starts to become real because it’s in the ground, ready to be used,” Mr Richards said.

A map of the Haughton Pipeline Project. Picture: Infrastructure Australia

“We’ll get a better idea of how long it will take to put the pipes in when the contractor’s had a month or two of putting pipes in.

“We’re not quite ready to start cooking cupcakes for the ribbon cutting ceremony, but we’re far along from where we were.”

The timeline for the Haughton Pipeline Project – Stage 2 project. Picture: TCC

After being shipped from Adelaide between September 2022 and April 2023, the IPLEX-manufactured, Australian-made Glass Reinforced Polymer (GRP) pipes had been stored at vast holding yards next to the Port Access Road at Stuart, and Tompkins Rd, Shaw.

Townsville mayor Jenny Hill shows off the pipes for Stage two of the Haughton Pipeline Project. Picture: Leighton Smith

Providing a project update to the Water and Resource Recovery Committee, Mr Richards said contractor BMD had cleared the areas along the pipeline’s alignment, along with the pipe lay-down areas and construction work areas.

He said they had finalised their access agreement with Burdekin Shire Council and were continuing to review tenders for the design and construction of the pump station.

“It’s a high-risk construction because you’re building in a river like the Burdekin River, where its fairly seasonal,” he said.

Funded with $195m from the state government and $79m from TCC, the project was expected to be completed in mid-2025.

For more information, visit the council’s website.

Originally published as Haughton Pipeline Stage 2 project celebrates first pipes into the ground