Case Study
Melbourne Water Reservoirs
Delivering critical water storage infrastructure for Melbourne's growing northern and western suburbs—major steel reservoirs holding 12+ million litres each.
Project Overview
I was Senior Project Planner for a series of major water storage projects delivered by Brockman Engineering for Melbourne's water authorities:
Mernda Reservoir (South Morang): A new steel water tank, 35 m in diameter and 15 m high, holding 12 million litres of potable water—built to secure water pressure and supply for Melbourne's fast-growing northern suburbs.
Bald Hill Tank (Sunbury): A fully welded steel reservoir (~36 m diameter) with an 80-year design life, doubling storage capacity for the western fringe.
Key Metrics
- Mernda Capacity: 12 million litres
- Tank Diameter: 35-36 m
- Design Life: 80 years
- Equivalent: ~5 Olympic swimming pools each
My Role
As project planner, I managed end-to-end schedules from design through commissioning:
- Creating detailed sequential programs for civil works, steel fabrication, welding/erection, and piping installation
- Scheduling steel plate fabrication and just-in-time delivery to optimise laydown space
- Coordinating hydrostatic testing with Melbourne Water's operations
- Aligning tank filling and testing with network shutdown windows
Challenges & Solutions
On the Mernda tank, when unusually wet weather threatened foundation works, I adjusted the sequence to begin tank fabrication under cover while the site dried—saving time on the critical path.
A particular challenge was coordinating hydrostatic testing and commissioning with Melbourne Water's operations. Through careful planning, we executed testing without impacting water supply to customers.
Both Mernda and Bald Hill reservoirs were delivered on schedule and met strict quality standards for water hygiene, demonstrating the value of rigorous planning and flexible problem-solving.