Design and Construction of Yarraman Water Main Replacements

Yarraman is a small rural town in the Toowoomba Regional Council area of southern Queensland. The town is situated about 120 km north of Toowoomba and roughly 180 km northwest of the Brisbane CBD, at the junction of the New England and D’Aguilar Highways. According to the 2021 census, the town has a population of around 1,127 residents. The focus of the water mains replacement project is located in the town’s central area.

The project is fundamentally a replacement of multiple existing potable water mains within Yarraman. The water mains identified for replacement are located within both Council-managed streets and Transport and Main Roads (TMR) corridors.

Primary project drivers include:

1. Much of Council’s Yarraman reticulation network is of similar age and is beginning to fail concurrently. Many pipes are asbestos-cement and can be prone to fracture. Council therefore requires this dedicated Yarraman program of works involving detailed design and construction of water-main replacements.

2. The Yarraman Water Supply Planning Report 2025 identifies improvements to some water mains to increase network fire-flow capacities, replace tuberculated pipework and fittings, and upsize various pipelines.

3. The trunk main on Asher Street through Yarraman Creek is identified for replacement to improve water quality by providing new clean pipe and a scour-chamber outlet at the lowest point.

The Tender seeks to outline the requirements to construct the new pipelines and to minimise customer and stakeholder impacts, including access disruptions, environmental impacts, and loss of continuous water supply. Council has investigated the scope and extents of pipework to be replaced, but no detailed survey or design has been completed.

Yarraman is relatively remote from Council’s regular water network maintenance crews, the Contractor must provide full-service delivery for works, water shutdowns to enable cutovers, and reconnection of customer service meters. The Contractor must plan and sequence the works to ensure that design and construction activities are delivered concurrently across different portions of the scope. Construction may only commence on areas where design has been approved by the Principal (Council); however, Council requires the Contractor to manage the program so that while some areas progress to construction, other areas are in design phase. This approach is intended to achieve efficient, continuous delivery and maximise completion of the works within FY26.