Strata Control Technology Awarded Runner Up at the Australian Technologies Competition with New 3D Stress Measurement System

2016 Australia Technologies Competition Runners-Up

SCT was awarded runner up in the Energy Resources category at a Gala dinner held in Sydney on Wednesday night.

The Australian Technologies Competition (ATC) comprised nearly 170 entrants from across Australia, short-listed initially to 38 semi-finalists, and then to 16 finalists. The ATC noted:

The Finalists are leading Australia’s creation of new knowledge and skills intensive industries that will forge Australia’s position in global high-tech markets. “This year we have partnered with the Federal Government’s Industry Growth Centres to identify and work with technologies from the Government’s priority sectors” explained competition organiser, John O’Brien.

SCT was awarded the runner up prize for the rapid deployment 3D ANZI stress cell pioneered by Dr Ken Mills. This new development is being seen as a breakthrough in the capability to quickly and accurately determine the 3D state of stress in the ground. Applications include complex underground civil construction and mining projects. Traditional 2D stress measurements fail to deliver sufficient information for design certainty in these environments. As Dr Mills said:

“The ANZI strain cell has delivered high confidence measurements of the three dimensional in situ stresses in rock to the underground mining and civil construction industries for three decades. Developments this year enable the instrument to be deployed in exploration boreholes to depths in excess of 500m below surface while maintaining the full range of capability for which the instrument is renowned.”

Importantly, all drilling, installation and overcoring activities are conducted using standard wireline technology routinely used in exploration drilling operations. A high confidence measurement can be obtained in an exploration borehole at practically any location of interest in only 8-10 hours.

SCT has been providing specialist geotechnical consultancy and instrumentation services for almost 30 years. Operating both domestically and globally, the company has built a reputation for technically robust, practical solutions to difficult mining and tunnelling problems.