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Cutting-edge technology being used to help pave the way for Australia's largest resource projects will be in the spotlight at a symposium at The University of Western Australia starting on Monday.

The International Symposium Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics is hosted by the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, which is part of UWA's Oceans Institute.

The event will feature some of the world's leading experts in offshore geotechnics and shed light on the innovative engineering techniques used in oil and gas developments such as the $43 billion Gorgon Project.

Building offshore oil and gas structures presents unique challenges for geotechnical engineers, who assess the seabed conditions and determine how best to support or anchor offshore structures, and how to safely route pipelines.

The Gorgon Project will be Australia's largest single resources project, pushing the boundaries of offshore engineering and pipeline construction. The project's offshore gas wells will be built in waters much deeper than previously used off the north-west coast, and will be entirely sub-sea with nothing visible above the water.

Some of the wells will be located on the seabed at a depth of 1300 metres, and the pipeline carrying gas to Barrow Island will have to operate under intense pressures and negotiate the steep terrain at the margins of the continental shelf.

"The designers of the Gorgon pipelines utilised some of the latest research techniques, many of which have been developed at UWA, to predict the behaviour of the pipelines through the life of the project," said Professor David White , of UWA's Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS). Professor White's keynote lecture at the symposium will focus on the geotechnical engineering of sub-sea pipelines.

The Chair of the ISFOG symposium, Professor Susan Gourvenec , said the symposium had attracted expert speakers from around the world.

"We are very pleased to have attracted key industry figures from Houston, London and Norway to speak at our event, and we are also proud of the state-of-the-art contributions coming from our own group at UWA and the local geotechnical industry in Perth," she said.

"To set the scene for the conference, the opening address will be delivered by Ann Pickard, the Country Chair of Shell in Australia and Executive Vice President of Upstream Australia."

Professor Mark Cassidy , the Director of COFS, said the Centre played a key role in providing research to support the State's resources sector.

"COFS is one of UWA's research success stories, hosting world-leading experimental facilities and engaging closely with local industry to support the resource developments, such as Gorgon, that underpin the West Australian economy," he said.

The International Symposium Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics will be held at the University Club, on the UWA Crawley campus, from Monday, November 8 to Wednesday, November 10, 2010.

BACKGROUND

The ISFOG symposium is organised by UWA's Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems , which is part of UWA's Oceans Institute .

The Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems is recognised as one of the world's leading geotechnical engineering institutes and is home to around 40 staff and world-leading experimental facilities. Since it was established in 1997, the Centre has worked closely with industry providing research solutions and technical expertise to oil and gas companies around the world.

Media references

Winthrop Professor Mark Cassidy (Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems) (+61 4) 31 241508

Professor Susan Gourvenec (Symposium Chair, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems) (+61 4) 13 056 199

Professor David White (Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems) (+61 4) 05 585 182

Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs) (+61 8) 6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716.