Coffey Information, Coffey’s materials testing business, has established a laboratory based in Melbourne to provide unique rock testing services which are in high demand in the mining, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors globally.
The new laboratory offers three main areas of expertise:
- Measuring the physical and mechanical properties of rocks, for the design of tunnels and mines
- Characterising the abrasiveness of solid and fragmented rocks and soils, as it affects the difficulty of dredging, trenching and soft-ground tunnelling in these materials, and to what extent the machinery will suffer wear
- Characterising rocks in order to predict the performance of rock excavating machinery.
Coffey’s rock-testing capability can be applied to quarries, infrastructure, tunnelling, oil and gas, and mining projects. Samples from any location in the world can be analysed. The results enable clients to achieve a more accurate understanding of the materials, loadings, appropriate excavation methods and timing, geotechnical and design requirements and costs of construction of a project. Ultimately the testing aims to reduce the risk of error in engineering calculations and projects.
Coffey also today announced the appointment of Associate Professor Bill Bamford to manage the growth and technical excellence of the new rock testing laboratory. The appointment of Dr Bamford will enable Coffey to provide not only advanced rock-testing but also detailed analysis, training and world-leading expertise in rock testing.
Coffey Information’s Group Executive Michael Renehan said Coffey is the only provider of this service in Australia and the acquisition positions Coffey as a leader in rock and materials testing globally.
“This is one of the few laboratories in the world to have this type of abrasivity testing and analysis for dredging, trenching, mining and soft tunnelling projects. It is Australia’s only lab that provides excavatability characterisation.
“Coffey has invested in the world’s best equipment and experts as we aim to lead the world in rock testing expertise from Australia,” he said.
Commenting on Dr Bamford’s appointment, Mr Renehan said his rare skills and depth of experience will significantly enhance Coffey’s specialist expertise in materials testing, and geotechnical interpretation and analysis.
“We are delighted to have Dr Bamford join us as an internationally recognised expert with world-leading technical skills and expertise. His skills are extremely rare globally - mining, oil and gas, tunnelling and infrastructure clients seek his services from all over the world including Mongolia, Chile, Ireland and Pakistan.
“We are pleased that Bill has joined Coffey as we can complement his technical skills and leadership with a large network of resources, and methodologies for best practice turn-around times in testing.
“Bill is responsible for managing our specialist rock-testing business, developing our geotechnical interpretation skills, and providing training and mentoring in his area of expertise across the Company,” he said.
Commenting on his appointment, Bill acknowledged Coffey’s reputation as a large, quality materials testing provider with major projects and the resources to compliment his skills and ensure they are widely leveraged.
“I joined Coffey Information because of the reputation for quality services, the scale of resources and technical support within,” he said.
For more than 44 years Dr Bill Bamford has been lecturing, performing research and managing a rock testing laboratory at the University of Melbourne. He has spent a lifetime comparing geotechnical tests developed in different countries and by different manufacturers of rock excavating equipment, testing to predict the performance of rock excavating machinery in different types of rock. He is able to compare the performances of various pieces of equipment in particular situations and has developed standard suites of tests relevant to Diamond Drilling, Rotary Drilling, Percussive Drilling (Down Hole), Percussive Drilling (Top Hammer), Road Headers, Raise & Shaft Borers, Tunnel Boring Machines, Trenching, and Strain Burst risk assessment.
Dr Bamford is currently an honorary Principal Fellow and Associate Professor in the Melbourne School of Engineering in the University of Melbourne. He has specialised in rock mechanics, mine design, geotechnical engineering and was Vice-President of the International Society for Rock Mechanics for 8 years. He has served as the National Chairman of the Australian Geomechanics Society and of the Australasian Tunnelling Society. Dr Bamford has a Bachelor of Engineering in Applied Geology, with Honours Class 2A from the University of NSW, a Master of Engineering from the University of Melbourne, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne.
Media Contact for interviews or further information
Angela James, Corporate Communications Manager, Coffey International Limited
P: (+61) (2) 8404 4415; M: (+61) 42 8 905 573; E: angela_james@coffey.com
