ATC Williams has expanded our technical expertise and laboratory services into Newcastle, led by Principal Engineer Glen Burton.
A second office for the Hunter Valley.
ATC Williams has a long and proud history of providing engineering services in the Hunter Valley. We have been active in the area for over 40 years, serviced by our Melbourne and Brisbane offices. In 2020, we opened an office in Singleton led by Senior Principal John Milsom. Opening an office in Singleton allowed us to provide locally-based support to our clients.
The Singleton office has grown rapidly due to our strong relationships with clients such as Glencore, Yancoal (comprising the former Rio Tinto Coal Operations) and Peabody. Soon after opening, we hired geologist Mitchell Connor and engineer Adin Uhrig, followed by engineers Riddhesh Joshi, Glen Burton, and Fred Torpey in 2022. By this time, there was an increased focus on tailings management and GISTM requirements. The workload of our NATA-accredited laboratory in Melbourne had significantly increased, and it was apparent that further expansion would be required to cope with demand.
Expanded geotechnical and laboratory capacity
With many of our Singleton staff residing in Newcastle, an office in this area was a logical next step. We selected 24 Newton Street, Broadmeadow, as it is close to the University of Newcastle (UoN). There is a modern office fit-out with substantial space for a laboratory and further room to grow.
We have expanded our expertise by adding four new members to our team: engineers Nima Salimi, Nathan Podlich, Laxmi Suwal and Geotechnician Jason Chapman.
Leading the Newcastle team is Principal Engineer Glen Burton. Glen has a PhD, which he completed at the University of Newcastle (UoN), on experimental unsaturated soil mechanics. He has worked in international laboratories in Spain at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and in Japan at the Nagoya Institute of Technology. Nima Salimi and Nathan Podlich also completed their PhDs at UoN, and Laxmi Suwal completed post-doctoral studies there.
Nima has worked as a geotechnical consultant in the Hunter Valley for most of his career and has a solid understanding of the local geotechnical challenges of the Hunter region. Nima’s PhD was completed using numerical modelling to develop a bearing capacity model for shallow foundations on layered soils. This research has direct application in common industry geotechnical problems, including designing working platforms for tracked plants and capping of soft tailings.
For his PhD, Nathan focused on developing optimisation and linear system solvers for large two and three-dimensional stability analysis problems. The solvers were targeted towards finite element limit analysis problems based on lower and upper bound theorems that lead to large sparse conic optimisation problems. Solutions to these problems yield rigorous bounds that bracket the actual collapse loads and factors of safety.
Laxmi completed a PhD in experimental soil mechanics at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and developed a disk transducer for measuring the elastic wave propagation in coarse-grained granular materials. While at UoN, Laxmi undertook advanced laboratory testing on Balina Clay, looking at the effects of pore fluid chemistry and strain rate on material classification, compressibility and strength.
Purpose-built technical facilities
Since moving in, we’ve developed a research-grade temperature-controlled laboratory space to allow the team to undertake hydro-mechanical testing on tailings and natural soils. The laboratory will be commissioned over the next few months, focusing on sample preparation methods, constant rate of strain oedometer, critical state and cyclic triaxial testing. Unsaturated and seismic (bender element) testing capabilities will be added to leverage the skillset of Glen and Laxmi.
“Since joining ATC Williams in 2022, I’ve been keen to expand our laboratory services into NSW. I am excited to see this vision come to life.”
– Glen Burton, Principal Engineer
Laboratory leadership strategy
The Newcastle office hosted a two-day workshop on 9 and 10 November to discuss the national laboratory business plan. All members of the newly formed National Laboratory Services Group (LSG) attended. The LSG includes eight staff across ATCW’s Southern and Northern Region operations and provides national representation.
The main topics discussed included the 12-month Laboratory Business Plan, establishing the LSG, strategic expansion of the Melbourne and Newcastle laboratories, recruitment, financial targets and digitisation of laboratory systems.
Special guests from UoN, Dr Jubert Pineda, Lachlan Bates, and Dr Kaiwen Ouyang, provided outstanding presentations on sampling and sample disturbance and rate effects in testing, followed by a practical demonstration of the Mini-block Sampler (mini-Sherbrooke) and Osterberg samplers.
Stay tuned to The Groundwork and LinkedIn for further information on the Hunter Valley offices and the ongoing enhancement of ATCW’s laboratory services.
ATC Williams Newcastle Office
24 Newton Street
Broadmeadow
Newcastle NSW 2292
+61 2 9169 2900
