History

OUR HISTORY

Founded in the late 70's, Mitchell are Australian pipeline pioneers.

From humble beginnings in 1979 as L.G Mitchell & Sons, Wayne Mitchell has worked diligently to build a successful and reputable business within the construction industry.

With Wayne at the helm since 1985, and a dedicated core management team, Mitchell Water Australia has progressed to become one of Australia’s largest dedicated pipeline engineering and construction companies.

Our expansion with new capabilities and a broader geographic footprint has positioned us as a major player in the construction of water and CSG infrastructure.

To meet this challenge requires an ongoing commitment to innovation to stay ahead of the competition and deliver cost-effectiveness to our customers. This is achieved without reducing the quality of construction works and most importantly the safety of our employees and the environment. Our strength is in the quality of our people and our genuine relationships with clients, partners, and communities. Our continuing growth and success are linked to our ability to deliver certainty for our clients through consistent performance and innovation.

Tens of Thousands of KMs of Pipelines ago

A Proud History of Acheivement

1979: Humble Beginnings

L.G Mitchell & Sons is Founded

Lyell & Wayne found L.G Mitchell & Sons.

1985: Father to Son

Generational change

Wayne Mitchell takes over as Director.

1981-95: Growth

Hard work pays off

Approx 750km of water, sewer, slurry, drainage and gas pipelines installed during this early period of Mitchell’s history.

1997: Expand Capability

Roxby Downs

Mitchell were awarded the Roxby Downs Water Transmission Pipeline project (120km of DN600 & DN700 DICL) enabling the business to better develop installation techniques for large diameter pipelines.

1998: Gas Pipeline Sector

Century Zinc & Koonoomoo Gas

Mitchell enter the gas pipeline sector, installing over 400 km of DN150, DN200 & DN300 steel gas pipelines on the Century Zinc and Koonoomoo Gas projects.

1999: Remote Project Capability

Ernst Henry Water Pipeline

Mitchell complete the Ernst Henry Water Pipeline in remote QLD (134km of DN660 DICL RRJ), building a foundation for remote location complexities and how to overcome them.

2001: Largest Diameter Pipeline

Douglas to Mt Jack Water Pipeline

Douglas to Mt Jack Water Pipeline is to date Mitchell’s largest diameter pipeline installed at 1290mm in diameter near Townsville, QLD.

2002: Patents Begin

Innovation

Mitchell patented the newly developed bedding and padding system which allows excavated material to be re-directed from the trencher via a conveyor to a self-contained screening box that is towed in the trench. The material is then screened and sieved to a selected particle size and metered out to a selected depth as bedding material.

2002: New GM

Rob Shelton appointed GM

Rob Shelton was promoted to General Manager of Mitchell Water Australia. Rob has been the driving force behind Mitchell’s continual growth and success, of which he attributes to the support and continued dedication of the executive and construction teams.

2006-10: New Benchmarks

A new benchmark - Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project

Mitchell were awarded Supply Systems 1,2,3,4,6 & 7 of the $688m Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project (WMPP). The projects totaled 8,000km of pipelines (100km Bulk Water Transfer main DN1000 to DN700, 1,200km of Trunk pipelines DN450 to DN200 and 6,700km of Distribution pipelines DN200 to DN50), 27 Pump Stations, 28 water storage tanks, 12 earthen storages and 80 major crossings, making it to date Australia’s largest pipeline network and covering some 10% of Victoria.

2006: BulletPlow

Enter the BulletPlow

The “BulletPlow” is designed, engineered, patented and put straight to work on the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline Project. The Vibratory Plough is the secret to swift pipeline construction. This plant was proven highly successful on the WMPP, installing hundreds of kilometres of pipeline in record speeds.

2007: KwikPipe

More innovation - KwikPipe

Mitchell’s “KwikPipe” circular trenching saw gets patented and is influential in the high production rates of distribution pipelines achieved on the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline project and many projects going forward.

2011: Acquisition of Sadlier

Sadlier Surveying

Mitchell purchased Sadlier Surveying to better bolster our design and construct capabilities. With over 40 years’ experience in the field of Water & Gas Pipelines, Electricity and Roads, the Survey team have worked in a range of environments throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. Sadlier’s have been assisting Mitchell’s for over 30 years and complement our business and the services we can offer.

2012: CSG Sector

New sector, new capability

Mitchell enter the CSG sector, further developing PE welding techniques and other services such as HV Overhead Powerlines, LV cable installation, LPD’s, Civils and Well Pads.

2012: PE Welding Barges

Expanding Plant Fleet

The Mitchell patented PE Welding Barges join the ever-growing Plant fleet, providing greater safety to our Operators, better quality welds and a cleaner finished product whilst achieving a higher production rate as the pipe gets laid directly into the trench as soon as it’s welded.

2014: Westmain Aust

Purchase of Westmain Aust

Westmain Aust, a fabrication business, was purchased to enable Mitchell to manufacture fittings and assemblies particularly relating to pump stations, buildings, well pads and the like. The knowledgeable team at Westmain think outside the box and allow Mitchell to continually improve our innovative patented plant and pipeline installation systems.

2018: Quanta

Quanta Australia

Quanta Australia acquires a 30% share in the business, providing access to the NYSE listed construction giant Quanta Services Inc. With US$11 Billion in revenue, the partnership provides Mitchell, through our collaboration with other Quanta companies, global access to people, equipment, systems and financial resources. The partnership whilst enhancing our resource pool, still provides Mitchell the flexible approach to provide our clients with unique construction driven solutions as it has always done.

2020: Expanding Operations

Specialists Operations & Maintenance

Mitchell further develops Specialists Operations & Maintenance branch of the business, including services such as HDPE pipeline repairs, LPD replacement, shutdown activities, HDPE live tie-ins (squeeze off or hot-tapping) and HDPE purging.