AUSTRALIA: Indigenous artworks have been applied to a New Track Construction machine being used by John Holland in the Pilbara region.
The firm is undertaking a A$130m contract to lay 143 km of track and undertake infrastructure and signalling works as part of Fortescue Metals Group’s A$1·7bn Eliwana iron ore project.
The line will connect Fortescue’s Western Hub mining area to the Solomon Hub on the existing 620 km rail network feeding Port Hedland. The Eliwana development is expected to produce around 40 mpta of ore for more than 20 years, with a total working life of 24 years.
‘The paintings visually explain how the tracklayer lays down the track across our country and different landscapes, connecting communities and businesses throughout Western Australia’, explained Yamatji-Whadjuk-Ballardong artist and John Holland Administration Assistant Marcia McGuire who designed the artworks.
‘It mirrors how the Rainbow Serpent of the Dreamtime created waterholes uniting our lands together. The NTC connects us through trackwork and therefore inspired me to design the serpent.’
