THE Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is bringing the past into the present through a series of videos that show 100 million-year-odl core samples extracted as part of the Inland Rail project.

The videos will allow secondary and tertiary students and teachers to experience aspects of science and engineering which they would not see in their usual environment. They follow the geotechnical investigations and analysis carried out for the Inland Rail project through the Great Dividing Range and Lockyer Valley.

The videos explored several aspects of the geotechnical work including an introduction to the geological conditions, the drilling operation and coring, an analysis of the extensive collection of geological core samples and final report preparation.

ARTC Inland Rail interim chief executive Rebecca Pickering said the rock and soil samples were used to determine soil stability and the general geology of the site and were a great opportunity for students with an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects to view recent large scale field work and investigations.

“There were around 500 boreholes drilled as part of the project in Queensland providing valuable technical data to inform the build of a 6.4km long tunnel through the Great Dividing Range which will be the longest freight rail tunnel in the southern hemisphere,” Mrs Pickering said.

 “These specimens are unique. They are samples or rock buried beneath the earth and were formed around 100 million years ago,” she said.

“The deepest at Mount Kynoch near Toowoomba was 280 metres deep and was an essential tool for our design team to progress the tunnel design.

“Through our existing relationship with the University of Southern Queensland as a partner in the Inland Rail Skills Academy we set out to develop this series of video resources for students based around 900 square metres of core.

“The footage we shot was then paired with questions to our geotechnical staff on aspects of the project developed by the University to fit their course curriculum.”

Mrs Pickering said the Inland Rail Skills Academy actively engaged with more than 1700 students and 120 teachers about rail and infrastructure career pathways through virtual work experience and STEM programs over the last 12 months.