AGC out to Repeat its Dampier Port Upgrade Success

Location:	Western Australia
Country:	Australia
Client:	Rio Tinto
Engineer:	AGC Industries Pty Ltd
Products Used:	AS/NZS 3678 - 250 XLERPLATE® AS/NZS 3678 - 350 XLERPLATE®

Western Australian based AGC Industries Pty Ltd (AGC) is adding to the growing national expertise in the development of bulk shipping, handling and treatment facilities during the current minerals boom.

AGC Industries Pty Ltd, part of the Ausclad Group of Companies Limited, has grown from a small engineering services company to a global multidisciplinary engineering service provider to the oil & gas, power and mining related industries.

Ausclad Group of Companies Limited - Engineering, Services and Special Projects subsidiaries have over 900 employees working from the group's head office in Perth, Kwinana and remote regions in Western Australia as well as at branches in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra.

The company has used its expertise in project management as well as in house steel fabrication, to undertake major projects associated with the expansion of Rio Tinto's iron ore port facilities in Dampier, Western Australia.

Rio Tinto is spending more than A$1 billion to expand its port capacity to meet the growing global demand for Australian iron ore.

AGC Industries Pty Ltd was initially engaged by leading global project delivery firm, Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM), in early 2004 to supply and fabricate nearly 2,400 tonnes of wharf extension steel work which included 36 heavy plate main runway girders.

The 18 metre long main runway support girders, weighing 30 to 42 tonnes each, were manufactured from 350 Grade XLERPLATE® steel from BlueScope Steel. Plate thicknesses used to fabricate the girders ranged from 20mm to 50mm.

SKM and Rio Tinto asked AGC to assist in devising a safe, fast track, time saving construction process that would help overcome the enormous challenges and difficulties faced on site when constructing over water.

The solution adopted involved the assembly and welding of the XLERPLATE® steel girders for the complete wharf extension into four large sections, each 60 metres long and weighing almost 400 tonnes.

The assembly, welding and loadout was successfully carried out by AGC at the Australian Marine Complex heavy fabrication hall in Henderson, for which AGC has a long term lease. The completed assemblies were delivered to Dampier, installed and placed directly in position by AGC using a heavy lift ship.

The overall success of the wharf extension project led to SKM awarding a second major Rio Tinto expansion project contract to AGC, involving the fabrication and erection of an iron ore screening plant at Dampier.

The screening plant contract involved over 4,000 tonnes of 250 Grade XLERPLATE® and rolled steel sections and the manufacture of seven large 95 tonne ore bins manufactured from plate thickesses of up to 80mm.

Meeting the tight project deadlines involved around the clock operations for AGC's Kwinana workshop for more than six months and progressive deliveries to the Dampier site enabled construction crews to erect the steel on time.

Fresh from that success, AGC's workforce has been busy fabricating two twin cell car dumpers for the Dampier port upgrade project. The Metzo designed car dumpers are complex structures weighing over 300 tonnes each.

The car dumpers, which secure and invert fully laden iron ore rail wagons to add their contents to portside stockpiles, are manufactured from 350 Grade XLERPLATE® steel in thicknesses ranging from 16mm to 80mm.

Construction of these car dumpers requires the highest skill in welding and fabrication techniques, according to AGC's Business Relations Manager, Joe Macri.

"They are subject to the most stringent fatigue design code requirements stipulated in the mining industry," he said. "Due to the large size of the completed structures, a special purpose built furnace had to be constructed to stress relieve the units."

"It was also necessary to collaborate with a specialist WA contractor capable of machining the massive (nearly 13 metre diameter) rotating support rings, drive faces and other specialist machining required to fit the vast array of complex associated mechanical componentry."

With the Dampier wharf steel work contract and the iron ore screening building contract already under its belt, AGC has now won a new contract to carry out the supply and fabrication of the preassembled modules for the next stage of the Dampier wharf extension.

It is fabricating huge girders manufactured from 350 Grade XLERPLATE® steel for the construction of additional wharf facilities. It has also won a contract for the supply, fabrication and site erection at Dampier of a duplicate iron ore screening plant to be erected adjacent to the latest AGC built screening plant. Construction will involve nearly 4,000 tonnes of 250 Grade XLERPLATE® and rolled steel sections.

"We are heavily focused on delivering this work on schedule," Joe Macri said. "These recent successes are further evidence of the confidence our heavy mining industry leaders have shown in supporting the local steel construction industry.There are huge challenges posed by the current resources boom, but we continue to meet them while also achieving the highest safety and quality standards."

"The fact that BlueScope Steel is a local supplier was a key factor in the decision to use XLERPLATE® steel. "More and more these days, clients are setting harder and harder time schedules. Because of that, you don't have a lot of flexibility in procurement, if you lose any time in your supply schedule, it impacts on the whole program."

"We couldn't afford to take a risk with an overseas steel supplier, there are too many unknowns, there could be political issues, problems in sea delivery, industrial issues and logistical problems. We would always prefer to use Australian steel," he adds. "It's more readily available, the lead times and deliveries are reliable and communication with your supplier is much easier as well."