Tagged: Iron Ore

When QuayQuip’s design engineers were asked to create Cone Fender systems for Berth 7 at Geraldton, West Australia, they were faced with an interesting challenge.

Berth 7 would be fitted with Cavotec mooring systems. The gap between units along the quay front was too cramped for conventional chain and anchor designs. The concrete shell design of the quay also meant that the ‘cone’ of shear forces must be begin far back into the finished structure: something that even the best conventional anchor systems could not achieve. A novel design was called for.

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The last two years have been busy for QuayQuip at Cape Preston, West Australia. The Sino Iron project, CITIC Pacific’s huge new magnetite extraction and processing facility, has developed rapidly – QuayQuip are proud to have contributed fender systems and structures worth just over $2 million, across many of the berths in its new, purpose-built port.

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QuayQuip has just won another major order for an iron ore transhipment berth, following the recent success with Moma Sands. The London Mining plc’s Marampa Iron Ore Mine will be served by a barge loading facility at Thofayem, 50km upstream of from the Sierra Leone capital Freeport, on the southern bank of the Port Loko River. The installation will be QuayQuip’s largest true ‘Flat Pack Port’ to date.

London Mining plc was founded in 2005 to supply ore to the global steel industry. Headquartered in the UK, it currently operates in Africa, the Americas, the Arabian peninsula and China. Marampa was acquired in 2006. The mine first operated between 1933 and 1975; approval was recently granted to London Mining to restart production. The facility is eventually expected to handle between five and eight million tonnes of ore per year.

In mid-October 2010, QuayQuip tendered for the manufacture and supply of the entire berth. The winning design’s main structure is a series of 22 floating, interlocking platform sections, each 12m long and 3.5m wide: a total length of 260m, 45 guide piles and a 30m gangway, all supplied by QuayQuip.

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In July an article looked at QuayQuip’s latest Pivot Fender project. As its fender systems enter service we will examine the project in more detail and share images of the installation process.

The brief

The $1.75 million order, built and installed in China, is designed to serve iron ore barges of 16,000dwt. Just under 28 million tonnes per year of processed ore will pass through the facility.

The berth posed formidable challenges: the approach height range exceeds 13m, and the structure will be subject to upward forces from wave action combined with resonance and overturning moments.

The design

QuayQuip decided to move beyond old-school design approaches. Conventional systems would have been unstable, maintenance-prone. They would also need bulky supporting structures. The design team instead combined an innovative fender panel design with hinge technology, already proved durable by the dredging industry. Designers used the latest CAD software and FEM techniques to model the lightest possible fender systems and supporting structure, all to a finer precision than would have been possible even a few years ago.

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QuayQuip recently supplied the fendering for Utah Point, the latest development at Port Hedland in Western Australia. Twenty three specialist fender systems, designed for rapid installation, were mounted to sub-frames that were tailored to fit the overhanging dock structure. In total over 500 tonnes of steel were installed.

Utah Point is the latest development by the Port Hedland Port Authority. The new facility, on Finucane Island, will expand Port Hedland’s capacity for iron, chromite and manganese ores and allow for future growth in other bulk commodities.

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