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Upon completion in 2014, Queensland Curtis LNG Plant (QCLNG) will convert coal seam gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG), providing cleaner hydrocarbon energy for export markets, along with creating thousands of jobs and boosting the local economy. The project is being developed by QGC Pty Ltd, a division of the BG Group, a leading player in the global energy market with operations in more than 25 countries across five continents. Equipment from Putzmeister has been working to place concrete at the site since last fall. The future LNG production plant QCLNG, located on Curtis Island in Gladstone Harbour, Australia, consists of the construction of a world-class LNG plant. Upon completion, the plant will comprise two LNG production units, known as trains, each able to produce more than 4 million tons of LNG per year; two storage tanks each able to hold nearly 140,000m³ of LNG; a marine facility for passenger and equipment transportation between the mainland and Curtis Island; and marine loading facilities for LNG cargoes. Most of the 120,000m³ of concrete needed for the plant and accompanying structures for the project is being placed by Putzmeister equipment, including two 47 Meter and two 36 Meter truck-mounted concrete boom pumps along with six MX 43 Meter placing booms.
Project Details
Occupying less than two percent of the island, the plant facility is surrounded by an environmental protection zone. The site can accommodate an expansion to more than 12 million tonnes per year of LNG, a colourless, odourless, non-toxic and non-corrosive liquid. For the project, Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd. was chosen as the general contractor and purchased the Putzmeister placing systems. Meales Concrete Pumping fromBisbane is supplying the Putzmeister truck-mounted concrete pumps and high pressure trailer pumps.
Additional marine facilities consist of ferry terminals for passenger ferries, along with docks and ramps for the barges that transport all the construction vehicles. Eventually, a “jetty” will be built, which will be where ships will pull into to get loaded with LNG once the plant is completed.
On occasion, to supplement the M 47Z’s, a M 36 Meter assists in the placement of concrete. The M 36 is used in addition to the M 47’s on mat pours greater than 1,200m³, and for smaller miscellaneous pours, such as many of the pedestals that will support the plant upon completion.
Since the MX 43-5 is the industry’s largest placing boom that does not require a counterweight, it has helped to significantly reduce congestion on the work site. The crew also is using the M 47’s to support the placing boom systems on larger tank wall pours.
Each tank will require 10 wall pours at about 4m high, each of which are poured in a complete ring. The base of each tank will be poured in four sections that include two outer ring pours and two inner floor pours with each pour consisting of about 1,000m³ of concrete.
»The tanks are about 90m in diameter, which gives you a circumference of more than 280m,« explained Lethbridge. »The placing booms were chosen because they gave the crew complete coverage of the walls, and offer enough reach to access the top of the tanks to pour the roof.« The placing booms are primarily responsible for placing concrete for the walls, and roof of the tank structures. On the lower sections of the tank walls, which are thicker than the top portions, and therefore require more concrete placement, the M 47’s are being used to help supplement the pours. »The truck-mounted pumps allow the pours to be finished in a shorter period of time than if just the three placing booms were being used,« explained Lethbridge. »This helps the crew to better meet its deadlines, which is vital to any construction project.«