Innovative execution center optimizes performance
Daunia was one of several large endeavors Bechtel managed through the innovative Brisbane Hub. This execution center was formed to plan and optimize large-scale projects owned by BHP Billiton and its partners. These included four nearby metallurgical coal projects in the Bowen Basin: Caval Ridge, Hay Point Expansion Stage 3, Broadmeadow and South Walker Creek.
The Hub model enabled Bechtel and its customer to work together directly in a planned long-term arrangement for the most effective delivery in terms of budget, schedule, safety and quality improvements, and risk reduction during construction.
Supporting the worldwide steel industry
By value, coal is Queensland's most important export commodity, and Queensland is the world's largest exporter of seaborne coal. Steelmakers use some 60 percent of the state's coal exports. The Hay Point Terminal—which Bechtel expanded—enables mines such as Daunia to meet the growing need for hard coking coal used to manufacture steel. Massive ships fill their hulls with coal bound for destinations around the world, including Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
The process begins at Daunia and its sister mines. Crews use excavators and trucks to collect from the pit. They transport coal to the surface using rear dump trucks, which follow the haul road and deliver their cargo to a processing plant.
Trains transport the commodity to the coal-handling complex, where personnel unload, stack, reclaim, and blend as necessary before conveyors transfer it onto each ship.
During construction, the mine development created 450 construction and 300 operation jobs.
The project included:
- Bridges, culverts, and bulk earthworks
- A coal-handling and processing plant that can handle 800 metric tons of coal per hour
- Separate stockpiles for semi-hard coking coal and pulverized coal for injection
- Access and haul roads, power reticulation works, and water supply
- A train-loading facility
