Hay Point in Australia is to be expanded and preparation to begin on a Port Development Master Plan. Peter McIntyre, Aurecon’s Regional Leader, North Queensland and Project Leader today said: “Our joint venture with Hatch works on a range of specific coal based projects and has just been engaged to develop a Master Plan for the Port of Hay Point. North Queensland Bulk Ports commissioned the JV to prepare the master plan.”This plan is being developed in response to pressure from industry to at least double the export capacity of the coal terminal over the next five to ten years.

McIntyre continued and said: “This plan also must take into account sustainability issues even though the port of Hay Point is already one of the largest coal export ports in the world,” he said.

“Demand is significant for coal and we fully expect this to increase so ensuring that our infrastructure needs are met is the logical first step,” he said.

Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal and the Hay Point Services Coal Terminal currently have a combined design capacity of around 130 Mt/y and it is expected that future requirements will be approximately 250 to 300 Mt/y. The master plan is to consider integrating the Dudgeon Point site into the Port to provide additional coal terminals to meet this expansion.

“Our JV expects to release this plan during the latter half of 2011 and this plan will detail the proposed location and size of coal stockpiles, wharves, roads, rail and other site infrastructure. The plan will also include buffer zones – areas to be allocated for conservation and to help buffer the nearby communities from port activities.

“The government also expects this work to create many flow on jobs for the area and, at a time when many communities are still feeling the impact of the recent Queensland floods, this is good news all around.”