Tag Archives: John Holland

John Holland on track at Fortescue’s Eliwana iron ore project

Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , ,

Infrastructure and rail company, John Holland, says it has achieved a major milestone at the Eliwana Mine and Rail project by successfully laying the final piece of 143 km of heavy haul rail track in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The track works are part of a A$130 million ($90 million) contract with Fortescue Metals Group, which will also see an extension to the existing signalling and train control systems and a traffic capacity upgrade to communication infrastructure.

When completed, the greenfield project will connect the new Eliwana iron ore mine to the existing Fortescue Hammersley Line.

The John Holland team will now focus on final destressing works for 130 km of the track, siding extension works, final grinding and correction. Final ballasting and tamping work for about 60 km of the track is on schedule. All remaining track works are to be completed by June 2021, the company said. The signalling and communication works are well ahead of schedule to be delivered by the end of 2021, it added.

John Holland Rail Delivery Manager, John Ma, said the team had worked hard to ensure the project progressed despite weather and access challenges throughout the course of construction.

“The safe unloading of the last long weld rail off the final rail train on the Eliwana project was a significant moment for us,” he said. “It’s a huge undertaking – more than 240,000 sleepers were laid as well as 400,000 t of ballast dropped with more than 12,000 welds joining the tracks together.

“Working in a remote and often volatile environment has its challenges, but I am proud that the team were able to demonstrate our capability to manage complex logistics and high-production welding facilities while enabling efficient project delivery.”

Remaining track work is scheduled to be completed by late June, while signalling construction will be complete by the end of August. Testing and integration of the track will be finalised in December.

Around 90 km west of Tom Price, the Eliwana mine celebrated the production of its first ore in December 2020. At full capacity, the mine will produce 30 Mt/y.

John Holland keeps Rio Tinto and Fortescue iron ore projects on track

Mineral project development, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , ,

Infrastructure and rail specialist, John Holland, is currently mobilising advanced specialist railway fleet to carry out maintenance and service support across the Western Australia rail network.

The mass assembly of equipment involves the refurbishment and service of multi-million dollar machinery at John Holland’s Welshpool Plant Operations Centre including Tampers, Regulators, Mobile Flashbutt welders and the New Track Construction Machine (NTC, pictured).

In August, this specialised rail construction equipment will be shipped to the Pilbara for projects owned by Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group. John Holland still maintains a significant rail specialised plant presence at its South West based operations, including a maintenance contract with the Public Transport Authority and project works with Arc Infrastructure, the company said.

“As it’s only used every few years, there’s always a buzz with rail enthusiasts when the NTC is unpacked from storage,” John Holland Plant Operations Manager, Anne Williams (also pictured), said. “It was most recently used to lay 350 km of railway at Roy Hill and, prior to that, it was used in the construction of the Perth to Mandurah Rail Line.”

John Holland Plant Services has been in operating in Western Australia for 22 years and at the current Welshpool location for six years. According to Williams, her local team of 26 are proud to do their bit in supporting the Australian economy.

“John Holland own the largest privately owned specialist railways maintenance fleet in Australia, which includes fully equipped service vehicles. We also manufacture and carry out modification of specialised rail track machines,” she said.

“It’s well known that Western Australia’s mining industry is playing a significant role in the economy and our role is to provide this industry with much-needed infrastructure to keep it moving forward.”

Fortescue engages John Holland for rail work at Eliwana iron ore project

Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , ,

Australia-based infrastructure and rail company, John Holland, has secured a A$130 million ($90 million) contract with Fortescue Metals Group to construct 143 km of railway tracks and signalling at its Eliwana iron ore project in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The track construction works will connect the new Eliwana Rail Line to the existing Fortescue Hamersley Line to Port Hedland, with the engagement seeing John Holland manage a newly upgraded rail welding facility in Port Hedland as well as the design, construct and integration of the signalling and train control systems.

The company will also procure and manufacture the signalling system wayside equipment from its Canning Vale fabrication warehouse and complete all civil and electrical installations of the wayside signalling systems on site, it said.

In line with this contract award and others in Western Australia, John Holland says it is looking to recruit 400 new workers across its Western Australian projects.

It currently employs more than 5,000 people across its construction, tunnelling, rail and building projects in Australia, and strengthened its rail, engineering and construction capacity after it acquired RCR O’Donnell Griffin’s rail business – saving 400 jobs in the process.

John Holland Operations Manager, Rob Hennessy, said the Western Australia team was very proud to bring this solution to market for Fortescue.

“It has been a goal of the WA rail team to bid for more integrated projects in the WA market and we are pleased to partner with Fortescue and play a significant part in a world-class iron ore project,” he said.

“John Holland is a major Australian employer and continues to honour its 70-year history of contribution to the local community.”

Once completed, the $1.275 billion Eliwana project, which also includes the building of a 30 Mt/y ore processing facility, will maintain Fortescue’s overall production rate of a minimum 170 Mt/y over 20 years, the company said.