Construction starts on rock phosphate terminal in Jordan

INTRODUCTION
Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) is a Jordan-based company which employs about 4,000 people, operates three mines, and produces phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and fertilizers. Phosphate rock is exported through the phosphate rock terminal in the main port. Fertilizers, phosphoric acid and other related exports and imports through the fertilizer complex at the industrial terminal in the South port of Aqaba, Jordan. JPMC is the largest mining and industrial employer in Jordan and is the sixth-largest producer of high-quality phosphate rock and the second-biggest exporter worldwide.
As part of a strategic plan by the government for the Port of Aqaba, the existing phosphate rock export terminal in the main port must be transferred to the south port. The new terminal mustbe completed and put into operation by the second half of 2012. Royal Haskoning, an independent, worldwide operating
consultancy firm, founded in The Netherlands, assisted JPMC with the design, preparation of tender documents, evaluation of tenders, and awarding contracts. Currently Royal Haskoning is involved in checking of the contractor’s design and the supervision during construction together with JPMC.
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The new phosphate rock export terminal comprises a land terminal including a large truck intake station, three bulk flat stores with a total storage capacity of 240,000 tonnes, conveying equipment, offices and workshop, and a marine terminal including surge bins, a jetty with approach trestle, two 2,200tph (tonnes per hour) shiploaders and conveying equipment. The land terminal and marine terminal will be connected by two parallel overhead pipe conveyors.
At the land terminal after huge excavation works the required soil levels of the buildings have been reached, the foundations and walls of the belt conveyor tunnels underneath the bulk flat stores have been cast and the areas between the tunnels filled with the original soil material. Currently the floors with the outlet hoppers of the bulk flat stores are being constructed (see photo above).
At the marine terminal a jack-up piling rig has driven test piles in order to determine the required length of the piles to obtain the design load for the jetty (see photo above). The jetty and the two mooring dolphins will be constructed with steel tubular piles and concrete deck structures and are designed to safely and adequately handle vessels up to 100,000dwt.
Due to the use of wide span rail mounted shiploaders with a rail gauge of 42.5 metres, the jetty consists of two separate jetty structures which are connected by access bridges while a
60-metre-long approach trestle will connect the jetty with the onshore marine terminal.
In total, 167 piles will need to be driven into the seabed. The pile splicing yard is located close to the future jetty location which allows the piles to be transferred via water to the required location (see photo on p21).
The construction of the supports for the pipe conveyors will start soon. Since the land terminal and the marine terminal are located 1.6km apart with the existing industrial facilities of JPMC in between, the means of transport of phosphate had to be non-intrusive and dust and spillage free.