TELESCOPIC belt conveyors (Telebelts)from concrete specialist Putzmeister are playing a key role in helping build Qatar’s multi-billion-dollar new port project, which is on track for completion in 2016.

Spanning an area of 26.5 sq km, the QR27 billion ($7.4 billion) mega-project includes a new port with a capacity to handle six million containers a year, a new base for the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces and the Qatar Economic Zone 3,  and is being constructed as part of the massive infrastructure developments in preparation for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Since construction commenced in January 2011, contractor China Harbour Engineering Company has made significant progress in basin excavation, land reclamation and quay wall and breakwater construction. Additionally, enabling works for dredging and naval base reclamation are being advanced by the Middle East Dredging Company with two of the world’s largest cutter suction dredgers, Ambiorix and D’Artagnan, commencing on-site work early this year.

The first prefabricated concrete block for the 8-km quay wall was laid last July, with the entire wall requiring a total of 35,000 blocks, each weighing between 40 and 90 tonnes. This logistical challenge is being met head-on by four Putzmeister Telebelt TBS 130 machines operated jointly by Fahad Bin Abdulla Ready Mix (FBA) and China Harbour Engineering Company.

A view of the giant concrete blocks needed to build the new quay wall.

FBA and China Harbour Engineering are responsible for supplying and pouring 4 million cu m of concrete on site, according to FBA project manager Khalid Ali.

A wall made of prefabricated concrete components will be built for the new port and the area behind the wall will be further excavated and then backfilled. A concrete wall for a pier will also be constructed while a breakwater will protect the ships in the harbour. 

FBA has to pour 3 million cu m of prefabricated blocks over three years and is currently working on the quay wall, which alone will require approximately 1.8 million cu m of concrete.

Each of the 2-m-high concrete blocks has a “nub” on the top and a corresponding recess on the underside so that the wall can be constructed like a large Lego structure. The voids are then filled with soil.

A 120-tonne gantry  crane has been installed on the Eastern Container Terminal One footprint to maximise productivity and efficiencies in quay wall construction. The crane operates on a 24-hour basis, installing precast quay wall blocks to a design height of over 18 m.

FBA is manufacturing the blocks into the required shapes using four Telebelt TBS 130s from Putzmeister, the first time such machines have been used in Qatar. “Built in the US and Germany, the machine is perfect for this job because it uses a conveyor belt instead of a pump and transports the unpumpable bulk concrete more quickly and efficiently. The machine can deliver up to 275 cu m of concrete per hour,” says Don Matthews, a ‘Telebelt guru’ from Putzmeister America. 

“Like a concrete pump, the Telebelt is also operated with a radio remote control. Speed is almost always the most important aspect of filling formwork and the Telebelt does not disappoint,” Matthews adds.

The next major ‘new port project’ contract to be awarded will be for the container terminal infrastructure and buildings package.