2020 CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEERING AWARDS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Vaudreuil VB 2022 – Phase I
HATCH
“This project will have positive, longlasting impacts for the environment and become a global benchmark for the industry.” –Jury 60
www.canadianconsultingengineer.com
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Rio Tinto sought an alternative to closing its Vaudreuil Works alumina refinery in Saguenay, Que., in 2022. The refinery is the largest centre of inorganic chemistry in Canada, converting bauxite into alumina, using the Bayer process, and storing discarded bauxite residue in a special residue disposal area (RDA). Constrained by the RDA’s capacity, the mining company engaged Hatch in 2016 for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services through to pre-operational verifications (POVs), from a prefeasibility study (PFS) to final project delivery, to either expand the RDA or open a new one, achieve filtered residue with at least 70% solids content and maintain the facility’s operations. The team delivered the project one month ahead of schedule and below the estimated cost, ensuring the plant’s viability. Key priorities With the RDA’s capacity posing a constraint to the expansion of the operational life of the plant, the scope
of the project’s first phase—launched in 2018—involved transporting the residue via pipelines to a filtration facility and moving disposal to existing RDA sites by conveyor. The entire plant’s operations depended on timelines. Any delay in project implementation and any future operational issues would affect the refinery’s production, due to its limited storage capacity for residue. In June 2019, the client asked Hatch to accelerate the delivery of the first filtered residue, to assist operations. Once a detailed execution plan was workshopped, the first red mud was filtered on Oct. 24 of that year, four weeks ahead of the baseline deterministic schedule. The budget was also important to the client. Hatch was awarded a mandate to complete the PFS with an incentive to reduce the project’s total installed cost (TIC). The final cost was well below the approved budget. Another key priority was zero harm. A customized health, safety and environment (HSE) mobile app was developed to simplify declarations while matching Rio Tinto’s manage-
October/November 2020
2020-10-05 9:16 AM
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