GAC’s Bridge 2 safely completed and now open to traffic

Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) SA, a major contributor in the mining sector in Guinea, is pleased to announce the opening of Bridge 2, at the mine site of its project in Tinguilinta. The bridge was opened by M. Mohamed Lamine Doumbouya the Prefect of Boké.

Bridge 2 was designed to allow the safe and uninterrupted flow of traffic along the public highway, whilst simultaneously permitting GAC’s bauxite trains to pass underneath before joining the existing railway link that travels down to Kamsar.

The box-type construction of Bridge 2 took the contractor and sub-contractors, Fluor and COLAS, almost 12 months to complete, and was opened on schedule and within budget.

At a short presentation watched by dozens of engineers and artisans from GAC, Fluor and COLAS, Steeve Tremblay, GAC’s Project Director, paid tribute to Government officials and authorities from Boke, including the Governor, the Prefect, the Mayor and the District President, as well as the local community and the 120 or so contractors and sub-contractors. who all played their part in creating this significant structure.

Mr Tremblay described the vastness of this bridgework and its associated parts: “300,000 man hours were needed to mix and pour 40,000m3 of reinforced concrete , whilst 1.6km of new highway was built and topped with 12,000m2 of asphalt, and all to enable 4km of new track to be laid which will tie into the existing rail network.”

“We are extremely pleased that we have completed this significant piece of infrastructure, safely and on time,” said Tremblay. “The fact that we were able to do so under budget and without any issues is testament to superb planning, integrated teamwork and a can-do approach by all concerned. Indeed, this has been the hallmark of GAC’s project work.”

With the opening of Bridge 2, track work can now begin in earnest on the loop which will allow wagons to be loaded and the laden trains to join the existing rail network for their journey to the coast. Meanwhile, work continues on other infrastructure elements at both the mine plateaus, the Tinguilinta Platform and at Kamsar.

The total budgeted project cost of the GAC’s project is $1.4 billion, with first exports of bauxite during the the second half of 2019.