Heavy haul
ahead of track laying. Mott MacDonald will also oversee construction post- design with two vast Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts required along with an operating contract.
Brazilian mining giant Vale brought in GT26CU-2 locomotives to launch its coal haulage to Beira port.
After the debacle of rail concessioning in Mozambique, compounded by the turbulent history of concessions in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the ENRC rail corridor will be established as a build, operate and transfer arrangement. The new railway will be open for use by all players in the Moatize basin, and at the insistence of the government, passenger services will be added. Trains of 300 wagon are envisaged to serve the line with a frequency of between 27-36 per week per direction, with 24-hour operation. Mott MacDonald says that the line will be 1435mm-gauge to achieve a wagon capacity of 110 tonnes, give access to a greater range of rolling stock options from global suppliers for the fleet of 3500 wagons and 100 diesel locomotives required, and support the much-publicised long-term desire of the Southern African Development Countries, including Mozambique, to move to standard gauge.
Vale has already transported over 1 million tonnes of coal since it began using the Sena line to Beira in September 2011. Photo: Vale
The Mozambique government is demanding that a certain percentage of local labour is involved in the project to distribute wealth into areas impacted by construction. At the peak of the construction phase 15,000 people are anticipated to be involved laying up to 4km of track per day.
Whether this will equate to long-term benefits for the country remains to be seen. Both Vale and Rio Tinto have been heavily criticised for their treatment of local communities when developing their mining enterprises following relocations. And with less stringent regulations than the developed world, their environmental practices on African projects have also been brought into question. Tete certainly has the potential to do
The new Vale line will have sufficient capacity for additional freight and passenger services. Photo: Paul Ash
challenge to construction along with the formidable Shire River. The study anticipates that approximately 52km of bridges and viaducts will be built including an 8km viaduct over the Shire. However, the route will not
38 require any tunnelling.
Geo-technical investigations are due to be completed by the end of this year, while road access and construction camps will be established in 2013. Preparatory work will then follow
great things for Mozambique and help the country leave the shadow of its civil war once and for all. The government is reportedly exploring the possibility of securing Chinese finance to back its own port and railway project to link the Moatize to Nacala, again reflecting the importance of this to the future of the country. But to realise this potential, strong and secure leadership is required at the very top to build on encouraging early economic growth that will benefit not only western mining companies but Mozambique’s people and society as a whole. IRJ
IRJ October 2012
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