Heavy-haul freight
Corporation of America (Alcoa), operates the Boké Railway, which has been quietly getting on with heavy haul for the last 40 years with six-daily 13,000-tonne bauxite trains behind pairs of EMD SD40-2 locomotives. And in Mauritania, 16,800-tonne ore trains run most days on the 704km Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) line from the mines at Zuoerate to the port at Nouadhibou, incidentally providing a vital passenger service for locals across the road-less desert. What is new to the region, however, is the massive scale of the projects, and, in some cases, the sheer speed at which they are being accomplished, driven as always by the urgency of China’s need for raw materials. This report covers the major heavy-haul rail projects either currently underway or where construction is imminent.
Liberia
In 2007, ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, won a concession to redevelop the slumbering Tokadeh Mine in the north of the country and rebuild the port of Buchanan and the old Lamco railway which had ceased operating in 1992 after rebel attacks. As
Existing railways Planned lines Disused lines
ArcelorMittal has revived Liberia’s Lamco railway to carry iron-ore from Tokadeh to the port of Buchanan.
a result, the railway needed a complete overhaul from the ballast up. “The challenge Liberia faced - to rebuild a country after decades of civil war - was enormous,” ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML)
spokesperson Ms Hesta Pearson told IRJ. “The railway was badly damaged and had to be rehabilitated. AML had to re-ballast the tracks, replace rails and sleepers, rebuild all bridges, replace culverts and construct rail access roads.” By the time AML took
over, most of the railway’s original locomotives had rusted away but much of the rolling stock could be saved. Better yet, the line itself was mostly intact, if hidden in the undergrowth. “In fact local villagers used parts of the line with small hand-propelled trolleys named ‘make-a-ways’ to take produce to market,” says a source close to the project. “These were quite rustic being made of wood with old car bearings for ‘wheels’.” AML chose Brazilian
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West Africa Fria
Kindia
Matakang Conakry
Tagrin Point N SIERRA LEONE 0 km 50 Mano River Atlantic Ocean Monrovia Buchanan LIBERIA
contractor Odebrecht to rebuild the 243km stretch from the Tokadeh mine to Buchanan. The company wanted to get the line back in operation as quickly as possible. After clearing the vegetation, every fourth sleeper under the original 59.9kg rail was replaced, opening the line for ballast trains, after which the remaining sleepers were replaced.
Meanwhile, the company set about
repairing rolling stock. By the end of 2011, 195 of the original ore wagons had received new bogies, brakes and rotary couplers - crucial for use in rotary tipplers at the port - and two 90-wagon rakes were available for service. To haul them, AML bought three new 3.3MW ES44AC locomotives from GE to complement a solitary EMD GP38-3 locomotive. The line reopened to traffic in May
2011. In September that year, Liberia exported ore for the first time in 20 years and by the following December, three ore carriers had been loaded at Buchanan and there was a large stockpile awaiting shipment. The total bill for refurbishment of the railway, mine, port and ancillary infrastructure was $US 800m. “We currently run two trains a day, with 70 wagons per train,” says Pearson. Frequency will increase to three trains a day in the dry season. Loads are 80-90 tonnes per wagon, although tonnage varies according to
IRJ January 2013 Nimba Bong Tokadeh
IVORY COAST
Pepel Port Freetown
Port Loko Tonkolili Lunsar/Marampa Mine Simandou Kérouané GUINEA Ouré Kaba Kalia Douako Kankan IRJ
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