VOPAK HORIZON FUJAIRAH LTD OIL TERMINAL IN UAEEXPANSION OF ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUNKERING CENTRES In the Gulf of Oman, on the East coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Emirate of Fujairah, is one of the world's largest bunkering centres. Vopak Horizon Fujairah Ltd (VHFL) operates an independent onshore oil terminal, designed to handle products including naphtha, gasoline, gas, oil, kerosene, methanol, methyl tertiary buthyl ether (MTBE) and fuel oil. VHFL intend to build additional petroleum products storage tanks and handling facilities in the vacant plot next to the existing VHFL facilities, with piping connections to existing VHFL Berths for receiving, storing and exporting class 1, 2 and 3 petroleum products. The project is named as "Phase 6 Expansion" and has both Onshore and Offshore Works."The petroleum products are received from tanker vessels berthing at one of the six existing berths and one Single Point Mooring (SPM) of the VHFL jetty. The terminal can accept tankers of up to 175,000 DWT. The Onshore Works for the Phase 6 Expansion primarily consist of new storage tanks and associated facilities within the terminal and jetty piping to the battery limit that separates the Onshore and Offshore facilities", Project Manager and Senior Engineer, Guus Driessen elaborates. The Phase 6 Offshore Works consist of two components: the new pipes and associated mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works from Onshore Battery Limit up to the existing berths and the marine civil works to facilitate installation of new pipelines.Guus continues, 'Royal Haskoning has been commissioned to review the tender design and supervise the offshore contract works. The design and construction for the offshore contract has been assigned to Athena S.A. Within the scope of this contract additional piping, fittings and strengthening of the existing trestle have to be provided as some sections of the existing trestle structures are not capable of carrying the additional pipeline loads. 'The existing truss capacity is upgraded by adding another tier on top, accommodating seven new pipe lines. Verification calculations of the truss include load-history calculations: The stresses in the structure before changing the geometry need to be included after geometry modifications and after adding the weight of the new pipes. However, the design will be easy compared to the construction of the new tier; Installation of the new tier is only possible when the existing pipes are not in operation. The Contractor has to manoeuvre carefully between safety requirements and small operational windows when the berths are not occupied. Land reclamation in front of the VHFL terminal is ongoing for further future expansion of the terminal. Royal Haskoning is providing technical assistance for this as well", Guus adds.Guus Driessen g.driessen@haskoning.ae+971 50 910 6875rangeinternational >> 11

Hyundai has been awarded the EPC Contract which officially commenced on 20th October 2010 and has subsequently appointed Royal Haskoning as the lead designer. Hyundai's contract also requires design of the second phase, dredging and navigation channel design. Royal Haskoning will complete all this work for Hyundai. Detailed design is being undertaken on the basis of the tender design prepared in our Newcastle office and is due to be completed within eleven months from commencement. Hyundai's programme is challenging and Royal Haskoning is working closely with the contractor and other parties to carefully manage the fast track design process to ensure the construction details are practical and buildable. Aspects of the designRoyal Haskoning Project Director Tim Bownes explains how the project began in an atmosphere of collaboration: "The kick off workshop was proposed to bring all parties together and to begin a series of discussions on critical aspects of the design. The Ministry of Public Works Mega Projects Division Kuwait kindly hosted the first session of the kick off workshop. Wide ranging discussions on geotechnical, reclamation, quay wall and environmental issues took place during the first two days. The break in the proceedings was used to move the meeting to the UK and bring together all of the European based engineers and technical staff from Royal Haskoning for discussions with Hyundai; to check on design progress and interfaces and numerous technical issues. Further workshops took place, covering dredging, revetments and navigation channel design with a final day at Wallingford to talk about the physical modelling to be undertaken by HR Wallingford as part of Royal Haskoning's design responsibilities".Team approachWhy the need for such extensive discussions? "Hyundai and Royal Haskoning are very much advocating a team approach. Aside from the fact that good communications are at the heart of any project, the speed of this one dictates it is the only approach to adopt", says Tim. "The technical challenges are substantial, mainly brought about by the nature of the site. The location selected by Ministry of Public Works is in an area of deep silty deposits at the head of the Arabian Gulf. The tender design process examined a number of solutions including suspended decks and gravity structures. Through close working with Hyundai, a solution utilising a large combi-wall together with deep soil mixing and band drain/surcharging was selected. It appears this may be the first time a combi-wall and deep soil mixing has been used together so it is vital all parties discuss the various aspects of design and construction", Tim adds."The design work is now in full swing and very detailed studies are being made of the predicted behaviour of the wall and its interaction with the deep soil mixing zone and unconsolidated silt. To an extent this is a mix of cultures; combi-walls are widespread in Europe, deep soil mixing is common in the Far East. There is great interest in how these two will meet in Kuwait. We are fortunate to have experts with wide experience of both and to be working with a contractor who is determined to succeed", Tim comments. In order to provide further reassurance, engineers from Royal Haskoning's Large Walls Group will provide peer review services which we have adopted as standard practice for significant retaining structures.Royal Haskoning is employed by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company as designer on the Boubyan Seaport project where the $1billion first phase is underway at the mouth of the Tigris in north east Kuwait. The most interesting part of the project: the synergy that will be created by the mix of cultures. An unusual mix of cultures at the >> 12rangeinternational