Budimex has completed the expansion of Żelazny Most

The expansion of the ‘Żelazny Most’ Tailings Storage Facility for KGHM Polska Miedź, carried out by Budimex SA since 2018, has come to an end – 7 months before the deadline. ‘Żelazny Most’ is the largest facility of its kind in Europe. It can even be seen from space. Thirty Kazimierz Górski National Stadiums would fit on its surface.

The signing of the main contract with the Investor – the Hydrotechnical Department of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. – and the start of work took place in May 2018. The construction of the facility was divided into two contracts. The first one concerned the construction of the eastern dam in the Rudna Municipality area and the western dam in the Polkowice Municipality area. The second contract was the construction of water, electrical and telecommunication infrastructure together with control and measurement equipment.

"Żelazny Most’ is environmentally neutral and completely protects the natural surroundings from water accumulating in the reservoir. When expanding the facility, the safest method of dam construction and sealing was implemented, both from a hydrotechnical and environmental point of view. – ‘Żelazny Most’ is one of the world’s largest tailings storage reservoirs. ‘In order to extend it with the Southern Quarter, we used state-of-the-art technologies which guarantee the safe and effective use of the facility" says Artur Popko, President of Budimex SA.

"On the construction site, we maintained a high level of cooperation between many teams of the Budimex Group. More than 100 of our equipment units were working on the site, some of which were purchased specifically for this investment. The equipment works were carried out by our Equipment Services Department. The progress of works, on the other hand, was laser scanned and continuously updated in the BIM system, in cooperation with the BIM Innovation Team of the Budimex SA Technical Office. As a result, Budimex, as part of the construction of the reservoir, processed 30 million tons of soil and built 140 km of water supply and power and technical installations" adds Artur Popko.

The total area of the South Quarters of the facility is about 600 ha, while the Żelazny Most Main Facility has a total area of about 1,500 ha. Waste from the copper ore flotation process from the Ore Enrichment Plants of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. will be deposited in the basin of the Southern Quarter. Simultaneously with the development of the reservoir, the superstructure of the Main Facility, i.e. the current reservoir, was carried out.

The net value of the contract amounted to PLN 588 million.

Żelazny Most is a unique hydro-technical facility because during its operation, embankments are built up with the material deposited in the basin, as the amount of stored waste increases. It is expected that by 2035, after reaching the maximum dam level, the volume of the Southern Quarter will be approximately 170 million m3.

‘Żelazny Most’ is the largest facility of its kind in Europe. Construction of the existing reservoir began in 1974. Three years later, its operation and simultaneous expansion began.

Budimex, as a leader in the construction industry, has completed many hydro-technical projects. It is the constructor of, e.g., the Racibórz Dolny anti-flood reservoir, and currently conducts works concerning reconstruction of a system of spurs and regulatory structures on the Odra river sections in the area of Osinowo Dolne, Gozdowice – Stara Rudnica, Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Górzyca and the area of Słubice. The company is also implementing the second stage of the waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Bay of Gdańsk.

Jacek Sasin – Minister of State Assets: "KGHM is carrying out investments worth PLN 10 billion. Żelazny Most is one of KGHM’s main investments. We are glad that such an installation has been built. I would like to thank everyone involved, especially the employees of KGHM, for this investment."

Mariusz Chludziński – President of the Management Board of KGHM Polska Miedź: "Construction took about 3 years. The construction works were completed very quickly and completed ahead of the contractual deadline. It is the largest investment of this type in Europe. I’d like to thank Budimex for its good and constructive cooperation. I’m glad that this investment was carried out by Polish companies."

Dariusz Blocher – Member of the Supervisory Board of Budimex: "It is the people that were behind the success of this project, on the side of the investor, offices and our employees. It was a very well prepared investment and efficiently implemented by us. We had the means and resources to process one hundred thousand tons of soil on this construction site on one day. Under standard construction work conditions, this level of soil work takes about a month."