Fortescue Metals Group’s (FMG’s) Eliwana mine is located 140 kilometres west of Solomon in Western Australia’s Pilbara Region. The operation included 143 kilometres of new heavy haul rail linking to the existing FMG Hamersley rail line and a 30 megatonnes per annum processing facility.

BG&E provided structural, civil and construction engineering services for Fortescue, including the detailed structural design of two railway overpass bridges, a railway arch overpass structure, and culvert structures associated with the Eliwana project. BG&E provided construction support services – leveraging our experience in the construction of steel bridges in the Pilbara region.

The unique railway bridge designs consisted of separate rail and road bridge superstructures supported by a shared substructure.

Both bridge superstructures comprised modularised steel through-girders, with the first featuring two twin 31.5 metre spans and the second consisting of six spans totalling 228 metres.

The bridges solved difficult detailing challenges associated with skewed piers supporting through-girder bridges with square slab joints. The bridges were constructed over and around third party assets including heavy haul rail, access roads and a mine services corridor (access, services, and haul road).

The structure carries the FMG rail over the future Main Roads WA project to complete the final stages of the Karratha Tom Price Road.