Lesedi Bulk Fuel Terminal
Lesedi bulk fuel terminal in Gauteng, South Africa
In 2016, Dutch multinational company Royal Vopak appointed Zutari for the financial and schedule due diligence of a bulk fuel terminal at its operations in Heidelberg, Gauteng. The project included the construction of a co-mingled storage basis of four 20,000 m³ tanks and two 10,000 m³ tanks.
The terminal has road tanker dispatching facilities with the addition of re-injection back into the Transnet Pipelines (TPL) inland network via the Inland Terminal (TM2). Throughout the project, Zutari supported the client in various roles as part of the IMT managing contractor and owner’s engineer.
Zutari is also responsible for site management and construction supervision, with the planned completion date being towards the end of 2020.
The project site was split into two areas: one for the development of the bulk fuel terminal and the other for the development of the Transnet property at TM2. The coordination of these two sites – one being an active brownfields site development and the other a fast-moving greenfields site – proved to be a challenge along with managing the impact on surrounding communities.
Zutari’s international experience in bulk fuel terminal development and the use of the latest digital engineering technologies, were key to the success of the project.
The use of digital engineering enabled us to create a human-centric design that will benefit the client for many years to come
The project was designed in a virtual reality (VR) environment, which enabled the client’s management and operational team to be involved in the design journey and help Zutari establish best practice procedures and plans before the project was built. This not only eliminated clashes on site, but also ensured that the people who would be operating the terminal had input in the design of the plant.
The project created 350 local jobs during the construction phase, and many opportunities for upskilling during both the construction phase and the operations phase. Through social investment programmes, some of the infrastructure in the communities was also upgraded.
“Zutari is proud to have been involved in this project from inception to commissioning. The use of digital engineering enabled us to create a human-centric design that will benefit the client for many years to come,” says Simon Fairhurst, Zutari Petrochemical Director.
*The Aurecon Africa business has been officially renamed Zutari as at 21 July 2020. Zutari acquired Aurecon Middle East on 20 November 2020.
