Bechtel announced that all 260 modules comprising the three liquefied natural gas plants the company is building on Curtis Island are now on site, a significant milestone in their construction. The final module was delivered to the Australia Pacific LNG project this week. The modules, prefabricated steel structures that house the production units, were built by Bechtel in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines then shipped to Australia.
“This is an incredible accomplishment and vital to keeping these projects on track,” said Alasdair Cathcart, Bechtel’s general manager of LNG. “The construction and transport of the modules—including one weighing six times more than an A380 airliner—were among the most complex challenges of the projects. Their successful delivery is a result of collaboration with our customers and the dedication of the teams at each location.”
The modules for the Queensland Curtis LNG, Santos GLNG, and Australia Pacific LNG were designed, built, and delivered over a three-year period. The Santos GLNG consists of 111 modules, Queensland Curtis LNG has 80, and Australia Pacific LNG has 69. The tallest module measures more than 100 feet (30.5 meters) and the longest more than 250 feet (77 meters). The combined weight of the steel structures equals that of 12 Eifel Towers.
A global leader in the LNG industry, Bechtel is responsible for about half the LNG liquefaction capacity under construction. In addition to the work on Curtis Island, Bechtel is the principal downstream contractor for the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. Bechtel also constructed the LNG facility, in Darwin, in 2005.
