John Holland has been chosen to construct nearly 350km of heavy haulage railway track for the Roy Hill Iron Ore Project in Western Australia.

The Roy Hill Iron Ore Project includes a new mine at the Roy Hill deposit north of Newman, a mine process plant, a heavy haul railway system and new port facilities at Port Hedland.

The $257m rail construction, track works and infrastructure sub-contract awarded to John Holland by Samsung C&T will traverse through remote terrain from the Roy Hill mine site to Port Hedland.

Leighton Holdings Chief Executive Officer, Hamish Tyrwhitt, said the contract award evidences the diversity of the Leighton Group, combining our skills in managing operations in remote locations and in the provision of infrastructure and rail operations.

“We are proud to be involved in such a major undertaking for Western Australia. Roy Hill is a critical project for the state, and a strong indication that the nation is moving to close its infrastructure deficit and improve productivity,” he said.

John Holland Group Managing Director, Glenn Palin, said that by winning this project against national and international competition, John Holland had once again demonstrated its key strength in rail.

“John Holland has been a market leader in rail construction in Australia for over 30 years, with approximately $3b of rail-related projects in hand,” he said.

The two year, construct only project, is planned to commence on site in October 2013. At the peak of site works the project workforce is expected to reach 270 people.

John Holland’s contract involves track works to the main line, marshalling yard, mine loading loop, port loading loop, wayside loops and spurs and construction yard. The contract also involves construction of a logistics yard and ballast yards.

Press Release of John Holland, 13 September 2013