A 35-metre luffing head for the Puerto Coloso shiploader
A 35-metre luffing head for the Puerto Coloso shiploader, the machine that loads concentrate onto Minera Escondida's ships.
The Coloso shiploader was originally designed by Sandwell / Petricio Industrial for BHP's "Escondida Phase IV Expansion" project in the early 2000s. Two decades later, CGK built the replacement structure for the luffing head — the truss that acts as the machine's moving arm — replicating the original geometry and engineering so the new component would install without modifications onto the existing tower and rails.
The scope covered connection bolting, the epoxy paint system, dimensional verification with a laser scanner, as-built drawings, calculation report, non-destructive testing and a quality dossier with material certification — all delivered in 81 calendar days at the CGK plant in La Chimba, per BHP's purchase order.
The structure was built in ASTM A36 steel, with full-penetration welding and a defined non-destructive testing scope covering the whole piece before dispatch.
CGK fabrication drawing
A replacement that had to fit a design from 2001
The Puerto Coloso shiploader is part of the BHP port infrastructure built for the Escondida Phase IV expansion, with original engineering by Sandwell and Petricio Industrial. When that structure needed a replacement luffing head, CGK worked from the original system drawings — 142456-2001, 6001-F01/F02/M01 and 6004 — so as not to alter the connection geometry with the existing tower and rails.
On that basis, CGK issued its own fabrication and as-built drawings, defining the paint system, the NDT requirements and the assembly tolerances for a 35-metre triangulated truss in ASTM A36 steel.
- 35 m triangulated truss in ASTM A36 steel
- Geometry validated against the original engineering (Sandwell, ~2001)
- CGK's own fabrication and as-built drawings
Pivot end
13.9 tonnes verified before leaving the plant
The truss was assembled and welded in the CGK workshop with full-penetration welding on ASTM A36 steel, including all the connection bolting specified by the client. Before final painting we applied the 6-mil epoxy paint system required by BHP for a port environment.
The finished geometry was verified with a laser scanner against the model, producing the as-built drawings that accompany the delivery. The assembly — 13.9 tonnes, 35 metres long — was dispatched from the La Chimba plant within the 81 calendar days committed to Minera Escondida.
- Full-penetration welding · ASTM A36 steel
- Epoxy paint system, 6 mils
- Laser scanner verification + as-built drawings
- Delivered in 81 calendar days at the CGK plant, La Chimba
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