Bechtel Esondida Water Supply project

Bechtel is constructing a pumping station for desalinating and pumping sea water to the world’s largest copper mine in Chile: the Escondida mine owned by BHP Biliton. The Escondida mine is located high up in the Andes where groundwater is scarce. Large amounts of water are required to extract the copper from the ore. The water is pumped from the sea to the mine through a 180-kilometer pipeline. Over a period of two years, Van Leeuwen USA will supply fittings and flanges for the construction of the pumping station and work together with suppliers from Korea, Italy and China for this purpose.

Joris de Vries, General Manager Van Leeuwen USA : ‘The Bechtel Escondida Water Supply project is a wonderful opportunity for us to strengthen our position on the South American market. We started up this project by setting up effective communications between Bechtel Engineering and Procurement on the one hand and our suppliers on the other hand. Our Project Manager, Rafael Leon, speaks fluent Spanish, which facilitates communications with the customer. Due to our international procurement network and our contacts with first-class manufacturers, the more complex designs and calculations also did not present any problems. Special flanges were designed for this project. In addition, we implemented special project management tools and a project database. 

From the very beginning to the very end of the project we will be working with one and the same dedicated team; every team member is fully aware of the project’s ins and outs. This enables us to optimally advise and support the customer. Personal contact is essential. During the official kick-off meeting in Chile we took steps to ensure that we properly understood all documents and requirements.
During the project we visited Chile a few times to review important matters with the customer and to offer support.’