It is the largest earthmoving project in Brazilian history. Not even the construction of the Itaipu or Santo Antonio hydropower plants, or the Camaçari or Triunfo Petrochemical Complexes were nearly as large as the operation being carried out in the area where the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj) will be built in Itaboraí county. “They are moving 220,000 cubic meters of earth per day,” says Carlos José Cunha, Project Director at Odebrecht Infraestrutura, the Organization’s infrastructure subsidiary.

The total area of Comperj is 45 square kilometers, of which 25 sq.km are being bulldozed by CTC – ConsórcioTerraplenagem Comperj, a joint venture of Odebrecht Infraestrutura and contractors Andrade Gutierrez and Queiroz Galvão.

The construction of Comperj is an initiative of Petrobras, which is once again making direct investments in the petrochemical industry. Slated to begin operations in 2013, the complex will house a refinery and petrochemical plants producing upstream products (ethylene, benzene, propylene, butadiene and others) and downstream products (polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene, ethylene glycol and others), as well as auxiliary buildings. The state-owned oil giant plans to invest up to BRL 25 billion in the project, of which BRL 5 billion is for civil construction works and BRL 20 billion is for industrial installation. The most innovative aspect of Comperj will be the production of petrochemical FCC, a new method of producing basic petrochemicals that is adapted to the characteristics of Brazilian oil, replacing naphtha and natural gas imports.

Big numbers at Comperj
“The area of this project is three times the size of the Duque de Caxias Refinery and six times as large as Rio’s Copacabana district,” says CTC Production Manager Mário Almeida, from Odebrecht.

All the numbers are big at Comperj: every day, the project uses a thousand pieces of equipment (including 850 units of heavy machinery). They consume 200,000 liters of diesel daily. “A very busy gas station sells 500,000 liters of fuel per month,” observes Leandro Cerqueira, also from Odebrecht, CTC’s Administrative and Financial Manager.

To enable all those vehicles to move about safely, there are 100 traffic signaling stations on the jobsite, each with a worker on duty 24 hours a day. “Our signaling and signposting plan, which directs all vehicle traffic, is reviewed daily,” says Mário Almeida. “The signs are manufactured at the jobsite, and the maximum speed is 40 km per hour.”

The 3,300 members working in various areas of the project have the support of six Fiorino cars, whose occupants drive around all day, distributing water and replenishing everyone’s supply. The cafeteria serves 130,000 meals per month. There is even a bakery that furnishes fresh bread on a daily basis. “What we have here is a 45-square-kilometer town,” says Leandro.

Aid for landslide victims

Rain and its consequences
Rainfall is heavy in the region where Comperj is being built. When it rains, the earthmoving stops and only resumes three days later, after the work has been inspected and reorganized. Rain and moisture pose risks to workers and equipment. The biggest is overturned vehicles. “Petrobras is very demanding in this regard and does not allow earthmoving on rainy days or in less than optimum conditions,” explains Carlos José. “The problem is that, when it rains, it comes down so hard that we haven’t been able to work 10 straight days since we broke ground in April 2008.”

The remnants of the Franciscan Order’s St. Bonaventure Convent

The stop-and-go pace makes it difficult for the work to move ahead quickly. The logistics, planning and engineering have to be reviewed constantly. Every time the work stops, the equipment is taken in, checked and redistributed. “Every day, at 7 am, Petrobras inspects the area and decides whether or not to authorize the work to start," says Leandro. “Luckily,” adds Mário, “the area is so large that sometimes it rains in one part but not another, so we can keep working there.”

Despite the rain, which exceeded all forecasts in the first quarter of 2010, in April CTC reached the milestone of 35 million cubic meters of earth moved, a first for Brazil.