{"438171":{"#nid":"438171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Las Bambas megaproject takes two alumni high in the Andes, reshaping a remote Peruvian area","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u2019s your commute to work like? Maybe 30 minutes or an hour in the car. Perhaps a ride on a commuter bus or train. If you\u2019re lucky, you might ride a bike \u2014 or simply walk across campus to class.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Georgia Tech alumni \u003Ca href=\u0022#meet\u0022\u003ESteve Curtis\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022#meet\u0022\u003EJustin Norman\u003C\/a\u003E, it\u2019s much more complicated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir commute involves plane flights, buses, pickup trucks and, on a good day, a helicopter. All told, it takes between six and 15 hours to get from home to work, depending on the weather and mode of travel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s because they\u2019re working on a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bechtel.com\/projects\/las-bambas-copper-concentrator\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emassive construction project high in the Peruvian Andes for Bechtel\u003C\/a\u003E, building the copper concentrator for an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mmg.com\/en\/Our-Operations\/Development-projects\/Las-Bambas.aspx\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E$8 billion mine project\u003C\/a\u003E that will be among the world\u2019s top-producing sources of copper from its very first year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne challenge presented by this project is that it is a greenfield. There was no infrastructure of any kind when we arrived. Water, power and all other services had to be designed, procured and constructed,\u201d said Norman, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in building construction in 1997 and is the project controls manager for the Bechtel portion of the work. That includes engineering, procurement and construction of the process plant and some infrastructure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe scale of the mine, concentrator and other facilities is immense,\u201d he said. \u201cWe peaked at over 12,000 contracted personnel spread out across five camps and one village. I have been on projects with similar numbers, but the remoteness and access issues have complicated transport of materials and people.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe project is at 4,200 meters above sea level. The altitude takes some getting used to,\u201d said Curtis, who graduated in 1977 with a civil engineering bachelor\u2019s. \u201cMany new visitors get sick the first day or two at the site.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurtis typically works 14 days on site, followed by seven days off. He said that remoteness means a different lifestyle for workers, one that\u2019s devoid of many of the diversions and comforts most of us are used to.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are living in a camp. There are no stores, no restaurants, no movies. The options are to work, eat and sleep while at the camp,\u201d he said. \u201cJustin and I go to a gym in the mornings. Running, stationary bike or lifting weights at altitude is a different experience. You can run out of breath just doing sit-ups.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurtis is Bechtel\u2019s deputy project manager for the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bechtel.com\/projects\/las-bambas-copper-concentrator\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehuge undertaking\u003C\/a\u003E, which has injected $44 million into a local economy that has traditionally focused on subsistence farming, according to the company. Bechtel says it has hired 1,500 local workers and helped train them for higher-skill jobs like welding or surveying.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s just the beginning of changes for the area once the concentrator is finished and the mine starts producing copper \u2014 along with significant by-products of gold, silver and molybdenum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTraffic on the road will be the most significant impact to the local communities,\u201d Curtis said. \u201cThere will be significant truck traffic carrying copper concentrate from the mine to a port in Southern Peru. [\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mmg.com\/en\/Our-Operations\/Development-projects\/Las-Bambas.aspx\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMMG, the mine\u2019s owner,\u003C\/a\u003E] has spent, and will spend, a lot of money for local infrastructure, local training, job creation programs, use of local businesses, etc., to provide assistance and support to the local communities.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurtis said his work on this project, and others with Bechtel\u2019s Mining and Metals Group, has been much more exotic than the three decades he spent working mostly on transportation projects in Atlanta and Washington D.C.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe culture with Bechtel is quite interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a very short period of time, you can work on several projects in very remote parts of the world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a construction student, I had imagined that I would be working more on commercial-type work as opposed to heavy industrial,\u201d Norman said. \u201cI have found the work I do much more satisfying and challenging in terms of not only the construction, but also in terms of everything that I have been exposed to across all engineering disciplines \u2014 civil, mechanical, control systems, process \u2014 and how they all come together to complete and hand over a functioning facility to our clients.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteve Curtis, CE 1977, and Justin Norman, BC 1997, are helping lead a Bechtel team building the copper concentrator for a remote mine high in the Peruvian Andes. Their commute takes hours. The air is thin. But they say the work is challenging, rewarding \u2014 and exactly what they want to be doing.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two alumni work for weeks at a time in the remote Peruvian Andes building a copper concentrator that will reshape the area."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2015-08-20 15:40:24","changed_gmt":"2022-05-26 17:09:36","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-08-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"438121":{"id":"438121","type":"image","title":"Las Bambas Concentrator","body":null,"created":"1449256162","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:22","changed":"1475895176","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:56","alt":"Las Bambas Concentrator","file":{"fid":"203008","name":"las_bambas-concentrator_justin_norman_h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-concentrator_justin_norman_h_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-concentrator_justin_norman_h_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":199470,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/las_bambas-concentrator_justin_norman_h_0.jpg?itok=3yTNEYPZ"}},"438151":{"id":"438151","type":"image","title":"Las Bambas Switchback Road","body":null,"created":"1449256162","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:22","changed":"1475895176","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:56","alt":"Las Bambas Switchback Road","file":{"fid":"203009","name":"las_bambas-switchback_road_andy_phelps_h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-switchback_road_andy_phelps_h_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-switchback_road_andy_phelps_h_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":174977,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/las_bambas-switchback_road_andy_phelps_h_0.jpg?itok=0CVmkRQp"}},"438161":{"id":"438161","type":"image","title":"Las Bambas Conveyor","body":null,"created":"1449256162","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:22","changed":"1475895176","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:56","alt":"Las Bambas Conveyor","file":{"fid":"203010","name":"las_bambas-overland_conveyor_justin_norman_h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-overland_conveyor_justin_norman_h_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/las_bambas-overland_conveyor_justin_norman_h_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":177005,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/las_bambas-overland_conveyor_justin_norman_h_0.jpg?itok=GTZ3m-EF"}}},"media_ids":["438121","438151","438161"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mmg.com\/en\/Our-Operations\/Development-projects\/Las-Bambas.aspx","title":"MMG - Las Bambas Project"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bechtel.com\/projects\/las-bambas-copper-concentrator\/","title":"Bechtel - Las Bambas Project"}],"groups":[{"id":"1253","name":"School of Civil and Envrionmental Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"138591","name":"Bechtel"},{"id":"1461","name":"Building Construction"},{"id":"4776","name":"civil and environmental engineering"},{"id":"1897","name":"Civil Engineering"},{"id":"7493","name":"copper"},{"id":"4199","name":"mining"},{"id":"5871","name":"peru"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["joshua.stewart@ce.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}