12 April 2022:

Fulton Hogan’s new 10,000 tonne bitumen tank is nearing completion in Lyttelton, and is due to reach its full 18-metre height in May.

It will then be moved 35 metres to an adjacent site, resting on 176 piles that have been driven 20 metres into the reclaimed land. It is due to be commissioned by the end of 2022.

The development reflects the decision to cease refining at the Marsden Point refinery. As a result Fulton Hogan will be importing bitumen directly – this facility doubles Fulton Hogan’s bitumen capacity at Lyttelton.

General Manager Bitumen Mark Ford pays tribute to the work of Fulton Hogan’s site project manager Shane Geraghty, divisional manager Richard Smith and contractors Ewing Engineering.

“This is a complex job structurally, mechanically and geo-technically, and they’re doing an impressive job bringing it to fruition,” Mark says,

“It’s also a critically important piece of work, giving security of bitumen supply for a geographically large area.”