The expansion of the “Żelazny Most” Tailings Storage Facility for KGHM Polska Miedź was carried out by Budimex SA. The “Iron Bridge” is the largest facility of this type in Europe, it can even be seen from space, and its surface could accommodate thirty National Stadiums. The construction of the facility was divided into two contracts. The first one concerned the construction of the eastern dam in the Rudna Commune and the western dam in the Polkowice Commune. The second contract is the construction of water, electricity and teletechnical management infrastructure along with control and measurement equipment (I&C).
“Żelazny Most” is environmentally neutral and completely protects the natural environment against water accumulating in the reservoir. During the expansion of the facility, the safest variant of the construction and sealing of the dams was implemented, both in terms of hydrotechnical and environmental aspects. More than 100 equipment units worked on the construction site. The progress of the works was scanned by laser and updated on an ongoing basis in the BIM system in cooperation with the BIM Innovations Team of the Budimex SA Technical Office. As a result, as part of the construction of the reservoir, Budimex processed 30 million tonnes of soil and built 140 km of water supply, energy and telecommunication installations. The total area of the Southern Quarter of the facility is approx. 600 ha, while the Main Facility “Żelazny Most” itself approx. 1500 ha. The bowl of the Southern Quarter is used to deposit waste from the flotation of copper ore from the Ore Enrichment Plants of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. Parallel to the expansion of the reservoir, the superstructure of the Main Facility, i.e. the current reservoir, was carried out.
“Żelazny Most” is a unique hydrotechnical facility, because during its operation, the embankments are built up with material deposited in the canopy, as the amount of stored waste increases. It is expected that by 2035, after reaching the maximum elevation of the dams, the volume of the Southern Quarter will be about 170 million m³.