Tailings Storage Facility

In a nine-month start-to-finish project, Ames built a tailings storage facility for a mine in southwestern Arizona. The project included construction of a new underdrain channel system, tailings dam, and seepage pond, and the installation of a new tailings jacking header structure.

The jacking header structure required the assembly of a massive amount of steel parts for each of the 62 sections. Keeping a sharp eye on all delivered materials was critical for the success of the project, with Ames maintaining a clean and organized yard so that crews could locate materials efficiently when ready to prebuild the header sections.

The project grew substantially from the original contract, with a stage added to build a blanket drain system for the jacking header to cross, yet the schedule could not be extended. Ames mobilized additional crews and equipment to the site, completing the project a month ahead of schedule. The 2,700-foot jacking header system—equivalent to more than twice the height of the Eiffel Tower—was installed in less than eight days and commissioned in only one day, allowing the client to be operational.