Smart Engineering collaborates with ICL Iberia – Iberpotash on the “Cabanasses Mine ramp” project, in Súria. This project is the longest mining tunnel in Spain. It is a ramp with a length of five kilometers and that will reach 900 meters deep. The “Cabanasses Mine ramp”project will allow the direct transport of salt and potash from inside the mine to the treatment plant, without having to transport the mineral through the urban center of Súria as it is being done today.
The works of the “Cabanasses Mine ramp” project are carried out using the New Austrian Tunnel Construction Method (NATM) and using shotcrete to support the tunnel. The “Cabanasses Mine ramp” project represents a technical challenge, given the operating conditions and the characteristics of the tunnel (length, depth, slope). This together with the salinity conditions and the mechanical requirements for the depth reached, puts the level of demand on the materials used at a very high peak.
Smart Engineering has been collaborating in the “Cabanasses Mine ramp” project since 2018, providing technical advisory services to the company ICL Iberia – Iberpotash. Smart Engineering advises on aspects related to the design of projected concrete mixes, quality control and optimization of the performance of shotcrete.
Smart Engineering thus strengthens its position as a technical advisory company in advanced aspects of Structural and Materials Engineering. Smart Engineering engineers have high experience in the use and characterization of shotcrete, having also participated in the elaboration of different national and international regulations related to this material.