Translation: Architect Cenk Çetin - Design Director of DORCE
The Aktogay Accommodation Facility Project is one of the most important proofs of how efficient the use of modular structures is even under extraordinary conditions, where the average minimum temperature is -40° and the lowest temperature is -50°.
Aktogay, the city of Kazakhstan is home to a large-scale open copper mine. The average annual copper production is projected to be 100 kilotons until 2021, and 170 kilotons between 2022 and 2027. [Kiloton (kt) is a unit of weight or mass. 1 kiloton is equal to 1,000 tons.]
The multinational company Kaz Minerals, who is the operator of this quarry, aimed to replace temporary accommodation units with a permanent accommodation facility that can meet certain comfort conditions for its operations planned to continue for 25 years with approximately 2700 workers. The main design criteria of the project was that Aktogay, being a remote site, lacked the resources for hosting any construction operations, and therefore this complex was expected to be built using off-site construction methods.
As DORCE, with our involvement in the project, we immediately started working on making conceptual architectural projects created according to conventional methods suitable for modular construction methods. Three different module sizes were determined to be used in the project as a result of the studies carried out after careful consideration of the transportation operations, the pre-defined room area requirements and the manufacturability criteria. While 3.2x12.3 m modules were used for single rooms, which constitute a major part of the project, 2.1x12.3 m and 2.4x12.3 m modules were preferred for wet areas and when a larger room volume is required with dual use.
Properties of Steel Manufacturing and Assembly
Due to the limited project time and the fact that a significant part of the time will be used in the shipping process, particular attention was paid to make the manufacturing design in accordance with lean production principles and the simplicity of assembly. In this sense, the DFMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) experiences that Dorce gained in previous projects were likewise reflected in this project. It was necessary to label both the sub-components and the modules to trace the operations to be carried out in more than one location. This important part was successfully organized. To realistically determine the dynamic loads to be considered during the calculations, a transportation simulation was carried out with the prototypes produced at the beginning of the project. The experiences gained here enabled Dorce to design developments to be made on the support elements of the large modules, which were shipped as a out of gauge cargo in a way that would form a cantilever.
The tolerance issue of the largest building in the complex was one of the main considerations until the end of the manufacturing since it was formed by bringing together a total of 87 modules composed of 29 horizontal and 3 vertical line. In order for this to be successfully reflected in the result, the use of computer-aided modeling software, then the determination of quality control criteria and the strict follow-up of these criteria until the end of the project played a crucial role in the success. Moreover, testing the connection details designed for prototyping and assembling the modules and updating the tolerance design based on the experiences here stood out as another decision that provided significant benefits at the end of the day.