Alcoa, one of the largest groups devoted to the fabrication of aluminium, has commissioned Forter, belonging to Beroa, for the construction of a carbon anode baking furnace in Australia.

The project, with an anticipated duration of three and a half months, shall take place between July and October of 2008. The Forter project team for Portland Smelter rebuild will include both Portuguese and Australian management , engineering and construction personnel.

These personnel include Antonio Tavares (Project Manager), Andrew Bales (Project Coordinator), Abel Clemente (Site Manager) and Dave Brown (Logistics and Labour Relations). Between engineers and workers, more than one hundred fifty people will be taken on during the 151,000 hours required to build the oven. The works are expected to cost almost twelve million euros.

The project includes the demolition of old structures as well as the installation of new ones – a total of seventy-six sections. Nine walls will be erected in each section per shift, allowing for one section to be completed every twenty-four hours. The activity of demolition and installation will take place via moving window in section twenty-four. The rest of the construction will happen on site, and shall extend to a sole, cascading façade. Despite the large scale of this project, three of the four oven flames will remain lit in order to continue production.