Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project has awarded $71 million worth of rail and port construction contracts to Decmil Group.

Decmil will design and construct rail and port facilities along with associated infrastructure to service the project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The design phase for the project has started, with onsite delivery subject to Roy Hill Infrastructure obtaining financing.

Roy Hill plans to ship 55 million tonnes of iron ore a year after completing its port, rail and mine infrastructure project.

It expects the ramp up to full production to take about a year from the date of its first shipment.

Chief executive Barry Fitzgerald recently said the project was on track to be ready by September 2015.

Work is due to start on both the port and rail projects next year.

Decmil’s contracts are dependent on a final investment decision on the massive iron ore project.

Decmil’s shares were 2.5 cents higher at $2.335 at 1300 AEST.