Case Study Overview
Red7Marine was awarded the £3.6M piling scope for Portland’s new deep-water berth, which will allow larger ships to dock in the Port. The deep-water berth being constructed will extend up to 250m in length and have a new water depth of 12m CD.
The work is being carried out is to replace the existing 1978 island berth which was constructed from a suspended reinforced concrete deck on steel piles. The new facility will welcome larger cruise liners, Panamax bulk carriers and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.
At a glance
- Location: Portland Port, Dorset
- Plant used: 1,000t Haven SeaChallenger, 250t Haven Seariser 4, Haven Seaforth flat top barge
- What we did: Red7Marine was awarded the £3.6M piling contract for Portland Port’s new deep-water berth.
CHALLENGE
Red7Marine completed the piling for the project which involved the installation of 136 new steel tubular piles with intermediate sheet piles to create a 400m of new combi-wall structure.
The piling was carried out from the deck of Red7Marine’s 1,000t jack-up barge, the Haven SeaChallenger and the 250t Haven Seariser 4. The SeaChallenger features a bull rail arrangement on the port side which allows fitment of a pile gate which was used on the project to install the piles to accuracy and tolerance.
Red7Marine worked with specialist engineers, MintMech, to design two bespoke two-tiered piling gates for the project.
For this project we implemented a noise management plan for the piling operation. This required background noise surveys around sensitive receptors including residential and wildlife (known bird species nesting within areas of port). Noise monitoring was undertaken during piling works to ensure our obligations were fulfilled under the marine works license in place for the project.
Red7Marine’s flat top barge, the Haven Seaforth was also used on site as a support barge.
SOLUTION
Alex Hayes, General Manager Landside at Portland Port comments: “This is a key investment for the port and demonstrates our commitment to the continued development of our infrastructure.
This investment is driven by our need to meet the demand for the ever-increasing size of new vessels and with our existing infrastructure ageing, it has been an important time for us to develop these plans.
We were pleased to work with our trusted partners, Red7Marine, once again to deliver this successful project that will benefit the surrounding areas and industry for years to come.” Construction began in October 2022, at the end of the cruise season and the new berth was operational by April 2023.
