RED7MARINE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES PILING OPERATIONS FOR PORTLAND PORT’S NEW DEEP-WATER BERTH

Since October 2022, Suffolk based Marine Contractor, Red7Marine, has been working on site in Portland, Dorset, carrying out a £3.6M piling scope for Portland Port & Harbour Authority’s new deep-water berth.

Portland Port is a thriving commercial port based at the heart of the Jurassic Coast in Dorset. The port offers a safe, sheltered, and deep harbour for some of the largest cruise ships in the world.

The overall £26M investment for the new deep-water berth will provide a major and significant enhancement to the port’s capabilities. The brand-new deep-water berth being constructed will boast 250m solid berth face, with 12m water depth alongside, capable of handling cruise ships up to 350m long.  In addition, Outer Coaling Pier is being extended to produce a 250m solid berth face with 11m water depth.

Red7Marine has been responsible for carrying out the piling contract and has been involved in the project since early in the tender stage working with the Port and its chosen designer. The project consists of a combi-wall which is formed of 136no 1.4m diameter concrete-filled steel tubular piles with sheet pile sections between them coupled together with clutches.

Two jack-up barges have been used throughout the duration of the project, Red7Marine’s 1,000t Haven SeaChallenger and 250t Haven Seariser 4. The SeaChallenger worked along the west wall along the main wall to meet the Seariser which was working in the opposite direction along the Outer Coaling Pier, meeting in the corner to complete the project.

Two bespoke designed piling gates produced by MintMech and fabricated in-house by Red7Marine in its port-side fabrication facility in Ipswich were used throughout the project. All the piles were installed through the piling gate which is a double-level piling gate, the piles were pitched, then put into position using a vibro hammer before they were impact driven until the desired level was reached.

The port has remained operational throughout the project meaning Red7Marine had to manage many logistical challenges and barge moves to accommodate ships entering the port.

The piling operations are now complete, with Knights Brown, the Management Contractor finishing the fill placement, tie rod installation and capping beam construction by March. 58 cruise ships are currently expected to dock in the Port in 2023 with two of the larger ships arriving in May 2023.

Kristen Branford, Managing Director, Red7Marine: “Thanks to Portland Port for the opportunity to deliver this exciting project which will benefit the surrounding areas and industry for years to come.

It has been great working with the Portland Port team once again, having constructed two large dolphins for the cruise berth extension back in 2017 with TMS and CMP Thames.

We look forward to seeing the berth operational in April 2023.”

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 are pleased to have successfully delivered this project with our trusted partners at Red7Marine, on time and within programme.”