Beckett Rankine Helps Peel Ports Deliver a New £5.5m Ro-Ro Berth
Beckett Rankine has supported Peel Ports in the expansion of their facilities at Sheerness with a £5.5m replacement of the Royal Bridge Pontoon.
The new facility consists of a new 800t twin Ro-Ro pontoon which will increase the throughput capacity of the port. Installation of the new pontoon required the removal of the existing Royal Bridge Pontoon and the installation of two new 40m long by 3m diameter steel mooring piles and new linkspan bearings.
Peel Ports approached Beckett Rankine to provide technical and construction advice in closing out the design, fabrication and installation of the pontoon and linkspan bearing upgrades.
Liaising heavily with the designer and fabricator of the pontoon, Ravestein B.V, we made frequent visits to their fabrication yard in Deest, the Netherlands, to ensure that Peel Ports were supplied with a robust and efficient design that offered flexibility with safe operation.
The pontoon, which was designed to Lloyds Rules (along with UK and European standards and regulations) is a state-of-the-art floating berth which has a digital-user interface pre-programmed with all the vessel data. This enables the operator to simply select the inbound vessel and the pontoon then automatically ballasts itself to the correct freeboard.
Beckett Rankine assisted Ravestein B.V develop a Transportation and Installation philosophy for the project which was compliant with CDM regulations and the port's operations. We managed the Pre-Construction and Risk workshops with all key stakeholders to ensure the efficient delivery of the pontoon and safe operations on site. This was successfully achieved by the team through close communication and early identification of construction issues.
Surveys of the work site were performed to identify risks from unexploded ordnance (UXO) and dredging. Thus being able to engage with specialist sub-consultants and ensured that both UXO ALARP (As-Low as Reasonably Practicable) status and dredging works were successfully achieved prior to installation. The pontoon was installed and commissioned on time and below budget without incident thanks to the this efficient co-operation by the project team.
Beckett Rankine Partnership is a specialist firm of marine engineers which traces its history over four generations since 1888. All our work is focused on marine projects such as the development of ports and harbours. Using our specialist experience and wealth of knowledge we develop practical and efficient solutions to improve port facilities. w:www.beckettrankine.com
Member Highlight
PG Products Limited
Manufacturers of marine approved fire suits sold worldwide