Bluff Finger Piers Wharf Maintenance

Scope

Seipp Construction was engaged to provide a competitive price to carry out repairs and maintenance to the finger piers, while ensuring access was maintained for berth holders. We successfully delivered a scope of works to construct:

• 24 new hardwood bracing sets, including all piling
• 120m² of jetty decking
• 950m of replacement handrails to make these compliant with safety requirements
• 18 x replacement ladders

‍

Project Description

South Port’s finger piers at Bluff Harbour are in a deteriorated state as a result of long-term/repeated impacts and collisions from boats. This ongoing project is for staged repair and replacement of the hardwood superstructures, decking and handrailing of the finger piers.

In the past, work had been undertaken using a barge-mounted crane, owned by our client, South Port. The Seipp team developed an efficient, cost-effective turnkey solution, which involved using a charter vessel equipped with our own specialist piling hammer.

This project was notable for a number of innovations – both to develop an alternative, workable design, and address issues, only encountered once works commenced. Our innovative approach included:

Working closely with South Port. including undertaking research and development to devise a methodology for piling to be undertaken from a boat-mounted Hiab.

Working with berth holders to safely maintain access for commercial users for the duration of the programme of works.

We also added value by working on a design build basis. We worked directly with our client to provide engineering expertise, thereby eliminating the need to engage an external engineer.

The project also presented a challenging work environment with operations being highly wind and tide dependent. We worked carefully to the conditions, suspending works if the weather was too windy; and coordinating work closely with tidal patterns.

The project was completed within budget. In addition, our development of an effective and efficient piling methodology had a positive impact on our client’s maintenance budget.