Maritime Design and Construction seminar held at Southgate Hotel, Exeter on Thursday 14 April 2011.
The harsh and unpredictable maritime environment, with its waves, tides and storms, poses particular challenges for the design, construction and maintenance of civil engineering works. Anyone who has worked on maritime projects has stories of disasters and triumphs to tell, and this seminar organised by ICE-South West in Exeter on 14th April brought together leading designers and contractors to share their knowledge and practical experience.
The seminar opened with a review of Victorian engineering, and in particular the Holyhead breakwater, and a description of how the Bristol floating harbour has been protected by replacing the ageing lock gates while maintaining the water levels. Environmental issues were explored in the maintenance of Falmouth marina, where sediments have accumulated corrosion projection chemicals from the moored yachts and need special treatment and handling.
Construction of the offshore Wave Hub for tidal energy devices and in particular the challenges of laying 25km of cable from the hub to the land connection at Hayle last summer were graphically described by the contractor, JP Kenny. Fugro Seacore, originating in the Helford River at Gweek but now a major offshore construction specialist, showed delegates how enormous foundations and components for offshore wind farms and underwater tidal turbines can be handled and constructed in strong tidal currents. Both these presentations showed how early planning is essential, but an ability to adapt methods and solve problems as they arise is the key to success.
Accounts of three challenging construction projects in Cornwall concluded the day – a new seawall at Marazion, the new Sewage Treatment Plant squeezed between the cliff and the harbour entrance at Polperro, and the replacement of the Lifeboat Station at the bottom of a cliff at The Lizard. All of these projects pose exceptionally difficult problems of access for the machinery and components needed to build them, and taxed the skills and ingenuity of the designers and contractors.
The Seminar was chaired by Mike Thorn, Membership Development Officer of ICE-SW and UK Government Chief Delegate to PIANC, the global professional association for ports, waterways and navigation. He said “This seminar has demonstrated the enormous challenges posed by ‘working in the wet’ and how engineers use their technical knowledge and practical skills to overcome them. All of the projects presented today were challenging and some seemed impossible to realise – and yet civil engineers have found ways to construct them with minimal impact on the communities and environment in which they are delivered.”