A rather unusual ‘heavyweight lifter’ was called in to complete an important aspect of a marine project that will eventually see the £1billion transformation of Dundee City Waterfront.
But the ‘lifter’ in question was no Olympic challenger but a crane charged with the unusual task of moving and driving huge piles into the sea………27m from the quayside!
However, the ‘how to’ aspect of resolving this huge ‘hammering’ problem, took some innovative thinking by HBPW’s Managing Partner, Paul Withers, and Graham Construction.
“We got a crane at the top of a waterlogged, steep, unstable slope,” said Paul, “and not only did it need to reach out 27m beyond the quayside, but it also required a 45-tonnes+ lifting capacity to move the piles and carry its own massive pile driving ‘hammer’.
“Imagine that the crane had to be capable of holding one and a half 38 tonnes articulated trucks with the ability to move them across a 27m radius, and you start to get some appreciation of the scale of the challenge we faced.”
Additionally, the crane, and its tracks, were putting enormous ground bearing pressures on the surface at the top of the slope meaning that Paul and the construction team at Grahams had to put their thinking caps on.
“We collectively decided to install heavy universal columns spanning across the top of the rear row of bearing piles to provide support to the heavy loads at the front of the crane so that the work could continue without being compromised.
“Issues like this – however minor they may appear as part of a huge project – always present a serious engineering challenge, and there is invariably a collective sigh of relief when everything works out. I am delighted to say it did!”
The main Dundee project, which started in 2001 with a projected finish date of 2031, encompasses 240 hectares of development land stretching 8km alongside the River Tay. The area, which is divided into five focussed zones, also includes Dundee Port.
HBPW and Graham Construction are working on a series of focussed schemes that form part of the Port of Dundee’s ‘Dundee East Re-development Project’
Providing designs and drawings for both the land side and marine works, these individual schemes will see four key outcomes:
- The demolition and replacement of Caledon East Wharf, which was built in 1945
- Upgrading of load capacity to the existing Prince Charles Wharf
- Upgrading of the Prince Charles Wharf Extension anchor wall.
- Construction of unmetalled hard standings capable of supporting huge crawler cranes.
Overall, they represent a £25m investment. The crane (pictured) was working on the project to demolish and replace Caledon East Wharf.