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Jun 17, 2023

Portland Port upgrade completed on schedule despite tight deadline

Portland Port in Dorset will be able to welcome the first 350m long cruise ship at its new 250m deep water berth (DWB) this month, as managing contractor Knights Brown has met the demanding completion

Portland Port in Dorset will be able to welcome the first 350m long cruise ship at its new 250m deep water berth (DWB) this month, as managing contractor Knights Brown has met the demanding completion deadline.

In order to grow its business, the port wanted to be able to accommodate two 350m long cruise ships – one on the Outer Coaling Pier (OCP) and another one at the DWB. It was unable to do so because its previous DWB was 150m long and could only accommodate 250m long ships. For this reason, the port decided to invest £25M for the construction of a new 250m DWB.

The project also involved the construction of a combi wall – a quay wall formed from concrete-filled steel tubular piles with sheet pile sections between them – as well as a 75m extension to the OCP to create a solid 250m quay wall for both berths. The height of the quay walls is 5.6m above chart datum.

The client wanted the DWB to be complete ahead of first cruise ship arrival of the 2023 season, this meant that work which started in October 2022 had to be completed by April. Managing contractor Knights Brown and the other contractors working on the project managed to meet the critical programme deadline and the DWB has been handed over to the Portland Port.

A key factor behind the efficient delivery of the project was the bespoke procurement approach taken by the client. Portland Port directly awarded packages of work so that it can manage the design and construction risks and bring the work in on time and on budget. This unique form of contract relied on collaboration between all the parties.

Ramboll was appointed principal designer; Red7Marine was selected for the combi wall piling; Suttle Piling was chosen for works on anchor wall, waling and tie rods; while ESG Trading was responsible for producing and placing the material for the infill.

Knights Brown’s role as managing contractor was to adopt appropriate mitigation methods that would minimise the port’s exposure. As well as managing the contract, Knights Brown secured the work to construct the capping beam, install the anchor wall and waling beams and place the tie rods within the quay wall.

Modern methods of construction and bespoke solutions have also enabled the project team to meet the tight deadline.

Knights Brown says that offsite fabrication helped with speeding up construction. “The precast capping beam was an important contributing factor as it eliminated the need for shuttering and was designed to allow prefabrication of the steel reinforcement,” the contractor said.

A solution by Red7 Marine also saved time. Working together with specialist engineers, it designed a pair of bespoke piling gates to speed installation of the combi pile wall through improved accuracy and tolerance.

Knights Brown managing director Kevin Valentine said: “Our intention was to find a way to deliver the full scope of what was wanted within the timescale and budget available. This has been achieved through true collaboration and cooperation, at quite astonishing speed.”

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