Project Scope 

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Bedenham Pier is a licensed loading facility located within DM Gosport. The facility is used for the loading and unloading of munitions cargo onto military vessels.

 

The pier is of mass concrete construction with greenheart timber fender piles (300x300mm) to all faces. It has overall dimensions of approximately 130 x 30 metres and berthing faces are dredged to maintain depth of around 5m below Chart Datum. It is located in Portsmouth Harbour.

 

Repairs to the pier were required as part of routine maintenance. A number of timber piles had become worn and degraded within the submerged, tidal and splash zones. Steel repair plates and pile caps were required. New timber rubbing strips were required. A total of 18no. piles were subject to repair. Repairs to a number of items of deck furniture were required, including handrails, fender retaining chains, bollards, ladders, crane rails and stop blocks.

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Repair Methods

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Constructex mobilised the work barge vessel ‘MCS3’ to site. MCS3 is a 16m road split hull road transportable work barge with onboard welfare facilities and deck crane. Diving operations were supported from a containerised surface supplied dive system positioned on the barge deck. All diving operations were overseen by a qualified ADC Supervisor.

 

Below water removal of redundant steel fixings and timbers was achieved using exothermic cutting techniques and underwater chainsaws. Hydraulic tools were used for underwater drilling and installation of coach screws and thread bars to fit steel strengthening plates. A particular challenge was ensuring alignment of holes drilled through timber with the steel plates. A bespoke jig was developed to ensure accuracy of drilled holes. This was installed on to piles by the dive team.

In other locations a clamped pile repair methodology was used. This involved using a flat plate backing member and intermittent facing plates clamped to the pile using M20 galvanised fixings. Steel assemblies were fabricated offsite and quality checks made by the Constructex Engineer onsite before installation as part of the ITP.

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QHSE Compliance

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Constructex fulfilled the role of Principal Contractor under the CDM 2015 Regulations. A detailed Construction Phase Plan was prepared before the start of works. The emergency arrangements and security requirements were particularly stringent on this site being located within a high security military base. All personnel were required to undergo background checks before accessing the facility. All personnel received a site induction from the facility as well as Constructex. Lift plans, daily PUWER checksheets, dive plans & logs, risk assessments, COSHH assessments, method statements, inspection and test plans (ITP) were all included within the project planning documents. These were maintained for the duration of the project and relevant information was passed to the Principal Designer for inclusion in the H&S file at the conclusion of the project.

The site has the following designations: Ramsar, SSSI, Special Protection Area, Marine Conservation Zone, Coastal Sensitive Area.

 

A Construction Environmental Plan (CEMP) was put together. Containment of abrasive grit blasting was of specific concern. This was addressed with the development of temporary enclosures to contain all blast media and arisings.

A NACE painting inspector was retained to carry out inspections of DFT for painting works.

 

All timber was procured through a sustainable supply chain compliant with EUTR and FSC.

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