Contaminated sediment control general purpose berth, Port Kembla, from Mentanzapl
Austral Constructions were contracted by Port Kembla Port Corporation to extend the General Purpose Berth. The works required the site to be dredged to provide
an extension to the existing berth and swinging basing and to provide a solid basis for the reclamation of additional berth hardstand. Austral engaged Ballast Ham Dredging
Pty Ltd (Van Oord). The Australian Boom & Baffle Co having a long history of curtain configuration for both Ballast Ham and Van Oord was engaged to design and fabricate
project specific curtains for this project.
The three aspects requiring floating curtains were:
- The containment of suspended solid in the spoil ground located in the outer harbor of Port Kembla. This area was exposed to high wings, swell and heavy vessel wash. The
curtain was configured to contain sediments bearing a number of accumulated contaminates and located to prevent sediment plume/ing on change of tide.
- The containments of sediment during bucket dredging operation. This curtain was configured with pressure relief ports to prevent curtain fouling the dredge bucket during
the dredging cycle. (As the bucket lifts off the seabed the curtain is drawn into the bucket, the freeing ports allow the water to enter to contained area but prevent sediments
being released out of the area.)
- The containment of the reclamation where smelter waste was used. To achieve total containment a 12m skirt was employed sealing to the seabed.
To optimize containment of contaminated material and provide robustness a 80kN woven polypropylene material was used for the skirts together with AB&BCo type II float
and ballast assemblies. The project duration was 12 months, product maintenance required during project: nil.
For further information contact:
The Australian Boom & Baffle Co
phone: 02 9316 4884
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