Published: Wednesday, 16 March 2022 at 4:32:02 AM
The Wharf 4 Strengthening and Rail Replacement Project reached practical completion this week, with all works expected to be finalised by the end of March.
This major project has been one of the largest MWPA has undertaken in recent years.
MWPA Acting CEO, Damian Tully said “this project is a significant upgrade to our port and one that will see the continuation of service and capacity for many decades ahead.
“Particular thanks is extended to all our customers and suppliers who have worked around a flexible schedule to achieve this upgrade while ensuring the berth remained operational.”
Originally constructed in 1964, the Wharf 4 deck had reached the end of its design life, visually evident by cracking of the deck and deflection of the substructure.
After many months of consultation, the final design was chosen to ensure capacity for the future, while paying consideration to several issues that needed to be addressed and allowing the Berth to remain operational during construction.
The design involved replacing the unreinforced topping slab with reinforced concrete, partially encasing the substructure below in concrete and removing a narrow strip at the front and back of the deck to effectively sandwich the existing deck in new concrete and create a composite and more rigid structure.
The existing shiploader rail had also reached its end of life and its replacement was incorporated into the project.
Fortec were awarded the contract, and construction commenced mid-March 2021. After a year of hard work, the wharf was completed earlier this month. Final works are expected to be completed over coming weeks.
Some of the interesting project statistics are as follows:
• Approximately 50,000 manhours worked on the project with no Lost Time Injuries;
• Project was delivered under budget;
• 55% of the workforce was local with the bulk of the sub-contractor work done by local contractors;
• 1,268,989 tonnes of bulk material were exported over Wharf 4 whilst the project was underway;
• 1,350 m3 of concrete (about 270 Concrete Trucks) was placed on the deck;
• 400T of reinforcement were installed;
• Deck thickness increased from 380mm to 600mm;
• Drilling and Grouting of 6,342 bars;
• 14,500 vertical holes were drilled through the existing deck for shear reinforcement; and
• 418m of new rail thermite welded.
Back to News