– Dalyrmple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT)

Allan Ruming, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Problem:

While absolutely paramount for safety and function, the maintenance of offshore structures and jetties is both costly and time-consuming and can disrupt normal traffic and access requirements. Such work presents a range of challenges in particular, accessing the piles and the structure’s underside while over water. There are also a number of environmental issues relating to abrasive blasting and painting which complicate matters further.

DBCT presented GROUP with the challenge of finding an effective long-term solution to the access and maintenance of jetty structures.

Solution:

GROUP had previously developed and patented a concept called “MOWECS”, a self-propelled and self-contained multifunction work platform that was adaptable, practical and safe thereby avoiding the requirement for costly and problematic maintenance activities using scaffold and planking. GROUP has recently been working with DBCT to redesign and customise the equipment to the specific needs of the DBCT Jetty structure. MOWECS uses a cantilevered system that provides a work platform accessing working surfaces below the deck and around the piers down to low water levels. This deployed work platform avoids direct contact with the piles while allowing access to the full length of piles from low water to under the headstocks and under deck surfaces. MOWECS can also incorporate the Environmental waste containment requirements if needed. The MOWECS is positioned and operates within the trestle roadways reaching out over the adjacent conveyor galleries to deploy unimpeded platform access to the headstocks, piles and lower sections of the conveyor galleries. Meanwhile, light vehicles, cranes and trucks can continue to access the jetty’s roadway. Operational, safety and functional advantages of the MOWECS are derived from GROUP’s extensive experience in equipment design as well as input from ground operations and management staff. Analysis of the flexibility, mobility and set up times for deployment of the MOWECS and its working platform reveal cost and time savings when compared to other access methods.

Result:

Adaptable to a broad range of locations and difficult structures, the MOWECS design can provide vastly improved safety, reduced maintenance times and lower maintenance costs. GROUP is in the process of introducing the technology to market. This solution can be applied to any suitable offshore structure/jetty or bridge. While final delivery prices would vary depending on the location and specific requirements, the initial investment would lead to safer maintenance and long-term cost-savings.

Key advantages include:

1. The MOWECS does not need any permanent infrastructure as all requirements are built into the MOWECS self-contained and self-propelled unit
2. The deployment of the platform reduces access time from days to hours as the MOWECS automatically deploys or packs up, drives forward and then deploys again. Meantime, traffic access to the jetty and other areas is maintained. Other systems often require cranes, additional staff and riggers, all of which lead to downtime for other operations and traffic disruptions
3. The MOWECS mobility and flexibility would result in faster and higher quality maintenance work. For example, with the old infrastructure, when rusty areas are discovered after originally being overlooked, everything must then be either moved slightly or scaffolding would be required to build it out. This is inefficient when compared with the MOWECS, which can be easily adjusted by rolling back and forth and lifting the platform up and down. Again, huge time and cost-saving
4. When not in operation, the MOWECS can be stored undercover and away from the corrosive salt environment. The MOWECS can be driven off the jetty and serviced in a shed, alleviating issues associated with working near water or at heights.