Auckland’s Downtown Waterfront programme is now in full swing with some serious mechanical muscle doing the heavy lifting on Quay Street.
As the programme shifts to working over the water, one of the greatest challenges for contractors is creating a safe and stable platform so cranes can operate in the Ferry Basin.
A 'jack-up barge' solves this problem using smart engineering. After divers inspect the seabed to ensure there are no obstructions, the 410 square metre barge is floated into position.
Once in place, each of the four 36-metre hydraulic legs are fed down through the barge into the seabed below (up to 3 or 4 metres into the seafloor) and locked into position.
Opposite legs of the barge are loaded sequentially to ensure a stable platform as the hydraulic system lifts the barge out of the water.
To load the crane onto the barge, the barge is raised to wharf level and a 100-tonne 'crawler' crane (on caterpillar tracks) is tracked on. The crawler crane can safely lift heavy loads like the pile casings which can be up to 30 metres long and weigh 15 tonnes.
Once elevated, the platform’s daily safety and stability is checked using changes in hydraulic pressure gauges in the legs. The barge spends around a week in each position before being relocated to the next piling location.
Programme Director Eric van Essen is impressed with the innovative technology used to keep the programme moving
“Using this specialised equipment is a result of our commitment to smart thinking as we look forward being ready for the 2021 America’s Cup," he said.
The barge will remain alongside Queens Wharf until December 2019, delivering the 33 canopy and pontoon piles for the six new pontoons being built as part of the Ferry Basin redevelopment programme.
It will then shift to another location in the Ferry Basin to install 43 more piles between Princes Wharf and Queens Wharf to construct the Downtown Public Space.
