Progress on LPC’s Cruise Berth has reached another milestone, with over half of the main wharf piles now successfully driven.

LPC’s Engineering Project Manager Paul Kelly says 34 out of a total of 64 main wharf piles have now been driven to full depth at approximately 65m below ground level.

When complete, a total of 3.8 kilometres of main wharf piles will have been used in the project.

Paul says it’s great to reach this point, with the project on track to be complete by November 2020, in time for the 2020/2021 Cruise Ship Season.

“The contractors HEB Construction and designers Beca have done an excellent job, as there is a lot that goes on technically to ensure piles are driven correctly and have the required capacity.”

Paul says there will be a great deal of activity happening onsite from now on.

Piling will continue with a small access bridge being constructed at the mid-span of the wharf to allow servicing of the piling, and the construction of the permanent wharf deck will begin.

Dredging along the berth pocket of the new wharf is also complete, and the current area of focus for the dredging team is the zone between Cashin Quay 4 and the Cruise berth.

The Patiki barge will also be assisting with the placement of geotexxtile fabric underwater, before the slope is covered by rock bags.

“There are a total of 2500 four tonne rock bag units that will be placed on top of the geotextile fabric to hold it in place and provide protection to the dredged slope,”  says Paul.

With all this action onsite, Paul says HEB Construction have done a good job of sequencing and forward planning.

“It is such a compact project in terms of space, HEB has really had to think about space and where plant can fit during all these different activities.”

For daily updates on the Cruise Berth project, click here.