Doran Consulting was commissioned by McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd., to provide detailed design services for this major Design & Build contract which involved the construction of a new berth for the Stena Line fast and conventional ferries at Belfast Harbour.
Phase I of the works involved the construction of the new berth, which consisted of approximately 650m of combi-sheet pile quay wall complete with fendering, bank-seats and link spans. In addition, the design and construction of three new fuel storage facilities to serve the ferry vessels was necessary. This required the design of a piled flat slab structure to support the loads arising from the new tanks. Reinforced concrete fire resistant bund walls were designed to contain the fuel in the event of tank failure. The reinforced concrete structure incorporated fuel feed trenches, sumps, stormwater storage tanks, plant plinths, tank bases, earthing mats and services integral to the concrete slab.
This phase also involved the provision of extensive hard standing and car park areas and associated traffic management facilities, together with a structural steel framed new terminal building. The facility was built on land which had been recently reclaimed, and therefore had associated settlement difficulties.
Phase II of the works involved providing detailed design services to the main contractor, McLaughlin & Harvey, for berth modification works which were required to accommodate the new Stena Superfast VIII ferries. This phase of works included extensive additional scour protection provision, fender and bollard modifications. The scour protection was provided by the design and construction of rock armour, which required detailed analysis of the stability of the proposed underwater slopes for the RoRo berth and the stability of existing revetments at the site, which is on reclaimed land in an area of the harbour with a significant layer of sleech. We undertook a number of sensitivity analyses to demonstrate various scenarios and as a result, mitigation measures were introduced to improve the factor of safety of the slope stability. New underwater slopes were constructed and protected by concrete mattresses within budget and on time for the launch of the Superfast VII and VIII vessels.
Other works at the Victoria Terminal for which we provided a range of design services included the provision of new foot passenger walkway foundations, which were extended to connect to the passenger entrances of the new Superfast Stena Ferries.