Originally built in the mid-1800s, the historic wharf required demolition of the existing deck and stringers to enable the construction of a new, wharf access structure. The originally tendered design came in over South Port’s budget.

After a cancelled tender process, BPC started talking about a solution that could work for South Port based on our temporary staging. In the following weeks, a proposal was put together and presented to the client. They liked what they saw and engaged BPC in a formal ECI working with South Port’s designers, WSP to produce a buildable, cost-effective solution.

The scope of works included the demolition of the existing structure, installation of steel piles, installation of a new steel superstructure, concrete deck for the discharge platform and a 150m-long access bridge, all while keeping the fuel berth operational throughout the works.

Innovation has been at the forefront of this project, and by proposing an alternative solution to meet South Port’s budget, delivery through innovation from the ECI process into construction was made possible.

Our proposal changed the alignment of the wharf, increasing the berthing space for smaller vessels post-construction and gave the client more usable wharf, with greater capacity, maintaining the original footprint, reducing disruption to port operations and opening up opportunities for future development that the proposed design would not have supported.

The original design called for temporary staging to be constructed in parallel to the new wharf, then use this to demolish the existing structure. Instead, BPC built the permanent wharf through the existing structure, and demolished as we went. Through close collaboration with WSP, BPC combined temporary access with the permanent works.

During the ECI process, it was predicted that anchors were required down the centre of a number of piles. To mitigate the need for anchors, we used our Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) equipment on each pile to monitor the installation. This enabled us to constantly monitor the pile driving and determine when there was sufficient weathered rock embedment for the pile to be founded into. Our use of this technology gave WSP and South Port confidence in the results and substantially reduced the requirement for anchors. This saved 60% of the anchor requirements and most importantly, reduced our programme and the risk to the project.

Awards

1. Winner of 2022 Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) National Awards – Category 3 – Projects with a value between $5m to $20m.
2. Winner of 2022 Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) Southland Branch Regional Awards – Excellence in Structural Projects
3. Winner of 2022 Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) Canterbury/Westland Branch Regional Awards – Category D – Projects over $5m.
4. Winner of 2022 Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) Canterbury/Westland Branch Regional Awards – Innovation Award.