Concrete Repairs to Suspended Concrete Quay, Wisbech Port, Cambridgeshire

Fenland District Council (FDC) is the competent Harbour Authority with ownership responsibilities for the Wisbech Port Commercial Estate, including the Reinforced Concrete Suspended Quay. The Suspended Quay consists of a reinforced concrete superstructure formed of longitudinal edge beams and a continuous deck slab spanning between transverse beams. Precast (PC) piles support the quay along transverse beams and roadside longitudinal beams.

The majority (typical section) of the quay is 10.9m wide and approximately 827m long, divided into nine sections with expansion joints at approximately 92m spacing.

The suspended quay incorporates three shipping berths, two of which are located at the Town Quay berth and are incorporated within the works area. The suspended quay is used by the Port of Wisbech to load and unload cargo from visiting vessels and for storage of goods in transit. The suspended quay forms an active part of an operational port and therefore consideration will need to be given to programming and co-ordinating the works and facilitating vehicle access past the works where possible with the minimum amount of disruption.

The Contractor shall determine if it is viable for one of the shipping berths to remain operational during the works without comprising the health & safety of their own or the port operator’s workforce, whilst not impacting on the Clients programme requirements. Co-ordinating and undertaking certain elements of the works during neap tide times when the port is less active will reduce both health & safety risk and disruption.

Following a recent detailed concrete condition survey being undertaken by Nicholls Colton, the Councils appointed structural engineers recommended that works to sections of the quay structure, highlighted as “Red – were to be undertaken within a two year period and by November 2023.