Port of Dover extending Eastern Docks pier

The Port of Dover is extending pier A at Eastern Docks to enable longer vessels to moor in berths two and three. The work, to be completed prior to the Olympic Games, will provide improved mooring for DFDS vessels and an alternative berth for P&O Spirit class ships. Currently, berths seven and nine are able to accommodate the new super-ferries but without the extension to pier A, larger ships using berth three would protrude beyond the extent of the pier. The completion of the work delivers additional longer length berths, improves marine safety and mitigates the possibility of disruption to ferry schedules.

The 4 metre diameter monopile, weighing 246 tonnes, arrived last week on board the coaster, Napali. In an operation that took almost 12 hours it was lifted from the vessel by the GPS atlas and lowered to the seabed. Divers attached straps to the lifting trunnion and the unit was raised vertically and lowered into position in a pre drilled socket in the seabed. The Monopile was then locked into position by filling the annulus around the pile with aggregate.

Port of Dover's Head of Infrastructure Development, Nigel Bodell, said: "The pier A project is part of a £11.4m investment in berth infrastructure at the Port this year. Previously, we have completed similar work on piers C and E and as the third pier to be extended, the investment in pier A alone cost £4.3m. It moves the Port closer to the corporate objective to plan and develop our infrastructure to meet the needs of the market and of our customers by providing more multi-user berths."

Contractor, BAM Nuttall has been awarded the pier extension contract and is to replace the side and stern fenders on berth three to accommodate the higher berthing loads from larger vessels. In addition, a contract has been awarded to Hollandia for the refurbishment of berth three which includes overhaul of the bridge decks, replacement of machinery and equipment and the installation of a self-supporting mechanism for the linkspan fingers.