Location

Singapore

Client

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal (s) Pte Ltd

Contract Value

S$20 million

Construction Period

2001 Q2 - 2002 Q3

Gammon enjoys a close and successful working relationship with regular customer, Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal (S) Pte Ltd. It is particularly appreciative of our ability to work as a proactive team player and our use of technical expertise to benefit the customer.

According to Oiltanking's Managing Director, Huib Jansen, "Gammon is our contractor of choice, which is why we have awarded our last two contracts to them via negotiation and are currently negotiating the next one. The Gammon people and mine work well together and I particularly like the way the company comes through for us when the going gets tough, as it did recently at Jetty 11 on Pulau Seraya when a problem was discovered with a dolphin a month before the first tanker was due."

For those not familiar with jetty and wharf construction, dolphins are free-standing concrete islands supported on piles and connected to a jetty by walkways. They are fitted with large fenders on the seaward side, against which tankers berth.

In July 2002, Gammon successfully delivered Jetties 11 and 12 to Oiltanking below budget and two and half months ahead of schedule. However, when Oiltanking's consultant was reviewing the as-built piling data, he decided that the tension capacity of a particular dolphin's piles was insufficient and was concerned that it might become unstable under extreme loading conditions. This was a major problem for Oiltanking because the first tanker was already on its way to Singapore and expected to arrive at the dolphin shortly.

We immediately called on our in-house technical expertise in both Singapore and Hong Kong to solve the problem. The solution proposed coring through the 4.5-metre deep pile cap along the axes of the supporting piles, and then drilling through the grout infill in the centre of each pile and its steel base plate, a total length of approximately 26 metres. Ground anchors would then be installed through the piles and drilled into the bedrock, pinning the piles and enhancing their tension capacity.

The job was completed quickly and successfully, and the problem solved with minimum cost or delay; the tanker docked on schedule without a hitch.