KENNEDY QUAY PILE REFURBISHMENT

KENNEDY QUAY PILE REFURBISHMENT

The Port of Cork consists of an extensive number of quays and jetties of varying size in and around the natural harbour of Cork. The structures vary greatly in age and construction type to include masonry, cast in place concrete piles, pre-cast concrete piles, sheet piles and tubular steel piles.

Norfolk Marine Ltd was approached by the Port’s Engineers to design and install a repair system for the structure at the highest risk, Kennedy Quay. This structure was highlighted as it supports one of the Ports bulk cargo handling facilities and was suffering from severe damage by concrete spalling and reinforcement corrosion to its pre-cast concrete piles.

A fabric formwork repair system was elected as it would provide not just the most economical concrete repair but would be the easiest to install with either minimal or no disruption to the busy cargo handling facility.

The 400mm x 400mm square concrete piles together with the exposed re-bar were cleaned by divers using HP water to remove all marine growth and loose material. Spacers were fitted to the cleaned pile and the fabric formwork sock zipped around its circumference and suspended from the pier soffit. A micro concrete containing reinforcing fibers was then pumped in to the formwork, closely monitored by a diver.