Maintenance Dredging at Bundaberg Port
Overview of Project
Recently the Port of Bundaberg was significantly impacted by flooding, which caused unprecedented siltation in the port channel, swing basin and berth pockets.
Apart from the unparalleled siltation event in the channel, the port also experienced major scouring and deepening of the river bed along significant sections of the toe of the northern training rock wall. The erosion has led to the development of deep trenches along the toe of the wall, threatening the wall’s stability.
Scope of Work
As part of an overall dredging strategy to return the Port of Bundaberg to standard operating depths, dredging of approximately 400,000 m3 from the Swing Basin, Berths, Departure and Inner Reach of the Channel was conducted using a 450mm cutter suction dredge.
The team transferred the material through 1500 metres of floating pipeline to the spreader barge, which placed the sand in designated areas along the toe of the Port’s northern rock training wall. This project provided the Port with the dual benefits of improving port clearance depths for shipping and stabilising the base at the north end of the training wall.
Neumann Dredging completed the project on a 24 hour, seven days per week.
Innovations
- Use of spreader barge to place material and stabilise over 2000 linear metres of the northern rock training wall,
- Use of a barred bucketwheel to exclude oversize material from the pumping system.
Challenges
- Post-flood debris and obstructions in the dredge area – 3 yachts were amongst the finds
- Dredging unpredictable material – coarse sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders.
- Wear and tear on machinery and equipment.
- Strict dredging and fill tolerances.
- Interfacing dredging works with shipping and other marine vessels traversing the work areas.
