Scaftec were contacted by SWECO in 2017 to provide a re-design and extension to an existing pier constructed using traditional tube & fitting supplemented with steel ladder beams.
The pier is the main berthing point for boats travelling to carry out vital research into bird and sea biology.
Throughout the project it was vital to try and minimise the required materials due to the long travel times whilst providing the most robust structure to deal with the environmental and boat loadings.
The pre-existing pier was to have an extension installed to allow larger vessels to dock such as the new RRS Sir David Attenborough that was launched in 2020 with its construction beginning in 2018.
The main design requirements of the new extension were to support additional davitt positions to allow offloading of materials from vessels, environmental loading from wind and wave forces, berthing loadings from the vessels and imposed deck loading from the local wildlife that utilised the pier as a rest point.
The completed drawings were reviewed by BAM Nuttal technical department and passed for construction in early 2018.
Due to the close nature relationship that was developed during the design phase the client asked Scaftec to recommend a contractor that could provide the scaffolding materials and labour for the project.