CentrePort hosts the latest community tour of Seaview

On the 26^th of February CentrePort hosted members of the Eastbourne Community for a tour of the wharf and ongoing works at Seaview.

The tour was an opportunity for community members to get a close look at the work that's going on, which CentrePort us undertaking in partnership with Brian Perry Civil to make the wharf earthquake resilient, fit for lower-carbon fuels and able to accommodate different types of vessels.

Gabriela Koneski from Brian Perry Civil led the tour from a technical perspective, while representatives from CentrePort and Hutt City Council were there to answer questions.  

Thanks to members of the Point Howard and Lowry Bay communities for your continued support.

Successful Cut and Tie-In for Stage 3a

During March, 170m of new pipeline was successfully installed as part of our ongoing efforts to improve future resilience through the Seaview project.

To connect the new pipe to the existing infrastructure at the terminal, the existing pipe was cut, with the new pipe subsequently tied in. Fuel has since been successfully received through this new section of pipeline, with no disruptions to supply experienced during this period.

A big thank you to all of the team at both Energyworks and SBA Civil for completing this work in a short timeframe, with the work under the former rail crossing on Seaview Road proving particularly challenging.

Next Steps

The remaining work for stage 3a will be completed by early May, which includes reinstating the trench, kerb and pavement for the rail crossing. Once this is completed, traffic management will be removed, allowing normal traffic flow on Seaview Rd to resume. The Seaview Rd Caltex truck stop will re-open on 1 May 2024.

For the Seaview Wharf renewal project, CentrePort’s focus for 2023 has concentrated on constructing two of the three main wharf structures that are planned. These concrete structures each weigh more than 100t and play a major role in securing the wharf area, which houses the key infrastructure for the transportation of fuel from ship to the tanks on the shore. Five piles have been installed on the wharf extension to support these concrete structures. Our northern berthing ‘Dolphin’ has also now been installed, and this dolphin weighs in at around 200t. The Dolphin is there to help ensure safe berthing and increase the strength and resilience of the berth.

Wild weather makes things a challenge

While Seaview offers incredible ocean views, the weather continues to be our biggest challenge, not only for construction but for the morale of staff working day in and day out in the wild and windy conditions. So far, we have experienced around 200 days of weather-related delays since the project started.

What’s coming next

However, despite the weather, we are still on track to complete Stage 2 of the Seaview Energy Resilience work. This year, we are starting work on our mooring dolphins, which are used to secure vessels while they discharge fuel. We plan to have all piling completed for these mooring dolphins this year, and the placing of concrete structures on top of these piles will be completed in 2025.  

Three more concrete structures will be transported from landside out to the wharf on the450t jack-up barge ‘Manahau’ and these structures will secure the main wharf extension. Alongside all the interesting things arriving at Seaview for our project,  there will be multiple construction items being loaded out via of Seaview for other projects happening in the Wellington harbour.

Seaview Road Pipeline Works

Construction has commenced on 170m of new pipeline between the former rail crossing on Seaview Road and the Z Seaview fuel storage terminal. The work has resulted in the temporary closure of the Caltex truck stop and will require traffic management to be implemented along Seaview Road from mid-February through to mid-April. The road speed will be reduced, and the vehicle lanes narrowed and shifted away from the construction works during this period. Initial construction underneath the Caltex truck has already been completed, with the construction underneath the old rail crossing now underway. This section of work will be completed by the end of June 2024. 

Large lift goes smoothly at Seaview Wharf

Meticulous planning has ensured the safe installation of a 70-ton soffit at Seaview Wharf in Wellington, which is believed to be the largest lift from a jack-up barge in New Zealand’s history. A soffit is a structure designed to hold the wharf in place, and last week one was lifted from a 250-ton crane aboard Brian Perry Civil’s new jack-up barge ‘Manahau’. Since March, Manahau has been helping with the upgrade of Seaview Wharf, a critical lifelines asset owned by CentrePort.

CentrePort is working with Z Energy on behalf of the fuel industry to make the 50-year-old wharf and pipeline more resilient to earthquakes and adverse weather events, fit for lower carbon fuel types, and to accommodate different types of fuel ships.

The concrete soffit was poured at the Otaihanga precast yard and transported to the wharf overnight. Brian Perry Civil’s Construction Manager Gabriela Koneski says the challenges were considerable. “Our window with the weather was very limited, tolerances between the pile cap holes and the piles was small, and we had many starter bars coming out of the soffit and the piles. It was a huge team effort, and I am so proud of what everyone delivered together.”

“The structures crew ensured that construction was correct, as well as welding the corbels. A 250-ton crane was efficiently loaded onto Manahau, making it possible to transport the soffit without a hitch.”

CentrePort’s General Manager for Ferries and Bulk Andrew Steele, said everyone involved in the project has shown flexibility, given the wharf is still operational. “Brian Perry have done a great job. This lift occurred over two days while there was a fuel ship in berth, and we have a strong partnership with Brian Perry Civil and the fuel industry to minimise costs and delays on this project, while ensuring ships don’t have to wait. Thanks as well to our Mana Whenua partners and the local Seaview community for supporting this ongoing work.”

A dawn blessing for Manahau

Early Monday morning, members of Taranaki Whānui led a dawn karakia and naming ceremony at Seaview Wharf, for Brian Perry Civil's (BPC's) new barge. 

Kaumatua Kura Moeahu led the karakia, assisted by Alishia Moeahu and rōpu.

Kura explained that the karakia called on the elements to protect the barges, and the people working on them, and called for peace. During the ceremony the new barge was named 'Manahau' and a blessing was also laid on the barges 'Tuapapa' and 'Kaupapa'.

The name Manahau was selected from over 50 submissions from BPC's team and was chosen because it brings a Mauri (life force or essence) of joyfulness, resilience, and strength to the barge fleet - the mana of the past, present, and future.

At the kaikorero, CentrePort General Manager, Ferries and Bulk Andrew Steele, spoke of how important the blessing was in the context of Seaview's importance to the country, thanking BPC and other suppliers for the positive working relationship, and thanking mana whenua for providing the blessing ceremony. 

The arrival of Manahau is already creating huge benefit for resilience work happening at Seaview wharf - one of New Zealand's most important energy assets cared for by CentrePort. Manahau has a deck capacity of 400t and can lock together with Tuapapa to create a floating platform totalling 60x20m, providing BPC with one of the biggest floating barge capacities in New Zealand.

Last week, Brian Perry Civil’s (BPC’s) new Combifloat barge was constructed and towed to Seaview. Dominic Taffs from CentrePort spoke with Lee Griffiths from BPC to find out how it’s all come about.

Back in 2020, BPC were looking at increasing the size of their marine fleet. A bigger barge means a bigger crane, and opportunities to expand the range and depth of projects BPC could take on, including immediate benefits for work at Seaview Wharf. The usual supplier for BPC split up in 1998, meaning that Lee and his team had to look further afield.

Enter Combifloat – a bigger, better and more compatible option. During initial discussions, Covid struck, causing serious delays, and fluctuations in steel prices were only worsened by the ongoing Ukraine war. Finally, a deposit was placed on a C7 Class, 400T Barge.

Lee and his colleagues set off for Dubai in June last year to see the barge in person. It was second hand, with two projects to its name, but had since seen some major refurbishment to make it good as new. A deal was struck, and Lee and his team returned home confident the barge would soon be on its way to Wellington.

Loaded in pieces onto a ship in November 2022, trouble came again when the ship stranded in Melbourne. With Christmas on the way, and local staff needing a well-earned break, the shipping line’s crew were set to unload at Centreport on Boxing Day. However – the ship’s cranes failed an inspection on arrival, meaning it wasn’t until early January that the barge finally made landfall. From there, it was a juggle between poor weather and working in partnership with CentrePort to find a time between Cruise ships to assemble it at Aotea Quay. Crews worked through Waitangi day to put it together, and finally, last week the Barge was towed over to Seaview.

It’s taken a lot of planning to get here, but the barge’s arrival will mean safer, faster, and larger lifts for the Seaview operation. “It’s really changed the way we’re looking at the project” says Lee. “With concrete elements, we can now lift precast forms in one go, which has massive implications for what we can achieve with the two-week shipping windows we work within.”

CentrePort General Manager for Ferries and Bulk, Andrew Steele, says “This is a great example of the partnerships CentrePort is building with its contractors to improve safety and speed up projects like Seaview, to the benefit of local residents, our customers, and the wider Wellington Region.”

The new barge is now awaiting a blessing and naming ceremony on March 6^th, with involvement from mana whenua and the local community. Decisions are yet to be made on what will happen with Seaview’s former main barge, Tuapapa.