Kishorn Port Revamping Its Dry Dock

Kishorn Port Ltd, a joint venture that is seeking to resurrect the redundant oil fabrication yard at Kishorn on the west coast of Scotland, has commenced the first phase of re-instating the dry dock on the site, in which it will invest GBP 500,000.

Engineering company Harris Pye began working on refurbishing the dock gates at Kishorn Port today, marking the first step in making the gates, and the Kishorn, dry-dock operational. The contract for the refurbishment is valued at GBP 340,000 and the work will be undertaken in a six-week period.

The offshore renewables industry, which has a requirement for the serial production of large concrete structures, is one of the key markets recognised by the owners of Kishorn Port as those that need access to sheltered deep water, big lay down areas and a large dry dock.

“Refurbishment of the deep draft dry-dock will undoubtedly give Scotland a significant advantage, and be a vital step in improving the local economy,” said Chris David, Harris Pye’s Chief Technical Officer. “We are proud to be involved in this venture. We will be operating on a turnkey basis, our well trained mobile workforce is looking forward to the challenge.”

The contract includes the fabrication of a new set of gate seals and culvert tube covers, which when installed will allow the dry dock to be pumped dry for the first time in almost 25 years. The dry dock is of such a size that it will take four days using six huge 12” pumps to empty it. Once the dock is emptied, it will allow inspection of the facility, ensuring that it can be re-used for a wide range of prospective contracts.

The two massive hollow concrete dock gates, each weighing in excess of 13,000 tonnes, will also be pumped out to ensure that they can be floated to allow the movement of structures into the dry dock.

“We will be floating the gate – no mean feat as it weighs in excess of 13,000 tonnes; replacing all areas of corroded steel, and the rubber seals; and repositioning the gate prior to pumping the dock out to test the integrity of the gates. We will also be strengthening the access road to the dock gate and replacing the flooding covers and fitting new seals on them,” David said.