DUBLIN Dreding

The team at Cunningham Civil and Marine Ltd are no strangers to carrying out tasks that others may shy away from. A privately-owned family run business headed up by Richard Browne, Eoghan and Danielle Cunningham from Westport in County Mayo, they have gained a reputation for successfully completing specialist marine and coastal defence projects, as well as ‘one off’ contracts.

“We are not afraid to take on work that others may not; if we haven’t got the equipment to do so, we don’t shy away from sourcing it,” said Cunningham Civil & Marine’s Contracts Manager Gordon Hassett. So, when they won a contract to dredge a section of Dublin Port they turned to Waitings, one of the UK’s leading engineering and plant hire companies, to supply them with a modified long reach Cat 395 to carry out the task.

The dredging contract involving the removal of around 30,000m3 of clay, silt, sand, gravel and cobbles down to a depth of 15 metres was part of Dublin Port’s aims to create two new deepwater berths, Berth 52 and Berth 53, which will be predominantly used for the berthing of Ro-Ro ferries.

“We stock a large range of marine and terrestrial plant, including vessels, barges and long reaches, but one cannot stock for every eventuality. We have a trusted team of suppliers to call on. We contacted Waitings from whom we hired out the long reach Cat 395 which was perfect for the job,” commented Gordon. He and his team are well known to the operators of the port, for whom they’ve carried out other contracts in recent times which required specialist equipment being sourced from outside Ireland.

One of their more unusual contracts was a ‘lift and shift’ project to rescue for posterity a 500 tonne lightship, the LV Kittiwake, which had been abandoned and tied up alongside the Quay Wall of Alexandra Basin West in Dublin Port for the last 20 years.

Using an 1800 tonne shearleg crane chartered from Holland, they lifted the 134 ft Kittiwake from the water in a challenging and delicate operation and placed it on what was essentially a giant self-propelled skateboard. The Kittiwake was then expertly manoeuvred 400 metres away to Dublin Port’s Heritage area where it will be restored in the future. This niche project executed by Cunningham Civil & Marine earned them a nomination in the Engineering Project of the Year category at the 2023 Irish Construction Awards.

"The Leica MC1 dredging solution installed by Ongrade Machine Control is regarded as the most reliable equipment for underwater applications…

Most of the work undertaken by the company involves operating in areas where access may be limited such as islands and lighthouses. They have carried out extensive works on piers, harbours and jetties along the coast of Ireland and out to sea in neighbouring islands and have a highly skilled team who can navigate the most challenging obstacles and conditions, so they were ultimately able to take the dredging project in Dublin Port in their stride.

The modified 115 tonne Cat 395, which was added to the Waitings extensive fleet of specialist machinery about two years ago, worked on a pontoon supplied by Ocean Crest Marine, a Galway based company that operates a substantial fleet of pontoons and barges in both Ireland and the UK. For this project, Cunningham Civil & Marine also engaged the services of O’Malley Marine Plant’s tug Tacktow and their hopper barge to work alongside their own team in order to ensure the fine-tuning and fast delivery of this contract.

With an extra long reach of 25metres and a bucket size of 2.8m3 , the Cat 395 was able to complete the contract well within the 11 week time frame allocated by the Dublin Port Company. “We began dredging on February 4th and finished up on March 27th, well ahead of the deadline. There were absolutely no issues with the Cat 395.

"With an extra long reach of 25meters the Cat 395 was able to complete the contract well within the 11 week timeframe allocated by Dublin Port Company…

It performed exactly as we had hoped,” said Gordon.

“This was the first time we had worked with Cunningham Civil & Marine and we were happy to be of service to them,” added Robert Waiting from Waitings Ltd, based at Penrith in Cumbria. The company provides a broad portfolio of services to the industry, ranging from hiring out long reach excavators and specialist marine plant to civil engineering, marine, flood and coastal defences.

“Normally, we supply such expensive pieces of equipment with our own fully trained and qualified operators, but we were more than satisfied with Cunningham’s own driver who was well experienced in handling the Cat 395.”

Another vital element on the Cat 395 was a Leica GNSS MC1 dredging solution installed by Ongrade Machine Control who are Waitings preferred provider for Machine Control solutions in the UK. They have a strong working relationship with Waitings and have provided service and support on many important civils, rail and marine projects over the years.

“It was an invaluable piece of kit... ...and worked perfectly, allowing our operator to see clearly what was happening beneath the water and to accurately position the dredging bucket.”

Ongrade Machine Control stands at the forefront of the UK's machine control technology rental industry, emerging as a pivotal entity within the Thomas Group since its inception in 2019. Spearheaded by Wayne Stevens and bolstered by a dedicated team of ten mobile installation engineers, five tech support engineers and a team of dedicated office staff, Ongrade MC has swiftly ascended to become the preferred destination for all GNSS-related requirements. From specialist dredging systems to the more conventional GNSS machine control equipment and survey installations, Ongrade offers a comprehensive suite of solutions catering to diverse needs across the UK.

"We've been working with Waitings for some years now on various projects, and having the opportunity to collaborate with them on this dredging endeavour was fantastic," said Wayne Stevens. "The Leica GNSS MC1 dredging solution is regarded as the most reliable equipment for underwater applications,” he added, highlighting the critical role played by Ongrade's technology in ensuring the success of such intricate marine projects.

WAYNE STEVENS DIRECTOR Ongrade MC Ltd.

The solution is designed to be used down to 40 metres at 5 bar pressure. The MSS420i sensors are equipped with reinforced components such as pressure tight connectors, a robust sensor housing, rugged cabling and stainless-steel brackets, making it the most reliable equipment for underwater applications. The Leica MSS420i dredging sensors can be programmed to boom 1, boom 2, stick, bucket and even tilt sensors.

Logged As-built data recorded from the MC1 system is automatically uploaded via Leica’s project management web application (Conx). This near real time data is displayed to the operator via on the onboard MCP80 Display, and to the project management team via the cloud-based solution.

The onshore team can view or download As-built points/data to display to the client in either report form or raw data. The system also enables the machine control provider or client to view/control the onboard display, to assist with operator queries and offer technical support remotely.

Once brought up from the seabed by the Cat 395 the mix of silt, sand and gravel was loaded on to a split hopper barge and transported 10km out to sea where it was safely deposited at an existing licensed offshore disposal site located at the entrance to Dublin Bay; sediment sampling and analysis showed that the sediments being dredged were suitable for disposal at sea.

Contact:

Wayne Stevens 07990 071 615 w.stevens@ongrademc.com or visit www.ongrademc.org