Recent work for our Industrial Services division includes the award of preservation works on a number of key structural assets for the Australian Marine Complex (AMC).
Located in Henderson, WA with direct waterfront access, the AMC provides extensive infrastructure and docking facilities to support the largest Marine industry in Australia. Conveniently located in the heart of the AMC, Orontide has played an integral role to this industry sector providing services for the repair, maintenance and construction of naval and commercial vessels for over 40 years.
But it is some of our most recent work that has extended our focus beyond the vessels themselves. This work has included remediation of key structural components such as the floating dock pontoon deck. Measuring 3500 square metres, this deck area is part of the floating dock used to bring ships in and out of the water at the Common User Facility (CUF). Built in 2009, this 99m long by 53m wide structure is one of the world’s most technologically advanced floating dry docks and is capable of lifting 12,000 tonne vessels out of the water for service and maintenance work.
The scope of work for the dock’s first full refurbishment included spot blasting and painting of corroded areas followed by painting of a full mid and top coat to the entire deck. It was Orontide’s innovative approach to increasing efficiencies that saw the work awarded to our competent team. By utilising a mixture of surface preparations (water blasting with and without vacuum recovery) and coating application systems (power rolling instead of spray painting) we were able to minimise the need to encapsulate the areas being worked on and still reduce the impact on the environment by offering an environmentally safe option.
This work was followed by refurbishment works to extend the life of the AMC 5 walkway which came as a result of the successful works carried out on the floating dock. The 32 metre long, 14.5 tonne walkway used to provide access to ship moorings was removed from site by our Industrial Services division and transported to our blasting and painting facility around the corner in Henderson. There the team removed all fittings, fixtures and walkaway panels before spot blasting the corrosion. A full middle application of Epoxy mastic was then applied and a top coating of Polyurethane was reinstated.
Whilst this was happening our projects team were mobilised to site where they used abrasive blasting methods with encapsulation to fully blast and paint the attachment brackets that had been left in place. The walkway was then transported back to site and our Industrial Services fitters installed the walkway back into position in the newly painted brackets. All work was completed within the two week time schedule allowing access to AMC ship moorings at the Southern end to resume as quickly as possible.
This work demonstrates how Orontide work with collaboration of all departments within our Industrial Services division delivering work of a consistently high standard on time and within budget.
