Getting back to nature for major island port project
SELECT Member BMES (Scotland) Ltd had to tackle ticks and navigate the challenges of newts for a mammoth job in Stornoway
It’s not often you get warned about the dangers of ticks and are asked to be respectful to newts in an onsite induction course, but that’s what the team from Member firm BMES (Scotland) Ltd learned before starting the M&E package for the Stornoway deep water port project in Lewis and Harris.
The £49 million investment involves the creation of a new port, on land opposite the existing ferry terminal in Stornoway, which will help service the growing offshore renewables industry, attract cruise ships and stimulate the economy of the Outer Hebrides.
The contract, which was awarded to McLaughlin & Harvey (MCLH) in 2022, involves dredging nearly 500,000 cubic metres of material from the seabed and associated land reclamation works, plus the removal of two shipwrecks – the cargo ship SS Alabama, which sank in 1904, and the coal hulk SS Portugal, which sank in 1953 – to create a new deep-water port to accommodate vessels up to 360 metres in length to berth.
In addition to the 195m-long combi-piled steel main berth quay wall and concrete berthing ‘dolphin’ – a stand-alone mooring structure in the water off the port that increases the mooring capacity of the facility – the contract also involved the construction of new access roads to connect the port to Stornoway and the development of 6.5 hectares of land for unloading, storage and industrial uses.
As the site is located in a beautiful and environmentally sensitive area, an in-depth environmental impact assessment was done to not only minimise the disturbance to wildlife and marine animals – particularly dolphins, porpoises and minke whales – and the surrounding area, but also to the local community. That’s why the induction programme for new contractors gave a detailed information about respecting the island’s wildlife and warning them about the dangers of tick bites.
Scott Anderson, BMES Contracts Manager, who worked with Contracts Director Allan Logan on the project, said: “The scale of this enterprise has to be seen to be appreciated. It is absolutely mammoth and I think you can only appreciate it by seeing aerial photographs of the construction area.
“Our planning had to be meticulous as we were dealing with very long cable runs and most of our pre-construction work had to be done from plans, rather than on site.
“At the start of the contract our emphasis was on using the pre-construction period to the best effect, maximising the build quality and process to ensure the services planning was carried out prior to installation, and we produced detailed drawings to clarify the exact requirements to our installation teams.
“We prefabricate elements of services and our carefully thought-out construction methodology helped to speed up production during the construction phase with a view to reducing both time on site and preliminary costs.”
For the mechanical side of the port facility, BMES was charged with designing the facilities for an underground water system which included a cold-water storage tank fitted with valves so that vessels can take on fresh water, particularly important for large cruise ships.
Craig Downie, BMES’s Mechanical Project Manager, said: “We designed and developed the cold-water booster pump sets and booster housing which fed via underground pipes into four cluster boxes on the port side. These were fitted with water meters so that the volume of water could be measured and charged to vessels.
“We’ve also designed and built a building management system (BMS) that runs independently, located within the booster housing, which obviously houses the booster pump itself, and is linked to the meters in the cluster boxes.
“We’ve incorporated an integrated circuit piezoelectric (ICP) as well, as there are sensors within the underground water tank to assess levels and they get picked up by the BMS.”
The big issue in a marine environment is protecting everything from moisture and salt water, so the units were constructed of stainless steel to stop corrosion and, as the port is in an environmentally sensitive area, the team also installed an oil leak detection system.
The electrical component of the port project was multifunctional, from designing and delivering the switchgear unit to connecting to the newly-built substation on a hill above the port and laying the main cables, including fibre optics. Other work involved installing port-side lighting – including lighting on the small bridge connecting the ‘dolphin’ to the port – as well as CCTV and door access to the facility. The final part of the contract involved testing and commissioning.
“Our planning had to be meticulous as we were dealing with very long cable runs and most of our pre-construction work had to be done from plans, rather than on site”
Scott said: “While SSEN undertook the HV aspect of the work, we had to design and install the CT chamber, LV switchboard, generator connection box and electrical clusters boxes.
“The electrical cluster boxes had various outlets ranging from 32A TP&N to 63A TP&N to plug into depending on what power requirement was required.
“The LV switchboard supplied cluster boxes, the dolphin feeder pillar and various distribution boards throughout the port. Our design and install was carried out with the assistance of Kestral Controls. As there was a remote power panel (RPP) close by, we needed cables going across from our switch room to supply that and for ‘Spa Cabin’, which housed the controls.”
BMES designed a bespoke cable spreader box with load distribution and metering panel and provided a services consumer unit. This featured an Acti9 Schneider 10-way unit wired with MCBs to monitor internal light and heating, the BMS outstation, plus water cluster frost protection and the internal fibre to conversion unit. They also installed cluster internal equipment/services and ‘rear of enclosure’ sockets.
A BMS junction was also designed and supplied, along with a fibre junction and fibre-to-copper conversion units to be fitted by contractors. BMES used a specialist contractor to install fibre optics and to transform it to copper wire through the BMS from the transfer as an energy monitoring system.
“Roddy was a great asset as he not only knew the lay of the land but also local people, which was very handy when he needed extra help in certain situations”
Scott added: “We’ve got fibre optics running the whole length of the pier and port area to pick up at various outlets, particularly the CCTV, and the cluster boxes have got these converters – and that all goes back to the Spa Cabin where everything can be monitored.”
The street lighting was unusual as the client had stipulated using a Controlux Air lighting system controlled by a wireless network connection. This smart system uses a state-of-the-art network interface device which synchronises the outdoor lighting controller with the street lighting management software, with in-built smart monitoring tools which can notify the port operators about the status of lamps and the overall network.
All the bespoke items had to be designed and built at Kestral Controls’ facility in Glasgow and transported to the island.
Scott emphasised the design and pre-construction element of the contract: “As nothing was ‘straight off the shelf’, all the items had to be designed and tested before they were sent to the island. This included the CT cabinet designed to take the cables coming off the transformer, the switch gear that was made up with the panel boards, and the cluster boxes.”
Another challenge that gave Scott some sleepless nights was measuring up the underground cables to ensure they were the right length for the port facilities, as he explained: “One of the most difficult aspects of the project was simply the length of the cable runs: there were four 95mm five-core cables running up to 460m but we couldn’t confirm the lengths required on site as the port was still being constructed.
“We had to calculate the lengths we needed from the plans and hope that the contractors had put the ducts exactly where the plans said they should be, otherwise we could end up being a metre short. That was probably the first time I’ve ever estimated material in this way, so I was quite nervous given the sheer length and the value involved.”
In addition to the technical demands, one of the most challenging aspects of the work was organising the logistics, as all the components, as well as the team and subcontractors, had to travel across the mainland to Ullapool on the west coast and make the crossing. The ferries were often at full capacity during the summer months when tourists flocked to the islands and finding accommodation for staff and contractors was also an issue. However, this wasn’t a problem for electrical supervisor Roddy McLeod as he was a Lewisian and was able to stay with his parents who still lived in Stornoway.
Craig said: “Roddy was a great asset as he not only knew the lay of the land but also local people, which was very handy when he needed extra help in certain situations. If an item wasn’t available it could take three weeks to get over to the island but Roddy, with his local contacts, could generally find a solution. This varied from plant and material.”
Another issue about working on Lewis and Harris was that there was no working on Sunday out of respect for the islanders’ religious traditions.
Unsurprisingly, the weather in this part of Scotland also presented some problems with the project timetable but BMES’s electrical and mechanical specialists were able to complete the majority of their work during September and October last year, and returned in late February when the facilities were powered up to complete testing and commissioning.
On 1 April, the aptly-named 216m-long Ambassador Ambition became the first cruise ship to berth at Stornoway’s new Deep Water Terminal, where nearly 1,200 passengers disembarked to enjoy the beauty and attractions of the Outer Hebrides – heralding a new phase in tourism for the islands and prosperity for this remote part of Scotland.
BMES Managing Director Barry Munnoch was delighted with the contract win and completion of the project.
He said: “To do this type of job in Glasgow would be nothing unusual for us but undertaking this on a remote island is another matter. I’m very proud of how our guys dealt with the logistics of working on the island and keeping our main contractor and the people of Stornoway happy with our professional approach.”
A ‘game-changer’ that will benefit local community
The Stornoway Deep Water Port was described as a “game-changer” for the islands by John Swinney, when he was Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, as it is expected to bring “transformative and sustainable change” to the economy of the Outer Hebrides. The new facilities will help to attract more tourists to the islands and will also put the port in a strong position to compete for future opportunities in other sectors, including renewable energy fabrication and aquaculture.
Port facilities:
A new main berth for vessels up to 360m long
A freight ferry berth
Water depths of 10m below Chart Datum
A new platform area for unloading, storage and industrial use
A heavy lift slab at the quayside
A haul route to the Arnish fabrication yard for transport of large components
A pedestrian link to the Lews Castle grounds, to allow cruise visitors to walk/cycle into town.
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