Alotau (PNG) Provincial Wharf Progress

PMG is full steam ahead on our Alotau (PNG – Milne Bay) Provincial Wharf Project.

The work involves demolition of an existing jetty, and removal by road, before installation of a new jetty. The new jetty will be made of tubular steel piles (710mm and 610mm diameter and up to 60m long) and a concrete deck of precast (50Mpa) and local elements up to 30T, with over 230m3 of site poured concrete (40Mpa) involved. There will also be a new floating concrete pontoon with an access walkway from the jetty, and 730m2 of interlock paving and associated site buildings.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) together with Australian Government (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and PNG Government have jointly funded the project through the Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) and the Milne Bay Provincial Government.

At the moment our yard in Townsville is very busy on this project, amongst a few others. We are constructing all the 50Mpa precast elements here in the yard, and this process is going well. We are a bit under half way through and this work is ongoing. We have received the majority of the steel piles into the yard, and splicing of the 12m sections into full lengths up to 60m is being made easier with our new sub arc welding machine.

We have a number of barges being set up for the project as well:

• PMG183W (54m x 21m) is being set up as the piling barge, with a 4 point mooring system, 3-gate piling frame, our newly acquired 280T Sumitomo crawler crane, as well as Junttan 7/9 & Junttan 10/12/14 impact Hammers, and ICE416 vibrohammer.
• PMG182 (54m x 18m) is being set up as a cargo barge, currently being loaded with precast elements, and soon the completed piles will commence being loaded.
• PMG124 (36m x 12m) will also be employed as a cargo barge on the project and will soon commence loading.
• PMG151 (45 x 15m) will be setup as a smaller construction barge with our 100T Sany crawler crane to take over on site following pilling and precast placement later this year.

Mobilisation of the first 2 barges is planned for mid August 2022.