Cruise Pier
Services Applied by VCS Engineering
Project Scope
In St. John’s Antigua, a new cruise pier was built comprising a steel bulkhead wall, piles, and three mooring dolphins. Because of the aggressive marine environment and hot tropical weather, corrosion of the steel elements is of concern for the structure’s durability. As a result, the construction of this new pier included installing a galvanic cathodic protection (CP) system in the form of aluminum anodes that are welded to the steel and sheet piles. The objective of the CP system is to prevent the piles from corrosion due to marine exposure. The project engineer hired Vector Corrosion Services (VCS) to design the CP system and provide quality assurance for the CP system installation from a National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) certified Cathodic Protection Specialist (CPS).
Project Solution
VCS performed calculations to determine the required size and spacing of the aluminum anodes to meet the design service life of the pier. Due to the aggressive marine environment and high Caribbean temperatures, the anodes must be sized correctly to perform under this aggressive environment. VCS also put together design drawings and specifications included in the completed project bid documents.
During installation, VCS was also hired to perform quality assurance on the anode installation to ensure they were installed per project specifications. VCS measured the potential of the steel elements in the water before and after the anode installation to ensure that the anodes properly polarize the steel per NACE cathodic protection standards. VCS confirmed that the anodes were installed correctly and were provided cathodic protection to the submerged steel elements.
