Aberdeen Harbour is one of the oldest and busiest ports in the UK.

It serves as a hub for the marine operations of oil and gas industry in north-west Europe, offering links to 40 countries.

The expansion project of the new South Harbour aims to increase and diversify the existing capabilities. Combined with the current port, Aberdeen Harbour will soon become the largest port in Scotland in terms of berthage.

The Aberdeen Harbour expansion mainly involved dredging within Nigg Bay to construct two breakwaters and develop quayside on the north and west sides of the bay.

Dextra offered a convenient solution for concrete integrity testing of the 35-45m depth bored piles that support the harbour structure. Both 50 and 100mm tubes were used by the contractor: Dragados, with 100mm used for inclinometry and coring purpose.

After drilling a vertical hole into the soil, Sonitec sonic tubes were equipped with the reinforcement cages and lowered into the hole, the latter is then filled with concrete, and the sonic logging testing is subsequently performed.

Dextra Sonitec system is designed to facilitate the assembly and installation of long tube lengths in reinforcement cages with its enlarged bell-mouth that allows the seamless connection of the tubes. The system complies with ASTM D6760, the standard method for integrity testing by ultrasonic cross-hole testing.

This port expansion upscales opportunities for existing customers, and opens the door to new markets, future-proofing the harbour’s ability to support the economic prosperity of the city and region.