HMAS Cairns

Major Marine Works Package

Existing Sugar Wharf Structural Modifications

Pile supply and installation including coatings and cathodic protection

Temporary formwork, falsework, and access provisions for the construction of marine structures, including design

Precast concrete element supply and installation

Concrete supply, pump, place and finish

Reinforcing steel supply and fix

Progressive demolition and removal of existing marine structures, including the existing undercover berth

All metalwork items, including under-deck services, support racks, guardrails, ladders, and walkways

Existing Wharf modifications to quay line at the undercover berth

Small Craft Facility including refurbishment and reuse of Existing Concrete Pontoons to covered wharf area

Waste Management, including recycling of demolished materials and reporting

Limited space available for any land based on-site activities: SMC’s methodology utilises floating plant & equipment for all deliveries and activities – we were able to provide market-leading solutions due to the bespoke nature of our heavy plant and equipment, plus our local knowledge allowed us to secure key dockside handling space

Approval conditions (eg Department of Agriculture and Fisheries): specific underwater acoustic stipulations focused on minimising “fish impacts” associated with the spawning season for Barramundi upstream in the estuary were creatively addressed by SMC introducing a flexible program to avoid known noisy activities during spawning windows, plus a detailed acoustic monitoring process based on real-time information

Maintaining the operational environment for HMAS Cairns: As with all live Defence bases, HMAS Cairns will remain operational throughout the significant redevelopment. SMC devised creative ways to maintain berth space (including intricate staging methodologies), whilst also maintaining fall-back activities to deal with the lease requirements of the shared Sugar Wharf (where Sugar Trading Limited have unabridged access to a significant piece of dockside infrastructure for 90 (continuous) days of the year)

Significant floating traffic past the site: HMAS Cairns is located in Smith’s Creek, which is a busy industrial area which services several marine industries in the local area including: cruise ships and their maintenance; Navy operations; commercial fishing industry; Commercial water tourism (ferries etc); marine manufacturing; port services (major materials and equipment deliveries and overseas break-bulk operations); other large scale industries (eg servicing sugar import/ export, Petro-chemical storage and transfer etc). SMC need to operate within busy channels and maintain operational channel widths, plus coordinate our works around major industrial and commercial operations. Our winning bid on ongoing excellent performance was assisted by our knowledge of the area, its operations and constraints, and relationships with key stakeholders (including Harbour Master, Ports North/ QLD Bulk Ports, and local commercial and industrial partners) due to the completion of our land-backed and freestanding wharves for Ports North at the Cairns Marine Precinct Smith’s Creek 1,2&3 project in 2022/’23