ZAO Tamanneftegas embarked on an extensive project to develop an LPG and crude oil terminal at the Port of Taman in Russia. There is an existing finger jetty of approximately 2,000 m in length that connects the oil terminal to Berths 5 and 6. But the access to and from the berthing areas needed to be dredged to accommodate vessels of 120,000 DWT with a draught of 14 m.
What we do
Challenge
Solution
DEME was contracted to perform the dredging works related to the deepening of the access channel, turning basin and berthing areas at Berth 5 (south) and 6 (north) and to dispose of the dredged material offshore at a distance of 17 NM. The access channel is designed for one-way traffic and has a bottom width of 200 m. The existing water depth in the access channel varies from approximately CD -14.5 m to 15.5 m and the depth in the turning basin from CD -12 m to CD -13 m, while the areas North and South of the existing jetty are CD -12.5 m and 13.5 m respectively.
Used technology
We performed the deepening works in extreme weather conditions when the dry Siberian east wind sometimes reached up to 60 knots and the temperatures dropped down to - 25°, and this does not account for the windchill factor.
Despite the challenging conditions, we successfully achieved the final dredging depth of CD -15.8 m in the access channel and CD -16.1 m in the turning basin and at Berths 5 and 6. The dredged soils comprised an upper layer of soft marine clays followed by stiff clays and in the berthing areas the stiff clays could be underlain by weak claystone. The dredging quantities totalled 2.73 million m³ at the end of the project.