Strainstall UK receive large order for new offshore berth management system

Strainstall have received an order to provide offshore berth management systems to four new Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs).  These vessels are being produced by FLEX LNG and are the world's first floating natural gas liquefaction vessels.  The four FSRUs will be supplied by Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea, with the first one due for delivery some time in 2011.

The advantage of these self-propelled FSRU's is that they are able to pre-treat and liquefy natural gas and store and offload the LNG in an offshore location.  This is of benefit in gas field sites where there are no suitable port facilities nearby or for smaller gas fields that would otherwise be uneconomical to exploit.  The FSRU can be moored for a short period of time until the gas field has been emptied and then simply move on to another location, eliminating the need to build hugely expensive gas terminals onshore.

An added advantage is that these operations are carried out well away from populated areas, which has become an increasing concern, particularly in the USA where they are worried about onshore terminals being possible terrorist targets.

LNG carriers will dock to the FSRU to offload or collect the LNG and the new Strainstall Offshore Berth Management System will assist the mooring master during these ship-to-ship transfer operations by providing information on the speed of approach, mooring tensions, loading arm working envelope and other environmental parameters, which are all linked to a central control system.  The order is part of a larger package being supplied by Fendercare.

Strainstall Operations to carry out ground movement monitoring for Blackfriars Station redevelopment

Strainstall has been appointed by Jacobs Engineering to provide ground movement monitoring of the Blackfriars Station Redevelopment, which  is part of Network Rail's Thameslink Programme.

The Thameslink Programme itself involves significant alterations to the north-south mainline rail link through central London.  The goal is to increase the route capacity by adding new lines at key locations, altering junctions and increasing platform lengths, so that more frequent and longer trains can be run.

At Blackfriars, the existing mainline station is being completely rebuilt and new platforms that will extend right across the Thames, will give direct access to the South Bank.  Between 2006 and 2008 Strainstall provided a monitoring service to Mott MacDonald for the Blackfriars Bridge structure that was part of the preparatory work for the station reconstruction.

The project involves instrumentation of the key existing, above and below ground assets that belong to Network Rail, London Underground and several third parties.  In addition to the initial works, the contract includes a 3 year monitoring programme that may well be extended further.  The monitoring is required to ensure that the existing assets and buildings are not damaged during the works - particularly the railway lines and tunnels. 

Areas to be monitored include:

• Waterloo and City Line tunnel linings and track
• District and Circle Lines station area and tunnels, including track movement
• Numerous office buildings, a bank, a public house, Network Rail track and bridge structure (across Queen Victoria Street)
• A services subway, a pedestrian subway
• Fleet Sewer (the culverted Fleet River)

Much of the monitoring uses automated robotic surveying instruments, which take 3D positioning measurements from remote prismatic targets that are within their field of view.  The instruments and targets will be located on various buildings (including those owned by third parties) and within railway tunnel areas.

There are also many angular measurements (typically for track movement) using tiltmeters connected to dataloggers.  Each of the automatic monitoring stations is connected remotely to a main control PC which collates all the data from the on-site equipment and checks against trigger levels, issuing alarms as appropriate.

Strainstall Operations are delighted to have been awarded this contract, which builds upon experience they have gained on many similar, but smaller, schemes.  It also gives them the opportunity to move confidently into the world of ground engineering, where there are many significant opportunities over the next few years.

Strainstall Norway supply anchor mooring system for Bideford Dolphin

Strainstall Norway will soon be installing and commissioning an anchor moring system for the Bideford Dolphin semi submersible drilling rig, located on the Norwegian side of the North Sea basin.

The system is based on the standard WMS2000 monitoring system but has been customised to include control of the winches.  It uses load pins to measure the loads in the rigs eight point mooring line configuration to provide real-time tension data.  Audible and visual alarms are incorporated for high tension situations, to provide the rig operators with critical information required for safe operation.

The system comprises of 4 local PLCs that communicate with a central control room PC and an additional remote PC station n the bridge.  The application software is menu driven and operator friendly and is configured to interface with other on-board monitoring and control systems.  Historical data is also available for trend analysis.

The system was completed last November and is due for installation in May.

Strainstall Norway supply two crane load monitoring systems

Strainstall Norway have also recently received an order from GustoMSC, a specialist supplier of mobile offshore units, for load monitoring systems for two new crane vessels.  With load capacities of 4000 and 5000 tonnes, these crane vessels both feature a fully revolving crane for offshore lifting duties and have also been designed to undertake pipelaying operations in water depths of up to 2500 metres.  Currently under construction, one vessel will be going to Seaway Heavy Lifting, while the other has been commissioned by Chinese National Offshore Oil Company.

The crane monitoring system supplied by Strainstall Norway will provide the operator with critical information about the lift, including load on hook and percentage of safe working load.  Delivery of the systems is scheduled for May and June.

Strainstall Middle East receive orders for preliminary works on two Abu Dhabi projects

Strainstall Middle East has recently received an order for preliminary pile testing for the Abu Dhabi Airport expansion project.  The airport has seen the number of passengers using the airport increase significantly year on year, and in 2007 reached 6.9 million.  Forecast to rise to 10 million by 2010, the airport needed to enhance capacity to meet this demand.

The first phase of the project included the construction of two new terminal buildings with a capacity of 3 million passengers a year.  The second phase involves the construction of a new super-sized midfield terminal along with a second parallel 4,100 metre runway and new aircraft control tower.  This development will take place to the north of the existing airport and is due for completion in 2010.  Strainstall ME have been contracted to carry out static load testing of non working piles incorporating concrete embedment strain gauges, compression load cells and displacement transducers linked to a PC display.

Strainstall ME has also received an order for groundworks at Qasr Al-Hosn, the oldest stone building in the city of Abu Dhabi.  Also known as the white fort, the Qasr Al-Hosn was originally built as a watchtower to guard a waterhole in 1761, becoming a fully fledged fort on what is now Abu Dhabi island in 1793.  Following a multi-million dirham project that will radically alter the site's landscape and interior, the building will become a museum depicting all aspects of UAE culture and will be the 'Trafalgar Square for the Emirates' and a cultural heart for the nation.

Strainstall ME will undertake a pre-condition survey of the surrounding area prior to excavation and construction activities, which includes optical surveying of adjacent buildings, roads and ground, along with photographic recording of surrounding building condition and water pressure measurements.

Strainstall UK supply new 'higher accuracy' DockAlert system

Strainstall UK have supplied a new version of their standard DockAlert system to ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips at two oil terminals in Los Angeles.  All products supplied to Californian oil terminals now have to comply with their MOTEMS regulations (Marine Oil Terminal Engineering Maintenance Standards), which cover rules and guidelines for performance standards of marine oil terminals.

These aim to ensure that all facilities provide the best achievable protection of public health and safety and the environment and were implemented to help safeguard the infrastructure of the 45 oil terminals along the Californian coast, which have an average age of 50 years.  Originally intended for vessels much smaller than currently moored, existing facilities were not designed to operate with the larger sized vessels calling at the terminals.  The older supporting structures are also more prone to damage and so require vessel berthing at lower impact speeds.

The standard Strainstall DockAlert system provides protection to the terminal infrastructure by measuring the distance and calculating a vessel's approach speed to ensure that it is kept within the allowable limits for the terminal's safe operation.  The system uses two laser units installed on either side of the terminal which are aimed perpendicular to the berthing line.  These measure the distance of the bow and stern relative to the jetty, whilst also providing speed and angle of the vessel to the berth.

To comply with the new MOTEMS, Strainstall had to supply a system that included special higher accuracy lasers, which enabled precision monitoring at slower speeds, to make docking manoeuvres even more accurate and so further improving operational safety.

Strainstall Middle East move into new offices

Since its establishment in May 2004, Strainstall Middle East has grown rapidly and now employs 43 staff.  As a result they have outgrown their offices located near Dubai Airport in Deira.  In March 2009, on almost the 5th anniversary of the set-up of the company, they relocated to new premises at the Jebel Ali Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Dubai, which has the desperately needed additional office, storage and warehouse space.

At over 6,000 sqft, the building has two storeys of offices, meeting room and a large workshop area.  With improved facilities and easy access to the new Dubai World Central Airport at Jebel Ali, the new facility will be able to accomoodate the company's future growth and expansion potential.  It is also ideally located, being within just one hour's drive of Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital city.

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