Fishing jetty parts craned into harbour

A new fishing jetty at Port Chalmers is expected to be up and running by the end of next week, Port Otago says.

The first of four sections of the new $1million jetty at Boiler Point were lifted into place yesterday, using a 250-tonne Titan crane to hoist them from the Port Otago's new multipurpose wharf out on to piles jutting from the water.

Port Otago infrastructure asset engineer Jon Visser said the largest section - measuring 17m long, 3.5m wide and weighing eight tonnes - was lifted into place yesterday morning.

A 250-tonne Titan crane lowers the first section of a new fishing jetty into position at Boiler Point, Port Chalmers, yesterday. Photo: Gerard O'Brien
A 250-tonne Titan crane lowers the first section of a new fishing jetty into position at Boiler Point, Port Chalmers, yesterday. Photo: Gerard O'Brien
It formed the top of the T-shaped jetty, and provided the platform people would fish from, he said.

It was to be joined by a second section, measuring 14m long, later yesterday afternoon.

A third section would be lifted into place today, and the final piece in the puzzle - connecting the jetty to the shore would follow by early next week, he said.

The sections had been fabricated in Dunedin by Action Engineering over the past few months, and workers on a barge were clamping, welding and bolting each section on to piles once lifted into position.

The T-shaped wharf would allow anglers to fish into 5m-deep water by the shipping channel.

Piles had been driven in the middle of last year, at the same time as those for the wider expansion of the port's new multipurpose wharf, and the fishing wharf was redesigned earlier this year.

Changes included switching from an all-steel structure with a 100-year lifespan to a steel frame with a recycled wood deck, with a 65-year lifespan, Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said at the time.

The changes were made after tenders for the project came back ''significantly over'' budget.

It was originally hoped the revised structure would be finished by August, but that date slipped back, first to September or October, then slipped again to November.

Nevertheless, Mr Visser said, the aim now was to have the work finished and ready for the public to start using by the end of next week - just in time for summer.

''It's been quite a long journey obviously to get to this point. We've had a lot of changes in design and we've had to make some big calls ... it's absolutely brilliant to have it at this point,'' he said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Comments

Another excellent asset for Dunedin, really pleased to see the new jetty being built, it will be a very popular place! Well done all involved.

 

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