Nautec has been contracted to carry out grouting services to strengthen the pile structures of an oil-loading jetty & mooring dolphin in Indonesia. The jetty is used for shipping out condensate and Nautec will be carrying out the strengthening services without any disruption to the activities taking place at the facilities and with no asset loss.

The work scope to be taken on by Nautec will include project management and administration; design and engineering; supply of grouting technicians and supply and installation of all materials and accessories required for carrying out the strengthening work.

The strengthening work will extend the service life of the jetty and dolphin structure by increasing the vertical and lateral capacity of the strengthened structures, while also protecting the existing steel piles from further corrosion.

The Nautec team will be applying its strengthening method to the structures by filling the inside of the piles with NaX high performance grouting material. The external piles will be reinforced with steel bars and injected with NaX grout.

Image: Infilling and grouting of annulus

The external grouting work will be performed by installing a segmented steel sleeve fitted around the damaged region of the pile serving as formwork. The work will cover the piles underwater and at riverbed locations, however, the grouting team will execute the strengthening method from above water by using a down-hole camera and other relevant tools and equipment.

Both the internal and external grouting will increase the pile capacity to resist compressive stress. The addition of reinforcing bars on the external grouting will furthermore increase the capacity of the tensile and bending stress.

The grouting also acts as a corrosion inhibitor, as it protects the existing piles from further corrosion, which poses a threat to both the internal and outer faces in this tough marine environment.

Click here to read more about Nautec’s NaX high performance grouting materials.