Page 4 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Thirteen

4
FROM THE GROUND UP
Installing interceptors at Aberdeen Harbour
Raymond Ferrier alongside an interceptor tank.
W M Donald is currently installing fourteen interceptors on the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion project. The project will make Aberdeen the largest berthage port in Scotland, able to accommodate vessels up to 305m in length. To provide some context, the Titanic measured 269m.
An interceptor tank is used to treat surface water run-off in order to remove hydrocarbons (oil, petrol etc), trash and silt. In simple terms, using a filtration element, the interceptor separates the oil from the water. When the
oil ‘reservoir’ is full, the oil is pumped out.
The water is discharged to the sea via an outfall. The outfall discharge is controlled via a penstock and a non-return valve.
The interceptors sit below the harbour
quay which will be used to load and unload vessels. The heavy lifting loads placed on the quay means that there is great emphasis on reinforcement and structural integrity.
Sarah Herd is working as Technical Engineer on the project:
‘We only have limited time windows in which to undertake the works due to the tides. Although we are 40m away from the sea you can still see the ebb and flow of sea water levels.
The project has been particularly intense and challenging from a technical perspective. There have been ongoing design changes involving detailed structural calculations.
The W M Donald team on site has been incredibly focussed and productive given the operational constraints it is faced with.
Bizarrely, Peter Sivill, Project Manager for the Aberdeen Harbour Board, was my first ever ‘boss’ when I worked on Shetland some thirteen years ago!’
DID YOU KNOW?
The fibreglass interceptor tanks were
supplied by SPEL (Shrewsbury Plastics and Engineering). SPEL started life in 1964 and initially manufactured fibreglass cabs and roofs for electric milk floats.