The first two modules for the Evaporator D project have been delivered to Sellafield beach, click here for a video of the beach landing operation. The modules which weigh up to 1,000t are too large for transport by land and the main contractor, Costain Oil and Gas, asked Beckett Rankine to devise a safe method of transporting the modules by sea and then landing them over Sellafield beach. To make the task more challenging the Environment Agency imposed a requirement not to disturb the beach or to construct any permanent structures upon it. We quickly discounted the use of flat top barges for the transportation as they deliver the load at such a height above the beach that a major docking structure is then required. Instead we identified Robert Wynn & Sons’ unique lift vessel the Terra Marique which can deliver a large load direct to the beach using only her own ramps.

A total of 12 modules are to be landed this way and in addition to assisting with the planning of the beach landings Beckett Rankine has been responsible for the motion analysis and sea fastening calculations for each of the Terra Marique’s voyages from Ellesmere Port, where the modules are being built, to Sellafield.

Here is a video of a module being transferred from the fabrication shop to the Terra Marique at Ellesmere Port