Geotechnical Site News

Avangrid has awarded TDI-Brooks a shallow water geotechnical site investigation survey at block OCS A-0508, also known as Kitty Hawk Wind. The data collected will inform the design of the export cable and inter-array packages.The scope of work includes utilizing a TDI-Brooks’ owned Datum Neptune 5K (pCPT) at 155 sites and a newly-designed TDI-Brooks pneumatic vibracorer (pVC) at 80 sites. The pVC is a light weight (4,600-lb in air), high power vibracorer and has been successfully deployed on the US East Coast >200 times for offshore wind farm (OSWF) projects.

Dutch offshore survey services firm Fugro has secured a contract with the Danish grid operator Energinet for geotechnical site investigations for the North Sea I offshore wind development.The Danish government plans to expand offshore wind capacity by 4GW by 2030, and the geodata acquired by Fugro will be used to inform future bids in the area. "This award follows Fugro’s success working on the North Sea Energy Islands project for Energinet throughout 2022, a project that is the first of its kind…

U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company TDI-Brooks said it recently mapped the Liberty Ship George Vancouver off Freeport, Texas while out on a seabed survey project with the R/V Brooks McCall. The multiple multi-phase geophysical and geotechnical site surveys program consisted of pipeline routing and subsea structures to facilitate route and project design for offshore developers.Equipment used to map the ship was a Teledyne Reson SeaBat T-20 multibeam sonar with integrated Applanix POSMV for Motion.

Norwegian offshore vessel owners Golden Energy Offshore has secured a contract extension for its IMR Despina vessel.The charter extension will take effect in direct continuation of the current contract with Fugro. Golden Energy Offshore did not provide info on the length of the new contract.According to available info, Fugro is currently using the 2011-built IMR Despina for a geotechnical site investigation at the Borkum Offshore Wind Farm in Germany.Golden Energy Offshore info…

ABS has issued the ABS Guidance Notes on Geotechnical Performance of Spudcan Foundations, encompassing the results from multiple targeted jackup research initiatives, says a press statement from the company. This document is the industry’s first guidance to present a thorough examination of jackup foundation issues, providing methodology for installation and operation and up-to-date geotechnical site assessment. “ABS began setting the bar for safety in offshore operations since 1958, when we provided the first classification services to the offshore industry,” says ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. The Guidance…

ELA Container Offshore GmbH said it has delivered two offshore living quarters to Belgium based G-Tec Offshore s.a. The containers were placed on board of the multipurpose drilling vessel MV Omalius off the coast of France. The solution on deck turned out to be very successful as the units have also been used for other projects since then. Currently the MV Omalius is working in the construction phase of the Merkur wind farm, located approximately 45km north of the islands of Borkum, Germany where GeoSea, Belgian Deme Group’s ’s specialist will realize the construction of Merkur Offshore.

Fugro has been awarded the contract by Vineyard Wind, formerly named OffshoreMW, to perform a marine geotechnical site investigation within its wind development lease, offshore Massachusetts. Fugro’s state-of-the-art, 105-meter drilling vessel M/V Fugro Synergy will perform the study, which will include numerous seabed CPTs and exploration boreholes, along with sampling and downhole CPTs. Following the fieldwork, a program of laboratory testing and reporting will be performed by Fugro’s offices in Houston TX and Norfolk VA. The site investigation will be used to verify geologic ground models that Vineyard Wind is developing based on previous geophysical data collected from the 166,866-acre lease area.

Fugro has been contracted by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to execute the geotechnical site investigation and geological modelling of sites I and II of the future Borssele wind farm park. The 1,400MW wind farm zone is located off the Zealand coast at the southern border of the Dutch EEZ. Based on the geophysical survey data acquired in January and February 2015, Fugro will perform boreholes and seabed cone penetration testing at the site. The investigation will provide crucial information for the developers of the Borssele offshore wind farm who are preparing for the tender which will open in December 2015. Fugro will undertake the geotechnical site investigation using two of its dedicated vessels, the MV Bucentaur and the Fugro Commander.

The innovative walking jack-up platform WaveWalker 1 was presented with the Product and Equipment Innovation Award at the prestigious Ground Engineering (GE) Awards ceremony in London earlier this week. WaveWalker 1, developed by Fugro and Van Oord, is an innovative, eight-legged 'walking' jack-up barge (self-elevating work platform - SEWP) designed especially for marine operations in rough seas, surf zones, beaches and other intertidal locations where operation of traditional SEWPs is uneconomic.

Fugro Seacore recently collected the New Mechanical Product of the Year award for the WaveWalker 1 walking jack-up at this year’s British Engineering Excellence Awards (BEEAs). WaveWalker is an eight-legged walking jack-up barge (self-elevating work platform - SEWP) which was designed especially for marine operations in rough seas, surf zones, beaches and other intertidal locations where operation of traditional SEWPs is uneconomic. As well as operating safely whilst elevated, its bidirectional movement allows it to move and relocate without floating.

Earlier this year Calecore took investment from Netherlands based investment company VEP. VEP’s equity position sees the board of Calecore unchanged but the drill rig purchase is viewed as just the start of bringing significant and key assets to the balance sheet. This investment also gives leverage to Calecore’s ever growing global presence with 1 Raffles Quay, Singapore being added to the Stavanger and Moscow bases in September of this year. Calecore’s Geotechnical and Geophysical…

Calecore Directors Sarah Cashmore, Steven Lloyd and Richard Parkinson announce purchase of a geotechnical drilling rig for their DP2 vessel 'Highland Spirit', and also that the company has secured a third month rotation for the Kara Sea project in the Russian Arctic. Earlier this year Calecore obtained an investment from Netherlands based investment company VEP which sees the board of Calecore unchanged, but the drill rig purchase is viewed as the start of bringing significant and key assets to the balance sheet.