22 November 2011
Last week Shoreham Port were delighted to receive an Innovation Award at the British Expertise International Awards. They were part of a consortium led by international consultants Mott MacDonald for their revolutionary new LATreat™ corrosion protection system. Shoreham Port’s Engineering Team has been working as a member of the consortium to test the unique new system on the many kilometres of steel sheet pile quay walls at the Port.
Tony Parker, Director of Engineering said “ I enjoyed this event, with the prestigious venue and, speeches by the Duke of Gloucester and Michael Portillo. The consortium members were all flattered to have been shortlisted for the award, but to actually win it in competition with innovatory projects like the new London Olympic Stadium was absolutely stunning. With over 5 miles of steel sheet pile quay wall to protect at the Port, LATreat™ is a very welcome innovation. The next stage of the project, when our feet are back on the ground again, is to arrange for a full sized trial of LATreat™ over a long length of our quay walls.”
LATreat™ is a corrosion protection technique developed and patented by Mott MacDonald and BAC Corrosion Control and uses electro-chemistry to take naturally occurring chemical agents from seawater and deposit them on vulnerable steel structures as a protective coating. The process is particular effective in protecting steel structures in the sea against accelerated low water corrosion (ALWC). ALWC is caused by a bug which has spread to virtually all European ports now and eats away steel at up to 25 times the rate of normal corrosion. LATreat™ is highly friendly to the environment and the consortium members have used it to treat ALWC on a trial basis since 2007. The LATreat™ consortium members are Mott MacDonald, BAC Corrosion Control, Shoreham Port Authority, Aberdeen Harbour Board, the Port of London Authority, and Hutchison Ports.
The picture on the left shows (from left to right) the Duke of Gloucester, Mott MacDonald’s LATreat™ Project Manager, Dr Neil Henderson, Shoreham Port’s Director of Engineering, Tony Parker, and Mott MacDonald Director, Paul Norris.
