Duncan Wharf

Deepwater installs Raparound™ anodes, VSEs™ and RetroBuoys™ for a Canadian wharf in semi-arctic conditions

In 2006, Deepwater Corrosion Services performed a cathodic protection retrofit for the Duncan Wharf, an aluminum-loading berth in Port Alfred, Quebec, Canada.  Assets to be protected included an H-pile pier (in semi-arctic conditions) and one sheet-pile bulkhead section. The retrofit cathodic protection (CP) system consisted of:

• 40 x Raparound pile anodes (rated 50 Amperes each)
• 8 x RetroBuoys™ (ICCP buoys rated 200 Amperes each)
• 2 x VSE anodes (Self-burying ICCP anode rated 50 Amperes each)

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Lower maintenance costs

The existing cathodic-protection system on this jetty structure was an impressed-current system constantly under repair. The maintenance costs were consistently exceeding $250,000 per year. Understandably, the operator wanted to reduce costs by retrofitting the structure with a more reliable system. Ice and high flow/tide conditions as well as brackish water made most designs inadequate.

The system design included power supplies for all ICCP anodes and a monitoring system (DR-2 CD™ reference electrodes and monitoring panels) to verify the system's performance. The cathodic-protection design uses the RetroBuoy™ systems to provide the bulk of the required current from a remote location (many meters away from the dock). The Raparound™ anodes protect the piles that are partially shielded from the throw of the buoys, and the VSE™ anodes protect the remaining section of the bulkhead.