New Tests Underway for Stornoway Deep Water Port Project

Stornoway Port Authority is conducting a new round of tests aimed to provide a more detailed guide for the Stornoway Deep Water Port project.

New tests started at Stornoway harbor last week, June 6, according to the authority.

Stornoway Port Authority has agreed the further investment to provide additional information, manage risk and ultimately make savings on the overall budget, the officials said.

A series of geotechnical boreholes were drilled into the seabed in 2017 to determine the depth of rock and the soft material above it as part of plans to create the deep-water facility. The boreholes revealed an extremely complex geological sequence with very little consistency.

While the tests provided sufficient information for the design of the dredge, finger pier and linkspan structures, they also confirmed that further data was needed in the area of the quay wall.

A smaller number of new boreholes is now being drilled to allow detailed analysis of the arrangement of seabed strata in the quay area, as well as specialist sampling and testing to establish the properties of these materials.

SPA chief executive Alex MacLeod said: “The complex nature of the geology means we need to undertake these new tests. The information we have from the initial investigation could not have been foreseen at the beginning of the exercise.”

The results are expected to provide a more definitive guide for the design and construction of the quay wall, which will help reduce future costs.

The work will be completed in five weeks after which the boreholes will be sealed.