A project to create fenders for a new pier using recycled tyres has won a Shetland Environmental Award.
Lerwick Port Authority hung truck tyres two deep on the inside of the 800m-plus Mair’s Pier at Lerwick Harbour, used by the fishing fleet. On the outside faces, used by bigger vessels, larger earth-moving machinery tyres were hung in an alternate “zig zag” pattern.
Stuart Wadley, port authority HSEQ manager, said: “Like all the best ideas, this simple solution has a number of benefits, including significant environmental improvements from recycling and reduced delivery distance, savings in procurement, and cost-effective, practical maintenance, with the fendering being sacrificial, which also means minimised disruption to berth availability.”
Local materials
With local sourcing of materials where possible, the supply of the larger tyres in Shetland and then Scotland was used up, with final deliveries coming from England. The project required 215 240kg larger tyres and 580 60kg tyres, with a total of more than 86t of tyres diverted from landfill.
Attached by brackets and chains, the rapid installation of the tyres did not require tidal working. The innovation is in the design of the fixings and ability to switch out tyres more easily, said the port authority.
It estimates that the bespoke fendering solution saved hundreds of thousands of pounds on the cost of developing Mair’s Pier, completed this summer.
Extended use
The "tyred-and-tested" solution has now also been applied to the port authority's recently-extended Dales Voe quay, with a number of even larger tyres re-used to protect the heavy duty quay.
Recent fendering systems elsewhere in the port have come from China, with long delivery times, are expensive to buy and install and require frequent maintenance, with contractors required to work in tidal zones.
