Aberdeen Harbour Board speaker for International Corrosion Conference
Aberdeen Harbour Board speaker for International Corrosion Conference
Assistant Engineering Director at Aberdeen Harbour, Jamie Christie, was invited to Australia as the only civil engineer from the UK to deliver a keynote address at a symposium dedicated to microbiologically influenced corrosion(MIC).
The event, titled “MIC – an a international perspective”was organised and promoted jointly between Australian corrosion consultants,Extrin, and Curtin University of Technology and took place 14-16 February 2007 in Perth, Western Australia.
The international flavour was reflected in the attendance of speakers from countries such as Argentine, USA, Brazil, New Zealand and of course Australia and the event was aimed primarily towards corrosion engineers, microbiologists and those involved in asset management across a broad range of industries including ports and harbours, mining, oil and gas, water supply and shipping.
Jamie's contribution, based on many years of working knowledge, concerns accelerated low water corrosion (ALWC) which is known to be a particularly aggressive form of MIC affecting steel maritime structures in ports and harbours(Figure 1).
Figure 1 Sampling for ALWC at low watermark
Although a longstanding corrosion issue, it has become very prolific over the past 15-20 years in sea-ports, causing rapid deterioration of unprotected berth structures and considerable unexpected expense (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Berth with low water corrosion line
It has been estimated that ALWC could cost UK industry in excess of £250m over the coming years.
With over 6km of steel piled berths, Aberdeen Harbour Board have become known for successfully managing ALWC and similar corrosion issues within the port.
Jamie was a member of the leading UK construction performance improvement organisation, CIRIA, and the International Navigation Association (PIANC)steering committees, leading up to the publication of the first books dedicated to the subject, respectively, titled “Management of accelerated low water corrosion in steel maritime structures C634” and “Accelerated low water corrosion”.
Jamie says: “This is a particularly opportune time to be invited to address corrosion engineers and scientists. Our books pull together everything we know about ALWC as industrial practitioners. However, many questions regarding the science behind ALWC remain unanswered. A number of scientific studies, observations and theories on different aspects of ALWC have been completed globally, but do not seem to have been gathered and examined collectively.
“As engineers we're confident our current solutions are the best fit for ALWC, but only within the boundaries of our present understanding. I'd like to see scientists take ownership of the challenge of ALWC by pulling together their own current knowledge base or identifying further research that would be required to answer questions such as why the recent proliferation; what is the true source; what propagates ALWC; are sites affected selectively or at random and so on. With the full picture, it might then be possible to engineer better solutions”.
Jamie has been to Australia before regarding ALWC. In 2002, he was sponsored jointly by Australian and UK industry to embark on a tour of addresses before finishing at a PIANC Conference in Sydney.
Of the next visit, he comments: “It's all about a two-way exchange of information. When I was on the ICE Maritime Board, we had a sub-group dedicated to promoting awareness of ALWC and at the same time absorbing knowledge. We were the catalyst for the books published. In Australia, what I saw were examples of good housekeeping and anti-corrosion practice on berth structures, as well as innovative solutions to MIC problems where these occurred. This time I plan to inform my Australian contacts of progress in our part of the globe since my last visit, but I'm just as interested in what's been happening there in the same period.”
He will also address the Coastal and Ocean Engineering Panel of the Western Australia Division of Engineers Australia, visit Fremantle Ports, and conduct a workshop with Australian consultants, Sinclair Knight Merz. Jamie is also currently involved in a CIRIA research project Whole-Life Infrastructure Asset Management Across Industries (RP737) and plans to do some homework on this subject also while he's there.
Jamie adds: “I'm delighted to have the privilege of both maintaining and creating new links with our contemporaries in Australia over this, and similar, coastal/maritime issues and I'm really looking forward to the visit”.
