Cargo roll-on/roll-off vessels have started using a wharf built by the Besix-Vancouver Pile Driving joint venture (BVJV) at the C$40bn liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal under construction in Kitimat, British Columbia, some 1,400km north of Vancouver by road.
Located on traditional Haisla Nation territory, the terminal will be fed by a 670km pipeline carrying gas across northern British Columbia.
When the terminal and LNG processing plant is complete, loaded ships will reach the Pacific Ocean through the Douglas Channel, one of the province’s biggest fjords. Its developer is LNG Canada, a joint venture comprising Shell Canada Energy, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas Corp.
The BVJV won the berth marine structure contract in 2019 from the JGC Fluor Joint Venture, the terminal’s EPC contractor.
Works include the construction of a 500-metre-long wharf, the LNG loading platform, four cargo berthing dolphins, four LNG berthing dolphins, and six mooring dolphins, including one offshore, as well as navigational aids.
BVJV’s works are scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.
“The use of the wharf by the first vessels is an important milestone,” said BVJV project director Paul Callebaut. “In a few weeks, we will have delivered state-of-the-art marine infrastructure for one of the world’s leading LNG projects.”
Besix said strict measures were taken to protect wildlife including black and grizzly bears and birds including raptors. They included awareness campaigns for site staff to avoid attracting bears with garbage.
During underwater pile driving, bubble curtains were used to limit noise.
Observers stationed outside the work perimeter watched to make sure construction didn’t interfere with the resident whale population.
