Mostyn Dock provides one of the main quay-side facilities for storage and transshipment of materials, including at this stage the heavy-duty cylindrical steel sections for the seabed monopile foundations and the transition piles. T
he 4.3m diameter, 60mm thick steel monopiles are from 36m–40m in length and weigh up to 286t each, and the 4.75m diameter transition piles each weigh over 200t. he piling sections are for the Robin Rigg farm in the Solway Firth and the Rhyl Flats farm. The main contractor for both projects is Danish company MT Højgaard.
The SL6000, with 48m of main boom and 30m back mast in super heavy lift configuration, with up to 250t of additional suspended counterweight, can lift the monopile sections at 16m radius, and travel with them the short distance from the stockpile to the loading point on the quayside. When required, the transition piles have to be up-ended using two cranes and then lifted onto the barge for transfer offshore and eventual installation onto the previously installed monopiles.
