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VCS Wins ICRI Award for Extending the Service Life of Oil Docks at Port of Corpus Christi

March 3, 2022 at 3:23pm
Written by Katie Peterson
Categories: News

The Problem

The Port of Corpus Christi, located in Corpus Christi, Texas, is a significant port with various berths for the loading and unloading crude oil. Due to the marine environment, oil docks 4 and 7 have experienced deterioration due to corrosion of the steel reinforcement. Both docks previously had cathodic protection (CP) systems installed in arc spray zinc (ASZ) to protect the steel from corrosion deterioration. However, this CP system was past its design life and no longer protected the oil docks. As a result, the port requested that a new CP system be installed in these oil docks to extend their service life further.

Oil Docks at Port of Corpus Christi, TX

Reinforced concrete columns and beams support oil docks 4 and 7. Each has two levels: an upper level primarily used for loading/unloading crude oil and a lower level providing a walkway and framing for the dock. The columns and beams along both the upper and lower levels were experiencing delaminations and spalling, necessitating further CP.

The VCS Solution

As part of rehabilitation efforts of oil docks 4 and 7, it was initially decided to install a new ASZ CP system to extend the service life of the docks. However, because the oil docks have a limited number of hot workdays to maintain daily operations, this type of CP system would have become quite expensive to install. As a result, value engineering performed by VCS came to a more efficient solution. VCS determined that implementing a drilled-in two-staged CP system would be more cost-effective as stoppages due to limitations on hot work would have a lesser impact on the installation schedule for this product. This change in design provided $1.6 million in savings to the port and allowed the project to be completed on schedule and budget.

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