Blandford-Tancook Ferry Engineering Services
Location: Lunenburg County, NS
Client: Nova Scotia Department of Public Works (NSPW)
Timeframe: 2021-2023
Key Personnel: Mark Reynolds, Kerry Taylor, Ron Keefe, Brandon Fillmore, Dr. Vince Goreham, Mark Stuckless
Project Description
Harbourside was engaged by the Nova Scotia Public Works to act as the prime consultant in the design and construction of three (3) new ferry wharf facilities for the new Blandford-Tancook Roll-on-Roll-Off (Ro-Ro) vehicle and passenger ferry. These would serve to connect Big Tancook Island and Little Tancook Island to mainland Nova Scotia at Blandford. As the foremost Marine Engineers in Atlantic Canada, Harbourside Engineering was the most experienced and technically sound choice.
The wharf at Little Tancook. This image was taken by Harbourside Engineering during an initial site inspection via drone.
Harbourside’s Role
Harbourside Engineering managed the design phase for this project. Once it had been completed and the total cost of all marine infrastructure, exclusive of upland work and buildings was determined, it was on to the tender phase. During this time, Harbourside also provided tender support. The project was initially tendered in June 2023 and a single bid was received that exceeded the project construction budget. The project was re-tendered in February 2024 based on the Big Tancook and Blandford ferry wharf facilities only. The intention was to reduce the construction project and encourage more bids. Three bids were received, and the successful contractor bid was consistent with Harbourside’s 2024 inflation-adjusted estimate the re-tendered project.
Each wharf acts as a breakwater to protect the ferry and harbour users, including fishing boats, from probable wave overtopping and harbour agitation during operations. The Big Tancook wharf is also designed to moor and shelter the ferry during extreme storm and hurricane conditions. Each site incorporates a ramp designed to support the berthing and grounding force of the ferry and was geometrically designed to accommodate the onloading and offloading operations for a suite of design vehicles. This was done to prevent vehicles from ‘bottoming out’ on the ramp during these operations, at any tide level, and to tie into upland grades. Harbourside completed the mooring arrangement and berthing design, including the design of bollards, rubber arch fenders, anchorages and conducting stability analysis of the wharves to resist lateral loads, including environmental loads.
Harbourside used coastal study data to conduct water level analyses and overtopping analyses to select reinforced concrete deck elevations at each wharf. Wave load effects were developed for swell and wind waves and lateral load analyses were completed. Each of these large wharves are being built on sites where the geotechnical conditions consisted of sloping bedrock overlain by glacial till and varying thicknesses of marine sediment. Harbourside Geotechnical Consultants designed the stepped rockfill mattresses. This involved partial-to-full depth removal of the existing site soils to achieve the required bearing pressure and settlement limits while minimizing construction cost.
Social Impact
Although the ocean is a natural barrier, it is also the greatest feature of the Maritime provinces. These ferries will allow for greater connectivity for the province at large and help provide more reliable service for Chester, Tancook, and Blandford.