Burbo Offshore Windfarm

Thursday 29 April 2010

The Challenge
As part of a post-construction environmental monitoring project at Burbo Offshore Windfarm located off the north west coast of the Wirral, SM Pelorus have been awarded a 2 year contract to provide hydrographic, geophysical and oceanographic surveys around the 25 turbine 10km2 site. The survey brief includes monitoring scour around the turbine monopile bases together with cable burial surveys and current monitoring in the vicinity of a single monopile. Two surveys are programmed per year with the option to include additional surveys if required. 

The Solution
To provide the seabed levels around the turbine monopiles a multibeam echo sounder is being used. This allows a high density, high resolution seabed level grid to be measured over the area required. Tidal reduction is being provided by the use of RTK GPS using the Leica SmartNet corrections therefore removing the need to install a tide gauge on site.

Cable burial surveys are being undertaken to confirm that the cables (both interconnection and export) remain buried along their length. This is being conducted with a high resolution side scan sonar system. The oceanographic current monitoring is being conducted using a vessel mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). This allows a full current profile of the water column to be measured and variations observed both along a particular profile line and over time.

Project date: Winter 2007 – Winter 2009

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