6 Alpha Associates and Atkins Partner on 3 Offshore Projects

6 Alpha Associates, the strategic advisor for managing high risk offshore initiatives, has announced that it has partnered with design, engineering and project management consultancy, Atkins, to provide offshore UXO risk assessment ahead of the geotechnical surveys prior to the construction of 3 major offshore UK windfarms.
 
With many lessons learnt during the construction of Round 1 and 2 projects, there is a growing impetus to ensure that, for other Round 2 and Round 3 developments, cost savings are implemented throughout the project lifecycle - from the initial survey stages onwards.  Early identification and management of project risks is a crucial part of this process for a reliable and efficient foundation design.
 
6 Alpha Associates and Atkins partnered to deliver UXO risk management services for the geotechnical ground investigations undertaken at the designated turbine locations, as well as along the export cable routes for the Galloper, Rampion and Triton Knoll projects.  Prior to specifying the geophysical surveys, 6 Alpha Associates prepared desktop study reports to ascertain the level of initial UXO risk.
 
Once the absence of UXO had been confirmed by interpretation of the geophysical surveys, 6 Alpha Associates awarded Safety Sign Off Certificates - with the most recent to Triton Knoll being delivered in August this year - to confirm that the risk of UXO had been reduced to ‘as low as reasonably practicable’ (ALARP) and that geotechnical vessels could carry out exploratory boreholes.
 
A 6 Alpha Safety Sign Off Certificate provides a confirmation that all necessary measures have been undertaken to ensure that any given turbine foundation site or cabling can be safely installed as far as is reasonably practicable.
 
“The future of offshore wind development depends on the ability of the industry to learn from previous projects.  It’s why we’re becoming involved significantly earlier in the development timeline,” said Simon Cooke, Managing Director, 6 Alpha Associates.
 
“By working with Atkins during the preliminary stages of offshore wind construction, we can ensure that the possibility of extensive and costly delays related to the discovery of UXO on site at a later date, is avoided.”
 
Giorgio Maderni, Chief Geotechnical Engineer, Atkins commented: “Through our partnership with 6 Alpha we can offer our clients an integrated design and investigation team which can minimise risks in a highly cost effective manner for offshore wind developers.
 
6 Alpha Associates
 
Atkins