PMG has just completed installation of a unique underwater structure on the Great Barrier Reef off Townsville.
The Coral Greenhouse is part of the Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA), and is the work of world renowned artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Some more information about MOUA can be found here:
PMG’s involvement has involved working with many project stakeholders including GBRMPA, the MOUA board, Townsville Enterprise, Reef Ecologic, EDMS, Townsville City Council, Port of Townsville Limited, AIMS, Sealink, NQ Engineers, HME Consulting Engineers and of course Jason deCaires Taylor and his very talented team. PMG were also a major project sponsor, donating $50 000 toward the project. We also provided free use of our marine facility and equipment in Townsville for the artwork manufacture and trial assembly, as well as design and permitting assistance and advice to all involved parties throughout the 12 month plus process.
Jason and his team worked for many months at our marine facility in Townsville, where they completed the artwork. The coral greenhouse itself is 12m x 9m x 6m tall and is built of 316 stainless steel. The structure was trial assembled at our facility, before being lifted onto our barge, and seafastened. The structure sits on a concrete footing that was precast in our yard before being loaded onto the barge.
Equipment used on this project included our 54m x 18m barge PMG182 which was fitted with a 180T crawler crane. The barge was towed by our 31m tug PMG Pride. A PMG team of up to 15 were involved in the installation on site which was made complex by the very tight confines of the site itself, which has pristine coral reef all around in close proximity, as well as the strict environmental conditions placed on the project. Crane lifts of up to 30T were required, and the underwater fitup involved very tight tolerances which made the task even more challenging.
The project has been a great success, and involved very long hours by our dive team, marine team, topside and cranes/logistics team, and Project Management team. Projects of this nature on the Great Barrier Reef are quite uncommon, and demonstrate PMG’s ability to complete complex marine construction tasks in extremely sensitive marine environments, safely and in accordance with worlds best environmental controls.
This installation is just one of many pieces that MOUA is commissioning. Others are (or already have been) installed at the Strand in Townsville (see Ocean Siren – completed December 2019), off Magnetic Island, and Palm Island.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-19/underwater-art-museum-off-townsville-qld/11809272
