Client: Torbay Development Agency (TDA)
This £20 million major redevelopment project was a partnership between Torbay Council, Torbay Development Agency, The Community Regeneration Group Brixham 21 and the Torbay Harbour Authority. The South West Regional Development Agency, The European Regional Development Fund, Financial Investment for Fisheries and Torbay Council funded the scheme.
Part of the redevelopment by contractor Mansell included demolition of the majority of the existing harbour buildings and construction of a new fish market on the existing piled open structure quay. The tight construction schedule prevented the removal and replacement of the existing deck, which required strengthening to accommodate the new structures and HGV loading. JGP designed structural strengthening works to the quay that could be carried out from the underside beneath the fish transport loading bay.
JGP provided the design, construction monitoring and materials testing, with construction works being carried out by Carnon Contracting. The works were completed within a 13-week period without significant impact on harbour operations.
The existing quay dated from 1971 and comprised a composite reinforced/ precast concrete deck supported on beams and pre-cast concrete piles.
The new buildings, designed by consulting engineers Arup, were generally supported by the existing beam and pile arrangement.
The strengthening works designed by JGP comprised reinforced cross tensioned sprayed concrete strengthening and a load transfer system that acted compositely with the deck soffit. It improved structural capacity of the beams and transferred load to the existing pile caps via friction restraint jackets. For the sprayed concrete, JGP designed a ‘non-bag’ cost-saving concrete mix using sulphate resisting cement, low in tri-calcium aluminate content and with an additive to reduce rebound.
The existing concrete surfaces were scarified and 316 stainless steel dowels were resin grouted into the deck soffit to resist horizontal shear. Load tests were carried out on selected dowels. Adequate horizontal shear strength across the join was verified using a rock shear box and petrographic analysis. The sprayed concrete technique utilised achieved a consistent concrete, with all compression strength test results exceeding 40MPa.
The redeveloped fish market was opened by HRH Princess Royal in March 2011 and included a new fish market, extended quayside, new fish processing space, restaurant and fishmongers.
