Waiheke wins green ‘credits’

NEW ZEALAND: Waiheke Island, New Zealand’s newest marina, is now fully operational and earning acknowledgement for the innovative thinking behind its build.

Set within excellent cruising waters and with stunning panoramic views, Waiheke Island Marina (previously Kennedy Point) presented environmental challenges for developers due to the area’s ecological sensitivity.
First, developers had to determine how best to shelter 180 marina berths from wave fetch and ferry wakes without disturbing a colony of ‘Little Penguins’. A traditional rock-pile breakwater would have impacted currents and the area’s delicate flora and fauna. Second, the marina required a new office and car park but the adjacent land was already developed. Both problems were solved using SF Marina floating solutions.
Mirroring the island’s scalloped coastline, two sections of 460m (1,510ft) breakwaters comprising 23 individual 20m x 6m (66ft x 20ft) SFBW600 series floating concrete pontoons were installed – six on the western section and 17 on the main portion.
Three breakwater sections on the western arc nearest to the shore are 3.4m (8ft) in overall height while the remainder are 4m (13ft) high. All have a 0.6m (2ft) freeboard. The pontoons are connected via SF Marina’s patented coupling system that absorbs and distributes stress loads. Internal steel piles anchor the breakwater to the seabed and accommodate the marina’s 3.5m (11ft 6in) tide.
The office and 2,100m² (22,600ft²) car park are built on top of 27 SF1250 floating concrete pontoons. Like the breakwater, they are engineered to be exceptionally stable and virtually unsinkable. Rainwater is channelled from the platforms and filtered to remove pollutants before being returned to the environment. Building on top of an SF Marina floating concrete platform is not new. In Sweden, a two-storey, 33-room hotel uses similar pontoons for its foundations.
The pontoons were built in Port Whangerei by SF Marina’s manufacturing partner Heron Marine and towed 145km (90mi) to Waiheke Island.
Waiheke Island Marina received one of two New Zealand Marina Operator Association (NZMOA) Outstanding Initiative Awards for its construction at this year’s Marinas and Boatyards Conference (see p.26). Praise was given for building the marina without causing permanent changes to the seabed or coastal currents.
Heron Construction was also awarded an Outstanding Initiative Award for building the world’s largest marina attenuator and New Zealand’s largest floating pods.