WITH LIMITED BRIDGES CROSSING THE GLOMMA RIVER, the city of Fredrikstad, Norway, has relied heavily on ferries since its founding in 1567. To reduce car traffic and resultant air pollution, it recently made the service free-of-charge and added three new 50-passenger, 50’ x 16’ electric vessels from Swede Ship. It also chose and invested in a state-of-the-art floating concrete dock with inductive charging from SF Marina, global leader in innovative docking solutions.
The fast turnaround of ferries makes traditional shore power charging time-prohibitive, especially for single-person operations. As the vessel’s port side hull meets the SF Marina dock, a large 100 kW induction pad begins the power cycle as soon as the captain lowers the bow door. It’s so efficient, one charging station serves the entire electric fleet.
The semi-modular dock design from SF Marina is purpose-driven, efficiently utilizing a small space without compromising passenger safety and flow. The unsinkable design is engineered to deliver maximum stability. Built of steel-reinforced, single-cast concrete with expanded polystyrene cores, it’s weight-rated to 25 tons. Its sheer mass and thick-walled construction will provide a long service life, even in the face of Fredrikstad’s extreme weather conditions like high winds, wave action, winter ice and the unexpected bump from the vessel.
SF Marina floating structures are far more adaptable to extreme tidal ranges than traditional fixed piers. Combined with a floating breakwater, the system expands where a dock can be sited to an unprecedented range of new locations, even where routinely exposed to large, long waves. Additionally, because they don’t overly inhibit aquatic fauna and water movement, they’re an eco-friendly solution.
“The Fredrikstad ferry system demonstrates how a small community can adopt leading-edge green technologies and implement them on a smaller scale,” said Michael Sigvardsson, SF Marina CEO. “We’re very pleased to be part of this new chapter in the city’s history.”
Since 1918, Gothenburg, Sweden-based SF Marina has engineered and manufactured floating breakwaters and concrete dock pontoons, and related marine structures that are built to withstand extreme weather events.
Through a robust network of international offices, it has completed recreational and commercial vessel projects around the globe.
Reposted from Issue I – 2020 of Marine Construction Magazine.
