The Port of Ipswich was electrifying two of its rubber-tyred gantry cranes as part of a wider decarbonisation programme. New 11kV cable supplies were required from the existing port substation to each crane's docking position, with terminations into purpose-built switchgear cabinets at the dockside.
Port operations continued throughout — works had to be planned around shipping schedules, with dock closures available only at slack tide windows.
What the job involved
- 320m of 11kV XLPE pulled across both new and existing duct routes.
- Two straight joints at midpoint locations.
- Outdoor terminations into purpose-built dockside switchgear cabinets.
- Galvanised steel cable protection in dockside areas.
- VLF testing and full handover to port engineering team.
Key challenges
- Salt-air environment required strict cable cleaning between drum unwind and pull.
- Working alongside live HGV and container-handling traffic — full TM throughout.
- Tide-dependent work windows on the dockside section — three visits to complete.
Outcome
- Both crane supplies commissioned and energised on schedule.
- Port able to take the cranes electric ahead of decarbonisation milestone.
- Port operator engaged us for further electrification works at sister berths.
Dockside cable work is its own animal. Salt, tides, lorries, schedules. They handled all of it without us having to brief them twice.
— Port Electrical Engineer, Ipswich, Suffolk
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