Dock Fender and Bollard Repair

The challenge

A jetty takes berthing loads on its fenders every time a vessel comes alongside, and the salt water works on everything around them. The rubber fender faces had torn and chunked where ships had ground against them, so the fenders no longer cushioned the load they were there to take. Behind the rubber, the mounting steel had corroded and lost section, and the concrete around the bollard pockets had spalled where the anchor steel was rusting and breaking the surface away. Left alone, the fenders would keep tearing, the mounting steel would keep wasting, and the bollard pockets could lose their hold on the loads they have to anchor.

Our approach

We work the three problems as one job rather than tearing out the whole fender line. We rebuild the torn and chunked fender faces with a cold-applied elastomer repair so the rubber cushions the berthing loads again. We clean the corroded mounting steel back to a sound surface, rebuild the lost metal, and coat the exposed steel against the salt water so it stops wasting. Then we break out the spalled concrete around the bollard pockets, clean the anchor steel, and patch it back with a marine-grade repair mortar so the pockets hold. The point is to put the fenders, the steel, and the concrete back to work without the cost and downtime of replacing the line.

1. Assess the dock faceWe inspect the fenders, mounting steel, and bollard pockets to map the torn rubber, the corroded steel, and the spalled concrete before any work starts.
2. Surface preparationWe clean the torn rubber faces, the corroded mounting steel, and the spalled concrete back to a sound, prepared surface so each repair bonds.
3. Rebuild fenders and steelWe rebuild the torn fender faces with a cold-applied elastomer and rebuild the lost mounting steel with a composite, working cold throughout.
4. Patch concrete and coat steelWe patch the spalled bollard-pocket concrete with a marine-grade repair mortar and coat the exposed steel against the salt water.
5. Return to berthing serviceWe confirm the repairs are sound and hand the dock face back so the fenders take the berthing loads and the bollard pockets hold.