Construction of a ferry dock

The territorial collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon had acquired two high-speed ferries to provide RoPax services, commuter and round trips, national and international, between Saint Pierre, Miquelon and Fortune in Newfoundland (CA).

To allow these ferries to dock, it was necessary to redevelop the Saint Pierre ferry terminal, to rehabilitate the existing quays which were partly in poor condition and to extend the existing quay to provide more parking space and facilitate loading of the vehicles onto the ferry.

The quay extension was achieved by backfilling the entire area after putting prefabricated concrete structure in place around the perimeter. The extension area was to measure some 20,000 m² and the depth of the backfill would reach depths of 8 to 9 m.

To avoid interfering with the ferry traffic during the construction works, a temporary quay would be created alongside the existing quay before they began.

Campaign of investigations

Geotechnical investigations done from a barge

• 5 core-drilled boreholes with depths of between 7.5 and 9.5 m with the taking of intact samples
• 10 SPTs done in the core-drilled boreholes
• 2 pits dug by mechanical excavator from the quay and existing ramp with taking of samples for identification

Laboratory and engineering

Laboratory tests

• Identification tests (water content, particle size distribution, Atterberg limits)
• Simple compressive strength tests on rock
• Franklin compressive strength tests

Geotechnical engineering 

• G2 AVP mission performed for the project