On Wednesday the 28th of August, Qld Branch members and guests were treated to an engaging afternoon at the Port of Brisbane. The sell-out event got off to a flying start with attendees greeted by local legend Peter on arrival. Peter, who has allegedly worked at the Port for 10,000 years, was our tour guide and driver for the bus trip round the Port Facility. Peter took excellent care of us, and there weren’t too many questions about the bulk loading facilities and general Port operations he wasn’t able to answer. During the tour attendees were shown the coal, grain and woodchip loading facilities as well as the container wharves, cranes and automatic stacking equipment. As part of the tour we also drove out to the far Eastern end of the site to check out the land reclamation efforts the Port is undertaking.
Following the bus tour, we enjoyed the interesting combination of sushi and subway for afternoon tea before Port of Brisbane Maintenance Engineer Brodie Chan gave us a stellar presentation on the Port’s corrosion management strategy. Brodie covered how the Port is extending the life of existing infrastructure with measures like ICCP, and how deterioration is being delayed in new assets with appropriate reinforcement detailing, chemical admixtures in the concrete, and protective coatings. I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Peter, Brodie and the team at Port of Brisbane for hosting the afternoon, it was a great event, and I’m looking forward to the next time we visit.
