Marine Construction
Benefit from our experience
JASCO provides acoustic modelling, measurements, impact assessments, reporting, and stakeholder liaison services to a wide range of clients, including departments of transportation, port authorities, construction firms, and power companies. Our work supports projects at every stage, from planning and permitting through construction and ongoing operations.
Clients benefit from our deep, sector-specific expertise gained across a broad range of marine and coastal construction activities. This includes port and terminal construction and expansion, subsequent operations and vessel traffic, bridge construction and demolition, subsea transmission cable installation, and pile driving using both vibratory and impact hammers. Our expertise also extends to higher-impact activities such as blasting and drilling, as well as dredging and coastal armoring projects.
Innovative solutions
As acoustic impact regulations become more complex, so do requirements for acoustic monitoring and assessment. JASCO’s expert teams provide innovative, multifaceted solutions for our clients.
We design, develop, and manufacture state-of-the-art digital acquisition systems to meet project demands for quality, endurance, and performance. With intelligent design and superior flexibility, our Autonomous Multichannel Acoustic Recorder (AMAR) offers advanced configuration options and extended deployment lifetimes that are unrivalled in the industry.
JASCO’s innovative technologies provide real-time recording and streaming of underwater sound data. Our technical solutions for monitoring sounds include real-time acoustic telemetry buoys, towed arrays, and cabled hydrophones. We provide real-time detection results of marine mammal presence during ongoing operations and can verify that industrial noise levels remain within acceptable ranges in ecologically sensitive areas.
Specialized and defensible methodologies
JASCO’s reputation is founded on solid scientific approaches and unwavering integrity. Our teams are well respected and active in the scientific community; we have earned the trust of regulators worldwide, always providing scientifically defensible assessments. Our in-house acoustic models are accepted as state-of-the-art by regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada.
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Roberts Bank Terminal 2, Port of Vancouver
2014-2021 — British Columbia, Canada
Clients: Port of Vancouver, Hemmera, Ecofish Research Ltd.
2021: Underwater Noise Modelling of RBT2 Construction to Inform Mitigation
2019: Mercator Projections Underwater Noise Modelling Update
2014:
• Ambient Underwater Noise Measurements Report
• Ship Sound Signature Analysis Study Report
• Construction Activities and Terminal Vessel Operations Noise Modelling Study Report
Measurement, analysis, and modelling studies to understand existing conditions at Roberts Bank and to assess project-related underwater noise effects as part of the environmental assessment for the construction of an additional container terminal in Delta, BC.
Sound Source Characterization of Down-the-Hole Hammering: Thimble Shoal, Virginia
October 2019 — Virginia, United States
Client: Chesapeake Tunnel Joint Venture
An acoustic measurement study to determine the underwater sound levels produced by DTH (down-the-hole) hammering, a new technology for creating casings for installing dock piles. Measurements were obtained with three bottom-mounted flow-shielded moorings at Thimble Shoal along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia. The sound footprint was determined for DTH hammering, both with and without bubble curtain mitigation, and compared to regulatory thresholds for onsets of behavioural disturbance and injury to marine mammals. The results suggest that only behavioural disturbance is possible.
Scarborough Mermaid Sound Pile Driving Modelling Study
June 2019 — Western Australia
Client: Advisian
A modelling study of underwater sound levels in Mermaid Sound associated with proposed development of the Scarborough Project Nearshore Component at the Pluto LNG field to assist in understanding the potential acoustic impact on key regional receptors including marine mammals, fish, and turtles. The study considered the driving of subsea piles which may be required to assist with pipelay operations close to the Pluto LNG facility, inside Mermaid Sound, and compared the sound levels against multiple effects criteria.
October 2018 — Western Australia
Client: Rio Tinto
A detailed review of the literature and international regulations and guidelines on impact assessment for pile driving noise for Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert Port A Marine Structures Refurbishment Project. Includes a review of marine fauna present in the area and summarizes new or updated regulations and guidance relating to pile driving and other relevant noise sources since 2011 from jurisdictions in Australia, North America, and Europe.
A collaborative report with ERM.
Pattullo Bridge Replacement Environmental Assessment: Acoustic Modelling
March 2018 — British Columbia, Canada
Client: Hatfield Consultants
Appendix 18.18 – Underwater Acoustic Modelling Report
Predictive modelling of underwater noise from pile driving to inform the environmental impact assessment for the construction of a four-lane bridge across the Fraser River to connect the cities of Surrey and New Westminster, British Columbia. Pile driving noise is transmitted from the pipe pile through river sediments and sheet pile wall, and into the water. Sound levels and ranges to acoustic thresholds in water that may result in injury to valued ecosystem components such as fish (e.g. sturgeon and Pacific salmon) were reported.
Acoustic Modeling Study: Underwater Sound Levels from Marine Pile Driving in Southeast Alaska
July 2017 — Alaska, United States
Client: Alaska Department of Transportation
A modelling study of vibratory and impact pile driving at four locations in Southeast Alaska (Auke Bay, Kake, Ketchikan, and Kodiak ferry terminals). The model results were validated against empirical measurements at the same sites, during ferry terminal improvement construction projects in 2015 and 2016.
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