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Arklow Bank wind park

Arklow Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Irish Sea off the Wicklow Coast and is currently being developed by SSE under an existing lease agreement

GDG were commissioned as Survey Managers to scope and specify the site investigation campaign and to assist in the development of the geotechnical strategy for the offshore wind farm.

Scope of Work

As part of this role, GDG have engaged with the Geological Survey and gathered a number of INFOMAR datasets including MBES, Magnetometer, and SBP.

The offshore team at GDG have screened, processed and interpreted these datasets to develop an understanding of the seabed characteristics and the subsurface conditions.

The seismic data allowed multiple subseabed layers to be identified and mapped, identifying three distinct substrate horizons in addition to internal features within softer layers.

The analysis of the geophysical datasets gave a deep insight into the shallow layering and identified potential geohazards. This facilitated optimised site investigation layouts to be developed from the outset.

GDG were also able to quantify seabed mobility using time-separated datasets, which can then be used to inform a global geomorphological assessment and local scour studies.

Furthermore, a site-specific pile driveability and installation analysis was required at every turbine location.