I want to be clear this post has absolutely nothing to do with Disney Cruise Line, but I am fascinated by the Costa Concordia removal project and wanted to share this information with anyone who may be interested. The removal project is called The Parbuckling Project. I am not going to get into the details of the project as the Parbuckling Project website has all the information you could want to know and more.
The project consists of 5 main stages:
- Stabilization – Anchoring the Concordia to prevent further slipping or sinking. This will also enable the crew to work safely in inclement weather.
- Underwater Support and Caissons – an underwater platform will be constructed to allow the Concordia to rest on a flat surface after rotation. Caissons, or watertight container, will be installed along the port side of the ship. These are key components to re-floating the ship.
- Parbuckling – this is the most critical stage and will take approximately 2 days to complete. This is where the Concordia will be rotated to rest on the underwater platforms.
- Starboard Caissons – Caissons will be installed along the starboard side of the ship.
- Re-floating – Water will be slowly removed from the caissons leaving only air which will provide enough buoyancy to lift the ship off of the platform. Approximately 18 meters (60 feet) will remain submerged.
I do not plan on covering this project on the site, but if there is a live video feed of the parbuckling and re-floating stages I will more than likely share those with you.
UPDATE 3/4/2013 | The first, and largest platform has been positioned. Read more
UPDATE 9/12/2013 | Parbuckling Scheduled for September 16th
Live video feed of Costa Concordia Parbuckling from Reuters.com
It was announced today that Stage 3: Parkbuckling phase is scheduled to being on September 16, 2013. The parbuckling or rotation of the Costa Concordia will take about a couple of days, as the movement has to be extremely delicate and constantly monitored. The parbuckling will be performed using strand jacks which will be tightening several cables attached to the top of the caissons and to the platforms, which will be pulled seawards, while the cables attached to the starboard turrets will be used for balancing. This is a very delicate phase, during which the forces involved have to be offset carefully to rotate the wreck without deforming the hull.
UPDATE 9/17/2013 | Parbuckling Completed
The Parbuckling of the Costa Concordia began at 9 AM local time on September 16th and was successfully completed by 4 AM on September 17, 2013. The wreck is now upright and resting safely on the specially built artificial sea bed, at a depth of approximately 30 meters. Throughout the day live footage was available, but as fascinating as it was, watching in real time was just like watching paint dry. Thankfully, BBC News created a time-lapse of the Costa Concordia parbuckling operation.
After reading about the Parbuckling Project, are you as fascinated as I am?
Very cool!
i am keenly interested in this unique engineering feat. Every week I check back on the progress.
They have now welded half of the portside sponsons. It requires a lot of steel and a lot of welding to fabricate each one of the massive floatation tanks. I wish I had more information on the site where they are being made. It seems amazing to me that they still project the rotation to occur this Summer. Any information you can give me would be appreciated.