04 June 2005 SEAFORTH AND HUGHES SURVEY TEAM UP FOR LNG PROJECT
REPSOL YPF of Spain and IRVING OIL Limited are developing a LNG terminal at Saint John, New Brunswick adjacent to the Irving Canaport Facility. A detailed geophysical and hydrographic survey of the area was conducted in 2004 in the area of the proposed berth, and a new survey was required to determine the depth of water in the approaches to the berth, and to obtain estimated overburden thickness for the marine structure locations. The survey was conducted in two areas. The survey over the first area was to produce subbottom profiles that identify the bedrock surface and thickness of the soils overlying the bedrock. The second part of the survey was intended to provide bathymetric data in a defined area.
Multibeam and sidescan data was collected over the area in order to produce a plan showing 0.5 meter contours and a sidescan sonar image of the area. Hughes Surveys, together with Seaforth Engineering, have provided high-resolution marine geophysical and bathymetric surveys using a locally owned and operated survey vessel to acquire the multibeam, side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler data sets over the area as defined by the scope of work and associated maps. The vessel was mobbed locally with multibeam and single beam echo sounders, side scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, survey gyro, motion sensor, sound velocity profiler and a DGPS based navigation system.
Results of Hydrographic Survey	The survey was an excellent example of cooperation between local companies, each leveraging their experience and expertise to provide a excellent product to the customer. All bathymetric data was digitally acquired and recorded. All bathymetric data was corrected for tide/height using the RTK – DGPS data. Analysis and Presentation software was employed to further process and present the cleaned soundings. Soundings were processed for overplot removal. The cleaned soundings were also available for inclusion in a hydrographic database, and can be manipulated for cartographic chart compilation, design calculations for marine construction works, dredging calculations, marine utility cable or pipeline route surveys, and for other hydrographic related requirements.
Seaforth Engineering has its head office, warehouse and laboratory facilities in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, offering consulting engineering services in the development and implementation of innovative marine engineering services and renewable energy technology. Seaforth provides solutions for its clients in project management, ocean mapping, and renewable energy systems; its pool of professionals includes engineers, geophysicists, geologists, hydrographers, geographic information systems (GIS) and computer aided design (CAD) technicians.
Hughes Surveys & Consultants Inc., Saint John, New Brunswick, has a permanent professional and technical staff of 25, including civil and survey engineers; licensed land surveyors; civil and survey engineering technologists; computer technicians; draft persons; instrument men; field crews; and title abstractors. Hughes has made a strong commitment to remain current, using the most innovative technologies available throughout our operations. These include computer; CAD; GPS; digital echo sounding; reflectorless total stations; digital data conversion and attribute database design and compilation for CARIS and AutoCAD platforms; ER Mapper image processing enhanced with COREL graphics applications; and Digital mapping software.
For more information contact:  David Lombardi  Seaforth Engineering Group (902) 468-3579  dlombardi@seafortheng.ca
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