The company encountered only one cancellation of an already awarded rather small gate automation project, and had to delay the execution of the second implementation phase in another project (execution is now planned for this year). This was however very well compensated with numerous new projects that were perhaps smaller in size but with high complexity and high accuracy requirements. A similar story is told by Hong Kong-based AsiaVision who say that due to the worldwide economic crisis some projects are on hold or have been scaled down. A spokesperson for Hi-Tech Solutions, Israel, tells the same story, commenting: “OCR applications are usually part of ports’ security arrangements, and security is always a top priority, even in recession times. We have noticed some delays in planned projects, and some plans were changed, but generally OCR projects continued to be conducted even during the economic downturn.”

Where next?

According to Camco, terminal operators are today no longer looking at expanding their terminal capacity, but are rather looking for systems and solutions that allow them to work more efficiently, more accurately, and with increased flexibility whilst reducing their operating costs. “Gate systems are no longer needed  to handle ever growing container volumes, but should be capable of being very flexible to handle variable volumes as shipping companies tend to switch more rapidly from one operator to another if conditions are better,” says Anton Bernaerd, Business Development Manager at Camco. This means that the gates should be organised in such a flexible way that the same amount of systems, equipment and personnel can be used to handle these variable volumes. Otherwise, says Bernaerd, operators are requiring cost-effective gate solutions that allow terminals to handle high volumes in a very fast and accurate way with minimum resources in personnel and equipment. And this is exactly what Camco offers with its comprehensive AutoGate solution combining its high accuracy OCR systems (a single system can handle up to 500 trucks per hour), self-service kiosk systems to automate the administrative checks and its state-of-the-art Gate Operating System (GOS) to command and manage all gate processes and interfacing with TOS and other host systems. In 2009 Camco was able to further improve and extend its GOS system “making it the most complete and effective gate automation solution available in the market today,” says Bernaerd. Besides the comprehensive AutoGate truck gate solutions, in 2009 Camco was also able to improve and increase the number of installations of train OCR systems. The company attributes this success to the exceptional image and OCR quality of the camera system, in combination with the unique rail car segmentation system and the innovative graphical operator console that “allows an easy and safe visually check and validation of all train and container data.” As operators are investing more and more in rail, it is clear that train OCR solutions are becoming an important second product line for Camco.

Innovation

Looking back over the last five years AsiaVision believes that the single most important technological innovation to be made in the OCR market is the Network Camera. Flora Law, Sales General Manager/Asia Pacific, AsiaVision says that he high resolution (1.3M to 5M pixels) gives better quality and the fact that only the network card is needed thereby eliminating additional video capture cards is a real advantage. Also, says Law, the cable is longer and cheaper (100M, Cat5 cable) in comparison to cable for digital cameras which could be several meters in length and involve higher costs. The direct control of camera parameters through the same network cable is also cited as an advantage by AsiaVision. In terms of innovation Hi-tech Solutions believe that the technology is maturing, and customers “are expecting very high performance and reliability. Other add-on optional features such as damage inspection, IMO label, are increasingly being taken from granted.” Testimony to all this innovation and improvement is the respectable list of orders that all three companies report despite these trying times. Recent orders (last six months) highlighted by Camco include a double Train OCR Camera system plus double Truck OCR Camera system for BNSF Memphis; 4 Truck OCR Camera systems at BNSF Willow Springs: 2 Truck OCR Camera systems for BNSF San Bernardino; an AutoGate system (including OCR camera systems, kiosks, GOS) for Combinant Antwerpen; AutoGate Automatic Outgate systems (OCR and kiosk systems) for DP World Germersheim; AutoGate system replacing current ESC gate system (OCR, kiosks and GOS) at APMT – Zeebrugge; Double Train OCR Camera system for PSA HNN, Zeebrugge; AutoGate system (OCR, kiosks and GOS) for Transnet South Africa – Ngqura Terminal and last but not least AutoGate (OCR, kiosks, GOS) for Piraeus Container Terminal. Among Hi-Tech’s successes are orders for gate systems from the Port of Mersin -Turkey, Marseilles – France, Ashdod- Israel and a gate system for a customer in Vietnam. Also received is an order for an OCR system on a crane for Algeciras, Spain. In the USA Hi-Tech worked together on Tideworks Technology’s project conducted for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s Automated Gate System (AGS) at the Seattle International Gateway. Over the last six months, AsiaVision installed a 14-lane container number recognition system at Gate 2 in the Port of Singapore. A similar system was installed at different stations in Zhengzhou, Chongqing and Dalian on behalf of CRIntermodal of China. The complete gate automation solution included the integration of OCR, RFID, container damage inspection, LED real time message display, intercom, barrier gate control and numerous traffic lights.

It is a form of Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) produced by a consortium of micro-organisms, including Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria (SRB), Sulfur Oxidising Bacteria (SOB) and Acid Producing Bacteria (APB).  Improvements in water quality over the years have led to increases in these micro-organisms and as knowledge of the phenomenon has increased so has the number of reported cases around the world. ALWC has a characteristic appearance with layers of poorly adherent, bright orange oxides of iron which cover a “sludgy” black layer of iron sulfide (FeS).  This layer and marine growth will usually be detached easily when rubbed by hand, exposing a characteristically clean, shiny heavily pitted steel surface. 

Consequences and impact of ALWC
The corrosion rate beneath ALWC patches is far worse than in other regions of the immersed zone – typically 0.3mm to 2mm/wetted side/year compared with 0.08mm to 0.17mm for the inertial low water zone. ALWC can cause premature perforation of unprotected steel, resulting in unexpected and often expensive remedial works.  If left untreated, thinning of steel can occur to such an extent that it can lead to premature failure of a structure. The Institution of Civil Engineers Maritime Board [1] has conservatively estimated that current repair costs resulting from ALWC on port-related infrastructure in the UK alone would be in excess of £250 million in order to save assets that are worth billions of pounds.  Port facilities around the world are likely to have similarly large costs and, since most imports and exports pass through ports, any disruption to their activities would have significant consequences for ports and their countries economies.

Conventional methods for dealing with ALWC
Given these significant consequences there has been a great deal of work done to investigate the methods of dealing with ALWC.  Most of the published work to date, concerned with the treatment of and protection against ALWC, describes the use of conventional systems, some with a track record in related or in other applications. Details of the range of repair and protection measures currently in use are given in CIRIA Report “Management of Accelerated Low Water Corrosion in Steel Maritime Structures” [2]. The corrosion protection strategies that are applicable to ALWC are those based on conventional methods, primarily Cathodic Protection (CP), coatings of various types and concrete cladding or a combination of these (most commonly CP in combination with coatings). For new build or replacement structures conventional methods of protection would typically be the application of a suitable high performance coating system to the atmospheric, splash and tidal zone areas in combination with a well designed, installed and commissioned CP system, most commonly using galvanic anodes. Ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the corrosion protection system will be necessary throughout the life of the structure. The need for more regular inspection and monitoring will increase as the overall level of corrosion protection is reduced. For existing structures, where ALWC has already developed then conventional approaches include repairs to deteriorated elements, including steel renewal at critical areas, and the use of coatings and CP to arrest further deterioration by ALWC.

However, these methods have several disadvantages, including:
– they are generally expensive and difficult to apply
– some techniques can introduce new corrosion cells
– they can disrupt port operations
– installation/treatment is generally weather dependent
– they can introduce a risk of contamination
– CP systems require ongoing maintenance and costs throughout its life.

These techniques, particularly CP, were developed to deal with protecting steelwork against the common forms of corrosion and do this by protecting the whole structure rather than treating ALWC in a more focused way.

LATreat™ – an environmentally-friendly and sustainable solution
LATreat™ – a patented technology developed by Mott MacDonald and BAC Corrosion Control – is a “magic bullet” treatment that uses the components of seawater to sterilise affected steel and then deposit an environmentally-friendly protective calcareous coating to ALWC affected areas only. One of the drivers for the development of LATreat™ was the very stringent legislation regarding contamination of seawater and estuarine waters and concerns over the leaching of zinc into water where CP systems have been installed and the possible adverse affect that chemical coatings could have on the natural environment. Compliance with legislation is essential for a commercially viable technology and LATreat™ is an environmentally-friendly process, where all active agents are derived from seawater. The process also greatly reduces the requirements for new material resources and minimises waste, thereby enhancing sustainability of the infrastructure. The three optimised stages of LATreat™ are carried out sequentially using remote controlled equipment. The initial cleaning stage results in the release of the ALWC products, such as bacterial species, iron oxides and sulfides into the seawater. However, unlike CP, the treatment is specific to the areas where ALWC occurs and, therefore, the quantity of ALWC products removed is minimal. This is followed by sterilisation of the surface using short-term, controlled shock dose treatments to kill bacterial infestations. The final stage is a rapid in-situ application of a protective alkaline coating deposited from natural salts dissolved in seawater which provides local protection whilst normal marine deposits reform. Disruption to the working facility is minimised as application only takes 5 to 7 days and the design of the application equipment ensures that there are no requirements for berth closures. All of the equipment and cabling used in the treatment process is removed on completion with no requirement for any permanent installations and maintenance of expensive control equipment.

Development of the technology
Initial trials of LATreat™ were undertaken on ALWC affected steel sheet piles at 2 UK ports over 10 years ago. In 2001 LATreat™ trials were also carried out at 2 locations at Ipswich Port and in 2004 a patent for the method and apparatus wasgranted. A major step change in the development of LATreat™ occurred in 2006, when the then Department of Industry (now Technology Strategy Board (TSB)) awarded Mott MacDonald and its partners a research and development project to develop the process into a cost-effective treatment for ALWC. Funding of over £500,000 for the project has been provided by the TSB, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the industrial consortium comprising, Mott MacDonald, BAC Corrosion Control Ltd, Aberdeen Harbour Board, Port of London Authority, Shoreham Port Authority and Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd. The University of Manchester were the academic partner and have undertaken fundamental research aimed at understanding and optimising the LATreat™ process and assessing and improving the coating’s composition, application rate, longevity and durability.  We now have a better understanding of how the calcareous coating forms and how to optimise the deposition phase of the process to obtain a durable, long lasting coating. 

BAC has also developed and manufactured new apparatus which is robust and reliable under operational conditions. The new equipment is more compact allowing for easier on-site operation and provides more accurate control during the various stages of treatment. A key part of the work has been on-site validation to demonstrate to end users that the process is commercially viable.  Over the last 3 years site trials have been carried out at several UK ports, including Aberdeen, Harwich International, London and Shoreham.  These have been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of
LATreat™ in dealing with ALWC in operating port facilities.  On-going work is being carried out to assess the durability of the coating but in 2007 we re-visited Ipswich Port and were able to see the LATreat™ coating applied some six years earlier. The coating was still in place with no visible signs of ALWC. The project is due to be completed at the end of the year and has already demonstrated that LATreat™ can effectively deal with ALWC and produces a sustainable and durable coating treatment when compared with other techniques. Over the next few months the focus will be on comparing the whole-life costs of LATreat™ with these other solutions, but we expect LATreat™ to be commercially available in mid-2010.

References
“Concentrated Corrosion on marine steel structures”, ICE Maritime Board, 2000
“Management of Accelerated Low Water Corrosion in Steel Maritime Structures”, Report C634, 2005, Construction Industry Research and Information Association.