Chubb Fire is playing its part in making Liverpool home to the world’s largest cruise liners following the multi-million pound redevelopment and extension of the city’s historic Princes Dock.
The company has installed and will service fire alarms and public address (PA) systems throughout the new cruise liner terminal to alert passengers and staff in the event of a fire and ensure their safe evacuation. The terminal is designed to accommodate the world’s biggest cruise liners, ships that can measure up to 350 metres long, and is one of the few city centre docks for ocean going vessels.
In addition to the fire safety systems, Chubb Fire has also provided an innovative water level monitoring technology for the landing stage. The landing stage is in effect an enormous concrete slab for the ships to berth. It floats thanks to a series of ‘cells’. Tidal or weather conditions can impact this, disturbing the balance of the jetty or, in a worst case scenario, causing it to sink. Fresh water within some of the cells allows ballasting to keep the concrete structure stable, especially in poor tidal conditions.
Sensors installed in each of the cells, and linked to a basic ball-cock device, monitor water levels and trigger a first-stage alarm (an external buzzer on the alarm panel) if the levels rise ­ or fall ­ beyond a prescribed limit. If this first alarm is not investigated further, then a full alarm is sounded, and the landing stage evacuated.
Balfour Kilpatrick, who had responsibility for all of the mechanical and electrical services for the project, chose Chubb Fire because of its reputation as a company it could trust, as Darren Lumb, Project Manager explains: “We needed a professional service, and engineers with high technical competence and an attention to detail, and have not been disappointed.”
Nick Williams, Marketing Communications Manager of Chubb Fire, believes this is one of the most prestigious installations the company has been involved with this year: “The scale of the project, the innovation required, and the range of services delivered by our experts makes this one of the highlights for 2008.”