Bathymetric Survey in Sohar Port
Overview
Majis Industrial Services Company SAOC (MISC) is the primary supplier of water utility services in Sohar Industrial Port Area (SIPA). As part of this service, MISC will be operating a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant to supply plant water and desalination water. MISC, in a joint venture with Veolia LLC, is tasked with operating a seawater intake pumping station. To monitor settlement differences, Nusail Engineering Consultancy was contracted by Veolia LLC to provide hydrographic survey services and monitor settlement differences at the seawater intake and pumping station in the Sohar Port Region.
Bathymetry Data Collection
Scope of the Survey
A bathymetric survey was conducted to determine the seabed profile along the proposed intake point using a Global Positioning System (GPS) with an accuracy of ±50mm. The results of the survey were used to assess the seabed profile along the proposed intake area.
Survey Boat
The survey was conducted using appropriate equipment to ensure accurate data collection and analysis.
Equipments of the Study
- Odum Hydrotrac Echo Sounder
- Transducer
- Valeport Tide Gauge
- Sokkia RTK GPS
- Sokkia Total Station
- Bar Plate
Bathymetry Survey Procedure
The GPS antenna was installed at the top of and in the same vertical plane as the echo-sounder transducer pole to achieve direct horizontal positioning of the transducer. An Odom Echotrac MK III Dual frequency Echo Sounder was utilized, with 210 kHz and 33 kHz digital output logged by the navigation computer. CTDS dips and bar checks were conducted before starting the survey each day. Draft and mean sound speed values were entered directly into the echo sounder processor at the beginning of each day. Phase and speed settings ensured optimal record quality, clearly identifying and noting fix numbers, and start and end of line information. The Hemisphere DGPS/Sokkia RTK system comprised a computer loaded with HydroPro software. The computer received corrected GPS-derived Latitude and Longitude, with the HydroPro software converting the antenna position into local UTM projection coordinates, UTM Zone 40Q, with coordinate references WGS84 and vertical datum based on Chart Datum (CD).
Results
The bathymetry data were processed using HydroPro Software. A bathymetric chart was prepared at a 1:1000 scale. The survey area exhibited irregular seabed features.
