Kishorn Port Dry Dock Expansion

Kishorn Port is located on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands and plays a major role in the construction, maintenance and decommissioning of oil and gas rigs. As the energy sector moves toward a more sustainable future, the port was keen to extend its capabilities regarding the construction of floating foundations and other infrastructure for offshore wind projects.

In 2025 the port secured £24m in government funding to expand it’s dry dock to allow it to accommodate deeper water berthing which will increase the port’s capability to berth deeper draft vessels and structures associated with offshore wind development.

As part of the extension of the dry dock, significant blasting of the surrounding rock was required which resulted in a new rock face approximately 320m in length and 35m high encircling the new basin. Following a review of the condition of the newly exposed rock consisting of the Applecross Formation, a pebbly sandstone formation, it was determined by the project designers that rockfall protection would need to be installed to mitigate the potential for small rocks of 65mm diameter falling into the working area within the newly extended dry dock. Given the marine environment, rockfall netting with an enhanced corrosion protection was also required in order to meet the project’s 60 year design life.

Working alongside principal contractors R J McLeod, Maccaferri proposed the use of a bespoke specification of double twist rockfall netting that featured a smaller aperture size of 60mm x 80mm as well as a PoliMac coating on the wire mesh to provide a BBA certified design life of 120 years in marine environments.

DT NET 6x8 D27 rockfall netting was specified by rockfall protection designers MHB consultants to form a draped netting system that would cover the entirety of the newly exposed rock face.

Maccaferri supplied the netting in 3m wide rolls to reduce the amount connections to the vertical seams, therefore improving installation time for specialist sub-contractors Bam Ritchies who undertook the installation of the 14,000m2 of draped netting system across the summer of 2026.