Successful Sled Anode Installation Provides Houston Ship Terminal Corrosion Protection

This article describes a recently completed sled anode installation for ship terminal corrosion prevention on the water side of a dock structure along the Houston Ship Channel.

The project involved protecting a new combi pile wall being installed in front of an older existing conventional sheet pile wall nearing the end of its useful life. The combi wall utilizes large diameter steel pilings as the primary structure combined with conventional Z-pilings as the secondary structure.

Sled Anode ready to ship from MATCOR’s Chalfont, PA manufacturing facility

Project Details

For this project, there were twenty-seven 60” diameter steel pilings being driven to a depth of 100 ft and spaced approximately 10 feet apart.

This cathodic protection system design, prepared by another CP company, called for twenty-five discreet shallow vertical anodes to protect the land side area between the new and old dock structure and two sled anodes to protect the new water side.

The interior side of the existing wall was already being cathodically protected with a deep anode system.

MATCOR was successful in securing the contract for the supply and installation of the new sled anode system. We utilized MATCOR’s Sled Anode assembly consisting of mixed metal oxide coated, titanium tubular anodes installed with custom fabricated concrete ends. In addition, we utilized a Kynar/HMWPE #1 cabling system installed in a flexible protective black HDPE pipe.

Another Sled Anode Project for Jetty Piling Corrosion Prevention »

Benefits of MATCOR’s Sled Anodes for Ship Terminal Corrosion Prevention

Each of the sled anodes include lifting lugs for ease of installation and floating locator buoys to allow for temporary removal in the event of dredging operations.

The sled anodes weighed approximately 5800 lbs each to assure that the sleds remained anchored in place along the ship channel floor.

MATCOR sled anode installation for ship terminal corrosion prevention along the Houston ship channel
Installation of sled anode for ship terminal cathodic protection using a barge mounted crane

The use of sled anodes makes for an easy installation and minimizes the need for divers – in this case the use of divers was only needed to help route the cabling back to shore.

Each sled anode was designed for 75 amps output for 30 years continuous service in seawater. The two sled anodes are being powered off a common rectifier configured with an RMU for remote monitoring of the systems operations.

These sleds were installed using a qualified marine sub-contractor who provided a properly sized crane mounted on a barge to facilitate the installation.


Have questions or need a quote for ship terminal or other near shore structure corrosion prevention? Contact us at the link below. For immediate assistance, please call +1-215-348-2974.

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