Client login
Password

News & Media > Waterways Services

22:03:2010

New sea gates will safeguard Sharpness Docks

May Gurney has installed a set of enormous steel sea gates at Sharpness Docks in Gloucestershire, replacing the original guardians which have held back the sea for more than 50 years, and safeguarding the harbour and canal.

Installation of the £1m gates, which each weigh more than 70 tonnes, was completed on 16 March in a joint operation between British Waterways and May Gurney.

The gates form a crucial part of the sea defences, maintaining water levels within the canal system while forming a barrier against the huge 10-metre range of the Severn Estuary tides.

By maintaining the harbour’s integrity against unpredictable weather, the gates protect jobs for important local employers like British Waterways, Sharpness Ship Yard and Sharpness Dock Ltd.

The new steel gates are designed for buoyancy despite their enormous weight, and are among the largest of their kind in the United Kingdom

Having been floated in from Deest in Holland, where they were made, the gates were craned into place and secured by a team including specialist divers.

Peter Mosey, project manager for May Gurney, said the gates were ready for use a day ahead of schedule and had already been opened to allow a 6,000 tonne Russian ship to dock.

He said: “We’ve managed to take about an hour off the time it takes to get a ship in and out. It used to take much longer to fill up the dock with water, so that’s one aspect we’re really pleased about.”

Working with the tides, the first gate was fitted at about 11.30pm on Monday 15 March, with work starting again at 6.30am the next day to fit the second gate.

Will Burnish, British Waterways project manager, said: “This really was a once in a lifetime event. The last ones were installed in 1958 and have withstood the worst weather the Severn Estuary has thrown at them."

May Gurney is also carrying out structural and decking work on the nearby north pier and stabilisation of the dock wall.

Click here to read more about May Gurney's work in partnership with British Waterways.