Jenkins Marine’s fleet of hopper barges is in high demand this month with every vessel engaged in a marine project.
The 150m³ capacity hopper barge Hurst has just completed a dredge at Rockley Boat Park and the nearby Parkstone Yacht Club under the guidance of Jenkins Marine vessels Frome and Buffalo.
Rockley Park is a very shallow development off the Wareham Channel, approached by a shallow channel and is used primarily as a base for small sailing craft. Due to its shallow approach it usually requires dredging annually.
Parkstone Yacht Club is a larger Marina that suffers from a consistent infill of material and has the added complication that it can only be dredged at certain times of the year due to the potential disturbance to wildfowl feeding in the area.
Having completed this work the Hurst has been deployed north to Stranraer, Scotland where it has begun a period of charter to marine civil engineering company ‘ABECO’ for dredging works in this area for several weeks.
Self propelled split-hopper barges Nab and Needles are currently both working in Cowes, Isle of Wight, alongside dredger ‘Doreen Dorward’ at Cowes Yacht Haven on a maintenance dredge, The work, which is expected to take three to four weeks, is beginning in the north basin and working towards the south basin to minimize disruption to bertholders and visitors.
Walcon Marine and Mackley’s Civil Engineering have also been involved in the project, temporarily removing piles & pontoons to allow built up sedimentation underneath them to be removed. Up to 15,000m³ of silt are expected to be removed.
Once the dredging is complete, the marina, home to international sailing events including Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, will have safeguarded its ability to accommodate large boats for the next three years. It will have a depth of up to 7.5m during high tides and a minimum of 3.5m even in low spring tides.