Work to demolish a now redundant lifeboat station on the West Sussex coast has moved into the marine phase following the arrival of a jack-up barge.
Working on behalf of the RNLI, Mackley commenced the demolition last month following the completion of a new lifeboat station in Selsey – rendering the existing building surplus to RNLI requirements.
The jack-up barge, along with a smaller ‘muck-away’ barge and a tug, arrived on site at Selsey on Saturday (17 June) having been towed from Southampton.
The barges will be stationed at the site for around a month while the demolition takes place. Once the job is complete, the jack-up barge will be towed back to Southampton for unloading.
Barry Holt, Mackley’s Project Manager for the scheme, said:
“Works are going to plan and we are scheduled to be complete by mid-July, depending on the weather.
“To date we have removed a number of stub and box piles, cleared asbestos from the site, removed scaffolding and isolated the electric supply.
“We are also required to clear the seabed of debris and a team of divers is tagging items on the sea-bed in preparation for their removal.
“A cast iron plaque which will serve as a memento of the old station has been removed and in due course will be put on show in the new lifeboat station.”
Access has to be maintained at all times for the RNLI, and along the promenade for the general public. The Mackley project team will also liaise with local fishermen to allow them to operate throughout the works, and with local diving schools to prevent unauthorised diving in the work zone.
Mackley returns to Selsey
This is not the first project Mackley has carried out at the coastal village of Selsey.
An earlier project at Selsey West Beach extended the residual life of 1.25 km of existing defences. The project involved the placement of approximately 37,000m3 of shingle along the frontage, and repairs to existing timber groynes and the reinforced concrete seawall.
The multi-award winning Medmerry Managed Realignment Scheme, completed at Selsey in November 2013, included the largest realignment of open coast in the UK.
The Medmerry scheme, carried out on behalf of the Environment Agency, is a key element in a 15-year project to provide 7km of new sea defences to protect local communities in West Sussex, while at the same time creating a large nature reserve.
21 June 2017
