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Jenkins Marine has been busy lately in Great Yarmouth assisting BAM Nuttall/Farrans JV in dredging of the high spots in the river channel at Herring Bridge around the new third river crossing.
The ambitious new bridge will ease traffic congestion on the town’s roads and shorten journey times, as well as supporting wider plans to maximize economic growth opportunities in the town and wider borough.
The initial hurdle arose when Jenkins Marine’s larger dredger, a perfect fit for the project, was still committed to other projects. Furthermore, the dredge design and tidal height necessitated a more specialized approach than a smaller hopper dredger could accommodate.
Undeterred, Jenkins team strategized and identified the need to source a suitable long reach excavator that could be accommodated by another of the company’s utility vessels.
25m x 9m workboat STOUR was selected as a suitable platform for a 45t long reach excavator (supplied by W M Plant) to remove the isolated high spots of material around the new bridge site which was above the charted navigation depth.
Efficiently managed by the powerful 37tBP Multicat workboat ‘Wind Lass,’ the project unfolded in two phases. First, Wind Lass undertook the tandem tow of the STOUR and the 150m3 capacity split hopper barge ‘HURST‘ from the South Coast to Great Yarmouth in just two days, utilising its powerful deck winches for the tow wires.
The second phase involves Wind Lass towing split hopper barge HURST to the designated local sea disposal site, located approximately 2nm outside Great Yarmouth, where its remote-controlled hopper allows precise sea disposal operations of the dredged spoil from the comfort of the towing vessel’s wheelhouse.
The project is working towards completion before Christmas 2023.