Visitors and residents are currently being treated to marine civils in action with Walcon Marine’s ‘Walcon Wizard’ on station by the iconic Hamble River Harbour Master’s Office in Warsash, UK.
As with so many marine-based structures, the piles that support the walkway from the Harbour Office to the busy pontoons are suffering from corrosion due to the environment; the sections buried in the mud are fine, the sections in the air are fine but it’s the mid-sections in between, exposed to the ever-changing tides, that are being eaten away by the challenging conditions.
A traditional option would be to completely demolish the walkway and support structure, complete with piles, in order for a replacement to be constructed, however, Walcon’s innovative ‘elegant solution’ means there’s no need to do so.
Over-sleeving is both cost-effective and kind to the environment, using less raw materials and, in contrast to other methods, causing minimal disturbance of foreshore and associated habitats.
Using the very adaptable flat-bottomed ‘Walcon Wizard’ as a working platform, ‘a cunning piece of temporary works’ sees the walkway currently being supported by a very large suspended beam, enabling the workforce to access and sleeve each of the twelve individual piles independently.
Walcon Marine, established in 1963, specialises in the design and construction of floating and fixed berthing facilities and harbours for leisure purposes, commercial and work boats, and rescue, coastguard, naval and other bodies.
With its unique floating plant and experienced engineering team, the company is able to undertake all aspects of marina construction from the initial design concept, piling and other marine civil works, pontoon design, manufacture, assembly, installation, commissioning and decommissioning in the UK and overseas.
