• Furzey Island Breakwater Repairs

    Good value, high quality materials and service

Furzey Island Breakwater Repairs

Furzey Island Breakwater Repairs

Client - Perenco
Value - £55,000.00
Duration - 2 Weeks

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Furzey Island sits within the internationally recognised environment of Poole Harbour, it is a small island rich with wildlife including red squirrels and golden pheasants (marked on the map below with the red pin). It represents a challenge in terms of accommodating crude oil extraction facilities within an important Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The operator, Perenco, thus place great importance on their contractors performing to the very highest standards of environmental compliance. All of the work was carried out with a Marine Management Organisation license.

The task was to reinstate an existing 30m long rock groyne structure using over 200 tonnes of large stone boulders; ranging from ½ a tonne to 1 ½ tonnes each. The stone used was Purbeck limestone which was supplied from our sister company; Suttle Stone Quarries, located very close by in Swanage.

As the breakwater is on the island, it makes the logistics slightly more complex than usual, requiring the stone which is usually delivered by road on a lorry, to be taken, still by lorry but by putting the lorry on a barge that can carry a 100 tonne load. Several lorries made this journey over the course of the project to get all of the stone over. The barge takes the lorries from Port of Poole to Furzey and back with each leg of the journey taking 1.5 hours.

We had one of our excavators on Furzey island equipped with a multi-function hydraulic grab to receive the stones and place them to create the rock groyne. The hydraulic equipment featured biodegradable oil circuitry for further assistance. The work was completed on time, to budget, and without incident.