Fawley, Southampton

Repairs to the docking facilities adjacent to the decommissioned Fawley power station were necessary due to the deterioration of hardwood timber fenders and rubbing strakes.

Over time, at five different locations, the vertical fixed fenders, rubbing strakes, caps, and an access ladder had either detached or decayed. Rebel Marine was assigned the task of removing the damaged and unusable components and replacing them with new ones.

Due to the restricted access, it was decided to mobilize our modular double-stacked crane pontoon via lorry, which was then delivered to the site alongside the dock. The pontoon was subsequently reassembled piece by piece and launched into the dock. One of our five metre aluminium workboats arrived to provide mobility for the crane pontoon along with a smaller docking pontoon for our crew coming in every day by RIB.

Working the tides our work team was able to access the top sections of the vertical fenders and remove the damaged sections. Along the top of the dock, we set up a temporary workstation to cut and drill the replacement hardwood timber sections. The new components were lowered onto the pontoon using a telehandler and then lifted in place using the marine knuckle boom crane on the pontoon. Holes were sited, drilled and resin bonded for the new ironmongery holding the heavy fenders in place. As the tide dropped the team could access the lower sections where the process was repeated. The crane pontoon was then moved to the next location.