News - 16/05/14

Construction on the Cowes breakwater will officially commence on Saturday, 17th May 2014. 

A 30 metre barge named D2 and a 300 metre floating pipeline have already arrived and are anchored within the ‘Exclusion Zone’. The dredger Sospan Dau will arrive in Cowes at 07:30 on Saturday morning and will commence a 24 hour operation obtaining dredge material from the Thorn Channel and discharging up to four loads per day via the floating pipeline, which is connected to the D2 spraying pontoon.  

This first phase of the operation entails laying down a 1.5m layer of dredged material over the entire footprint of the breakwater and will take three to four weeks. 

See the latest Local Notices to Mariners for important safety related information regarding the Exclusion Zone and the numerous obstructions that are contained within it, which include anchors, submerged wires, pipelines and a growing shingle bank. See also the Breakwater Project section of the website for details on the construction programme.