New pontoons on the way

Thursday 31 October 2019

Divers will be going down to survey any potential damage to the wave pontoons and the supporting piles in St Sampson's Harbour this morning.

This comes after the part of the wave wall sunk on Monday night because of the extreme weather we've had over the last few days, including strong winds during high tides.

There was also damage to the pylons holding the pontoons in place, leaving some boats exposed to the elements. 

Pictured: Some of the damage at St Sampson's Harbour, pictured Wednesday morning. 

A Guernsey Harbours spokesperson said: "Guernsey Harbours will be carrying out an underwater dive survey [today] to assess any potential damage to the St Sampson’s harbour wave pontoons’ supporting piles. A plan is in place to install a temporary solution to replace the wave pontoons, and depending on the dive survey results will be implemented in the next few days."

Luckily, the Harbour Authority had already placed orders for new wave walls, and those are expected to be ready for delivery by the end of November. 

"These new pontoons have been designed to an improved specification compared with the current ones. The new pontoons will be installed as and when delivery, tidal and weather conditions allow. Our marina staff inspected moorings at St Sampson’s Marina at four o’clock this morning (Wednesday) and installed extra lines on several vessels as a precaution.

"During periods of bad weather, all mooring holders are strongly recommended to monitor the latest weather and shipping forecasts, and to check their vessel moorings regularly. In the meantime, mariners are being asked to follow the instructions in the Local Notices to Mariners (LNTM No. 030/2019) and the Guernsey Coastguard navigation warning currently in force for the area.”

Pictured top: The wave walls first started to sink on Monday night, and continued to get worse throughout the week.