Launch Jetty Pontoon Replacement

The clients jetty facility in Harwich operates their fleet of Pilot Boats and utility vessels on a 24/7 basis. They had four gangway access points on to old walcon style pontoons which were in constant need of repair and maintenance and were too low against the boats requiring dedicated timber steps for access which were not practical.

The client designed a replacement scheme using second hand pontoons with raised decks and a new gangway access arrangement and pontoon configuration. Amicus won this project with a lump sum bid that involved a complex repair and refurbishment process to the client’s second hand steel pontoons. The pontoon units were in a very bad state with many holes and damage, misshapen decks and sides and some of them had also been cut in half.

The works were to be coordinated to minimise the disruption to the jetty facility to ensure that a 24/7 service was maintained. Amicus sourced refurbishment space in Fox’s Marina in Ipswich where a set up was created using scaffold tents on wheels running on steel tracks. Fox’s boat lifts were used for the lifting and movement of the pontoon units. Each pontoon section was shot blasted then repaired and fabricated and then sections welded together to form the required lengths. The finished lengths were then painted and finished with new GRP decking, rubber fenders, bollards, handrails and pile gates.

They were then lowered into the marina and towed down the estuary to Harwich. A complex pontoon replacement programme was instigated to manage the removal and replacement of the pontoons along with the removal and construction of gangway access points. Some of the old pontoons were altered and temporarily re-used in different configurations to maintain the jetty facility.

The project was completed on time and allows the pilot boat crews to walk on and off their boats at any point and the new arrangement has increased their mooring capabilities.