April fool/how not to dredge

[codprawn]

What a saga this is turning out to be.

My local harbour is now almost totally landlocked - access USED to be about 2 1/2 hrs either side of HW - now it's about 1hr or less. The channel has gone so at long last they have decided to dredge.

Here are the first attempts last week. Took about 4 days apparently. The old channel now runs along the rocks and the remains of old shipwrecks.

[codprawn]

This attempt is much better - they had a large tracked excavator - which I sadly missed - 1 man dug a fair old trench in 2 days.

[codprawn]

Sadly the following day they decided to use the dredger again. Funniliy enough the channel has gone !!!

[codprawn]

And then at high tide they get the dredger stuck - which makes getting into the harbour a bit difficult - especially if your RIB has broken down.

[codprawn]

What is so annoying is that 300 yds up the road is a proper sand dredging company that shifts 150,000 tons of sand a month. They offered to dredge with a proper suction dredger and were turned down.

The local council called in "experts" and "consultants" on how to get rid of the sand without harming the environment......

They bought this wreck of a dredger but seem to have missed out one vital bit of equipment. Can anyone guess what it is - this photo may give you a clue!!!

[Milo72]

not quite as bad as yours but a similar thing happening here...
this harbour is listed as 1.5m minimum above CD!
Lets hope no one follows the ENTER HERE instruction!

[Milo72]

same...

[codprawn]

Apparently it is down to stupid environmental laws they can't dredge harbours properly any more.

Our harbour now has fancy pontoons - and they have just installed electric power points!!! I think it would be better to be able to USE our boats!!!

[pathalla]

Originally Posted by codprawn

What is so annoying is that 300 yds up the road is a proper sand dredging company that shifts 150,000 tons of sand a month. They offered to dredge with a proper suction dredger and were turned down.

The local council called in "experts" and "consultants" on how to get rid of the sand without harming the environment......

They bought this wreck of a dredger but seem to have missed out one vital bit of equipment. Can anyone guess what it is - this photo may give you a clue!!!

Well I know you Brits do things a little differently than us colonialists but I'm guessing it would be a barge for the dredging spoils...

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by pathalla

Well I know you Brits do things a little differently than us colonialists but I'm guessing it would be a barge for the dredging spoils...

Hooray!!! It doesn't exactly take a genius to work it out. I just can't believe the stupidity of this fiasco. I am NOT blaming the harbour master or the poor bloke using the dredger = they are great people - only the idiots in the council who designed this "operation"!!!

Here is a link to the people that USED to use the dredger - as you can see barges are used.

http://www.severnbore.ndirect.co.uk/dredging2.htm

Notice it was used on a canal.