Cowes Port Handbook 2014-2015 April 2014 | Page 22

COWES PORT HANDBOOK 2014 - 2015

Cowes Harbour Breakwater Project
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Construction of the new breakwater will begin this spring. Following a
thorough tender process, in consultation with project managers Atkins,
Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) and their partners at the Homes
and Communities Agency (HCA) appointed Boskalis Westminster on a
design and build contract. This is a £7 million fixed price contract, with
CHC contributing £4 million and the HCA providing £3.16 million of
inward investment.

The initial construction phase will be completed this autumn, at which point
the gravel core will be visible approximately 5 metres clear of Low Water
spring tides. Following a settlement period, Boskalis will return in spring
2015 to level up the core and complete the project. The result will be a
350 metre long, detached rock and rubble breakwater that protects existing
homes, businesses and harbour users and that enables the regeneration
project for East Cowes, and the jobs that will bring, to progress.
CHC is in negotiation with the HCA to deliver the second phase of our
harbour defences plan - the extension of the Shrape Breakwater and the
dredging of the Eastern Channel - as part of the HCA’s proposed new
400-berth marina at East Cowes.

Breakwater Construction

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To ensure the safety of navigation during the breakwater construction it
will be necessary to put into place ‘Construction and Exclusion Zones’.
The ‘Construction Zone’, as detailed in Figure 1, shows the area where the
vessels and plant associated with the works will be located. Within the
boundaries of the ‘Construction Zone’, will be a buoyed ‘Exclusion Zone’,
the size of which may vary during various phases of the project.
No vessels, apart from those engaged in the works, are permitted to enter
this ‘Exclusion Zone’ as it will be fouled with submerged chain, wires and
anchors, floating pipelines, and associated vessels and barges.
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