Cowes Port Handbook 2014-2015 April 2014

COWES PORT HANDBOOK 2014 - 2015 Impact on Racing ........................ The ‘Construction Zone’ will have some impact on the racing and start lines in the harbour, however, CHC has and will continue to consult with all yacht clubs during the construction to ensure that the impact is kept as low as possible and details will be included in the various Sailing Instructions as well as the Cowes Local Notices to Mariners. The ‘Exclusion Zone’ will be reduced in size when the construction permits. See the ‘Race Start Lines’ diagram on page 85. Impact on Harbour & River Users ............................................ The vast majority of associated breakwater works will be confined to the ‘Construction Zone’ with little direct impact on the Inner and Outer Fairways. An increase in the density of small craft between No. 1 and 2 fairway buoys can be expected; small craft are strongly recommended to use the Small Craft Channel where practicable. 2014 Breakwater Construction Programme .......................................................... Stage 1 - An initial 1.5m layer of sand and gravel will be installed using a small trailer dredger, discharging via a 300m floating pipeline to a 30m sprayer barge anchored west/east along the line of the breakwater. See Figures 2 & 4. Stage 2 - Once the initial layer is sufficiently progressed, the installation of a series of wick drains can commence using a stitcher sited on a large barge. The purpose of these drains is to draw the water from the seabed up to the surface, which in turn will increase the ground bearing capacity of the seabed. S ee Figure 3. Stage 3 - Once the drain installation has been finalised, a geotextile membrane will be laid on top of the sand and gravel layer. This process will be achieved using a large barge and a multicat. After necessary checks have been made regarding alignment, the geotextile will be weighed down with sand bags or similar. Boskalis Westminster Fig 2. Dredger and pipeline 24 COWES.co.uk

Cowes Port Handbook 2014-2015 April 2014 | Page 24