SCUBA March 2026 issue 163 | Page 45

say their first open-water dive was under Swanage Pier. We may be biased, but we think it can rightly be called the home of UK diving!”
The challenges of maintaining Swanage Pier are nothing new. Back in the 1920s, the Piermaster was responsible for inspecting and repairing the damage— a role that required him to be a hard hat diver. As with the current survey, he carefully inspected each of the 180 pier legs, assessing the extent of the gribble’ s destruction and identifying which piles needed reinforcement. To protect the structure, some of the weakened piles were encased in concrete, an innovative solution at the time.
Back then the Piermaster’ s pioneering work in surveying and maintaining the structure laid the foundation for decades of dedicated upkeep— a legacy that IPSAC divers proudly continue today.
Pier leg exhibit showing effects of gribble worm
UKDIVING
1930s original leg inspection by the piermaster
To help with the survey, the divers attached a temporary numbering system to the pier legs so that they could keep track of the location. This helped when the viz wasn’ t that good, as it was surprisingly easy to get lost, even for those divers who knew the site intimately. These numbers have been very positively received by many visiting divers, and we are now looking at a project to create a more permanent solution.
Pier review
The survey revealed the extent of the erosion to the new pier. If nothing is done to repair and replace the weakened structure, it’ s easy to predict what will eventually happen if you look at the remains of the old pier that sits alongside.
As divers, we hate to see old pier legs removed and replaced, as it impacts the habitat of marine life. However, monitoring the new legs has been encouraging— nature quickly takes over, and marine life begins to colonise the new structures.
“ We’ ve fed all this information back to the Pier Trust, helping them plan future maintenance and funding applications,” Paul continues.
For IPSAC, this isn’ t just community service – it’ s personal.“ Diving in and around the Pier is an important part of our club life,” Paul says.“ When we tell people where we’ re based, they often smile and
Piermaster in hardhat diving suit
Piermaster surveying pier with Waverly paddle steamer in background
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