Dock is in the final phase

THE next phase of piling work at Portishead Marina gets underway this week.The work on the east dock is expected to take 10-12 weeks and involves demolishing an existing suspended concrete deck.The rubble will be crushed, screened to remove any steel which will be recycled and the crushed concrete will be used to fill in behind the new east dock wall.This is the final phase of a £5.5million project to strengthen the whole of the existing east dock wall and create a more interesting shape to the oblong stretch by establishing a inner, middle and outer basin.The work will also include the creation of a new slipway, which is due to be completed by Easter.Steel tubes to support the precast concrete slipway are 18 metres long and weigh seven tonnes each.The wall of the basin of the marina are being constructed out of sheet piles made from recycled steel - each pair 20.5 metres long and weighing six metric tonnes.They are being driven down through the mud into the bedrock to a depth of three metres by a seven tonne drop weight hammer. The steel piling work will be carried out by local contractor Dean and Dyball working on behalf of Persimmon Special Projects Western.A spokesman for Persimmon said: "This new stage is likely to be noisy because of its nature."Sixty per cent of the work is reasonably quiet, but unfortunately the last bit can be noisy when both the demolition is underway and the piling is being hammered into the bedrock."Work will be restricted to between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday.The guidelines have been put in place by North Somerset Council to minimise disruption.A piling helpline number has been set up to deal with any questions during the sheet piling work.The number is 01275 393933 and any calls will be logged and returned.