To help alleviate swell during adverse weather conditions, a ~70m outer wave screen comprised of connected steel piles was approved for installation just outside the marina entrance within the Port of Dover.

As surveys detected a number of unidentified metal objects in an area known to have been extensively bombed during WWII, the area needed to be certified clear of UXO before piling could begin.

As a project location, the port brought its own unique challenges. Adjoining the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel and one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, it would be subject to regular vessel movements. The area was also exposed to substantial tidal range, posing a threat of vessel grounding, whilst being within close proximity of five Marine Conservation Zones.

Topography also proved challenging with very soft mud on the seabed and exceptionally shallow diving depths, at times as low as 2m. To keep our diver safe whilst also overcoming the conditions and depth of the targets, custom-made concrete rings were placed on top of each other to prevent the sides of the subsea excavations from collapsing inwards.

Knights Brown, the principal project contractor, commissioned MACS Ltd to clear the outer wave wall area where metal anomalies had been identified. MACS Ltd sub-contracted one of our UXO Supervisors and UXO divers to locate these objects using a hand-held DX300 magnetometer.

Remote surveyors accurately positioned the project barge using a survey screen and communication devices.

A concrete sinker with attached 5m long search line was lowered under supervision and the diver commenced their search at 1m increments moving / scanning the area with the DX300 magnetometer moving in anticlockwise and clockwise motions respectively.