The BRAT Squad Are Called In Again.
After an unfortunate event involving an overloaded mud hopper which sank, the BRAT’s somewhat depleted team sprang into action. A mud hopper got a bit overfilled with the remnants of a “bund” used near Newtown Bridge in the ‘90’s to install water and sewage pipes beneath the canal. There’s not a good history of these bunds being removed properly, this was no exception.
We knew from silt sampling exercises a few years ago that there was one bund (nearer the bridge) in fact there were TWO. The first, with its piling bits, was reported a few weeks ago. This was the second one, found when silt sampling years back.
The blue clay, gravel and lumps of concrete, gravel and bricks are VERY VERY heavy. The wet dredging team try to fill the hoppers full for maximum efficiency, it’s a normal thing. Unfortunately, one of them got a bit overfilled, then, when moving it to be emptied, it sank near the Ocean Railway bridge.
One end remained above water, the other end was some way beneath the surface. Our Narrow Beam Dredger “Hamster” was needed to reverse all the way from Newtown Bridge to the Ocean to “undredge” the hopper. When the Risk Assessments and Method Statements had been produced agreed and authorised, the stage was set for the recovery.
With tug teams and dredger team coordinated, Wednesday 22nd saw the action take place.
Hamster preceded its “Taxi” tug Kingfisher to the site, while tug Margaret and crew provided the requisite empty hopper “Warp” (the twin of the sunken one “Weft.”
After careful positioning of the vessels, all safety precautions discussed and implemented, dredging commenced to empty the sunken vessel. Water clarity, while perfect to begin with, rapidly diminished. Experienced operator Bob H, with very able crew Richard F, soon noticed the end of the upper rising and refloating.
After about an hour of careful work, the hopper suddenly popped up like a whale breaching – a dramatic reappearance indeed! Nick C and Nick F failed to get a video. (Pity!)
After pumping out the free water, the hopper and the now half- filled relief hopper were moved away to the unloading area for emptying and damage assessment (believed to be none or very small) Now, task completed, Hamster and its “taxi” tug were returned to complete their work in the Newtown area.
(BRAT – Boat Recovery & Aquisition Team)
