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I note that Balfour Beatty are being very quiet about the reason for the delay. Maybe if I was speculating, I might say that the company wanted the concrete so stiff that it didn't reach the bottom of the steelwork resulting in 'honeycombing' of the structure. I could also speculate that Canada dock gate was damaged by concrete slurry jamming the gates shut. Maybe the company will confirm the reason for the 6 week delay (I don't think they will)
They are cutting it very fine for the arrival of the PRINSENDAM on September 2nd.
Sigh!
:PDT_Xtremez_42:
sadly intentions where meant well, I think the origional plan was to make a steel structure, but due to the cost of steel it was later decided to make it in concrete. With regards to how and why,dunno, no doubt it will need to pass another safety inspection before it leaves dry dock here and that might be the cause of the delay? once they have the safety certificate I would imagine it would be towed straight across to its final position.
kat:)
Race against time to put liner ternal in place
Aug 16 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post
CONSTRUCTION giant Balfour Beatty last night said it was confident of putting Liverpool’s new cruise liner terminal in place within the next 24 to 48 hours.
However, it still faces a race to ensure it is operational in time for the visit of a string of major vessels, including the QE2, in September.
The £19m landing stage currently lies in a dry dock at Cammell Laird where it has undergone last minute checks and so-called snagging repairs.
A spokeswoman for Balfour told the Daily Post that discussions were now taking place about the exact timing for the stage to be moved across the Mersey.
Last week fears were raised that the platform may not be in place in time for the start of September, when a procession of cruise liners are due to visit Liverpool.
The biggest date is September 21 when the QE2 is to visit the Mersey for the official launch of the new stage as part of the famous vessel’s farewell tour. It also needs to be in place to allow the visit of HMS Ark Royal to Liverpool on September 14.
The Balfour spokeswoman said: “There are meetings taking place now to decide exactly when we will able to float the terminal into position.
“It does depend on factors like tides but the plan is to begin floating it in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Once the stage is floated into position it will then have to be attached to a line of piles sunk into the river bed, and then the roadways linking the stage with the quayside will have to be lifted into place.
Safety trials and tests will then need to carried out, leaving little time before the arrival of the first vessels.
kat, your roving undercover news reporter, an special agent *g*"":)
hmm, still not moved, are we there yet?
Friday's high tide is 1430 so maybe something will happen then? Fingers crossed!
:PDT_Xtremez_42:
http://www.aisliverpool.co.uk/currentmap.php?map=docksits on the move, friday 17th August
see here trafalgar tug. http://www.aisliverpool.co.uk/currentmap.php?map=docks
should be on view any minute now (hopefully)
kat:)
It came, and then went back again. It was still in the water outside the dry dock when I last saw it (about 6 P.M.)
Ive noticed on the shipping map there both in the middle of the mersey,
I would guess looking at the Map that they are waiting for darkness for reasons best left to them *lol*, I mean its not as though its a secret anymore, that and the risks of having the pontoon stuck out in the mersey all this time, i can see the waterloo, and trafalgar are still towing a section of the pontoon, time 1930
kat:)
Visible on Wirralcam now.
8.30 pm
you can see the pontoon on the british waterways webcam
also heres a live shipping map which you can zoom in on
http://www.aisliverpool.
org.uk/gmap2.php
here is a pic of the pontoon
http://www.aptb09.dsl.pipex.com/lcl_n.jpg
kat:)
Here's some pics of its' first journey.
After leaving dry dock it went South a bit, before turning around. This attempt had to be aborted and it returned to just outside the dry dock to wait.
Irishseashipping website has the full story:
http://www.irishseashipping.co.uk/ph...tm#August_11cl
Mersey’s £19m cruise liner terminal tugged into place
LIVERPOOL’S new cruise liner terminal finally started to arrive at its new riverfront home last night.
River tugs were drafted in to start the process of towing the £19m berth into place in an operation likely to last until Monday.
It means the new terminal will be ready and operational in time for its official opening ceremony on September 21, when the QE2 will steam up the river as part of its 40th anniversary cruise.
The ceremony will be one of the highlights of the city’s 800th birthday year, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the banks of the river in Liverpool and Wirral.
A week earlier, the Royal Navy’s flagship, Ark Royal, is scheduled to visit the River Mersey.
It will tie up alongside the stage if the set-up is operational.
The first of four segments of the stage were floated out of the dry dock at Cammell Laird’s Birkenhead yard on the afternoon tide yesterday. Tugs brought it across the river and it spent several hours mid-river last night waiting for the departure of the Isle of Man Super Seacat so it could be towed into place at around 9pm. The other three stages will be floated into place in an operation expected to be completed over the next few days.
Depending on weather and tidal conditions marine experts are confident the landing stage will be fully installed by Monday.
Once the landing stage is towed to the Liverpool waterfront, the sections will be linked to a series of piles that have been sunk into the hard rock river bed.
The landing stage will rise and fall with the tides.
Balfour Beatty engineers will be working throughout the weekend to complete the operation.
While the four sections of the stage are being brought to the riverfront, work teams will be busy completing a new road bridge link that will enable heavy traffic to reach the new landing stage from the riverfront.
A separate pedestrian bridge is also under construction along Princes Parade.
Once everything has been put in place, an essential series of safety trials and tests will then need to carried out.
Originally, the landing stage was due to move into place in June.
Unseasonably wet weather – that saw large areas of the country flooded – made it impossible for the new stage to be moved into place.
It was taken instead to Cammell Laird to enable checks and last- minute works to take place. The city council plan is for dozens of cruise liners and Royal Navy vessels to visit the Mersey, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the city and potentially earning several million pounds a year for the city economy.
LIVERPOOL’S new cruise liner terminal finally started to arrive at its new riverfront home last night.
River tugs were drafted in to start the process of towing the £19m berth into place in an operation likely to last until Monday.
It means the new terminal will be ready and operational in time for its official opening ceremony on September 21, when the QE2 will steam up the river as part of its 40th anniversary cruise
http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/li...8C94068F89.jpghttp://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/li...6BFB37E0AC.jpg
More here:->
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/...4375-19654634/
kat:)
Looks like they got that right then, Kat. Good . . . and thanks for the up-date.