New buoys bring safety to the Crouch
River Crouch buoys deployed.
Making the River Crouch safe enough “for fools” in the face of a substantial rise in commercial traffic has meant local work for an international navigation aids company.
Shipping bringing spoil from London’s Crossrail project is to enter the Crouch and unload at the new RSPB Wallasea Wild Coast project, bringing a substantial number of barges into the area. However, it is not the easiest of places to navigate.
River Crouch user Roger Gaspar explained, “For those not familiar with the Crouch, the Outer Crouch stripped of its aids to navigation would be entirely featureless above half tide, with few clues as to the whereabouts of the Buxey Sand to the north, Foulness Sand to the South or the ‘mid-river’ hazards that are the Swallowtail and the Sunken Buxey.”
So a major revision of the river’s buoys has been implemented by the harbour authority. Hydrosphere has deployed Mobilis buoys for the Whitaker and Outer Crouch areas to mark the 4m contour line, dramatically changing the aids to navigation in the area, and providing clearly defined navigation channels.
Mr Gaspar added, “It’s now so well marked, better than road works on a motorway, only a fool could go aground now. In some places, the river is very narrow, so it’s useful to have the buoys there to make it easy for yachtsmen to find their way up.”
He went on to say, “All the buoys are within easy sight of each other, yachtsmen can always see the next set. It’s the largest alteration of buoyage in the area for more than 20 years.”
The buoys, Mobilis JET2000 using THV Alert, were deployed by Trinity House acting as contractor for the Crouch Harbour Authority, with their environmentally friendly qualities and sustainability a large factor in the choice.
Each buoy is 1.9m in diameter, 3m high and has a 3m focal height. The total weight of each is 550kg and each comes complete with a self contained solar powered light. A modular design allows for commonality of parts, reducing maintenance, inspection, replacement and spare holding costs. The hull is made using two sections surrounding a central polyethylene core structure providing a strong, lightweight buoy able to be easily handled and maintained by small craft.
The JET2000JPE is suitable for use in nearshore locations where a highly visible navigation buoy is required and is available as Cardinal, Lateral, Isolated Danger or Special Mark, configured to meet user's requirements for navigation lights, solar panels and battery.
The new buoyage will also make it easier for users of the Crouch to enter and leave in poor visibility and at night. Up to half a dozen ships a day are expected to enter the river taking clay, chalk, sand and gravel from the construction of one of Europe’s largest civil engineering projects, Crossrail, the 73 mile rail link from Maidenhead and Heathrow west of London, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood to the east, to the RSPB’s wetland creation scheme, Wallasea Island, which is due to be transformed into 1,500 acres of tidal wildlife habitat.
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