Good progress on new RNLI station works

The old station has been demolished and a new one built in its place to accommodate the station’s brand new Tamar class lifeboat.

Demolition of the boathouse, slipway, and the re-profiling of rock occurred in 2012 along with delivery of much of the site equipment and initial construction materials by the tug Glenesk and the 35m by 10m spud leg pontoon JML35.

Earlier this year, and with Jenkins Marine’s multi-cat Stour on site, the boathouse foundation piles were installed along with a ground source heat pump to provide environmentally friendly heating for the new boathouse. Due to the location of the site, all construction materials have to be delivered by Stour from either Holyhead or, for smaller items, a small drying harbour at Trefor, including essential fuel and fresh water.

Stour has delivered precast concrete ground beams, floor slabs and all the other construction materials required to form the western and northern walls of the boathouse. All waste materials, including the old slipway, have to be removed by sea as well and, with no quayside to work from, Stour has to dry out on the beach at the site and use its spud legs to hold position while loading and unloading is taking place.

Recently, a jack-up barge complete with an additional crane has been commissioned, which enabled the remaining slipway to be demolished and work to install the new slipway piles to commence. Also, an impressive length of netting has been erected at the top of the cliff to prevent intrusion onto the site by stray golf balls from Nefyn and District Golf Course.

There has been a Lifeboat station at Porthdinllaen since around 1864, playing a vital role over the years, responding to emergencies from Bardsey Island all the way up to Holyhead on the western tip of Anglesey. Stour will remain in action at the site until the new facility is complete, predicted to be in February 2014.