Construction is nearing completion on the top sections of the new lights at Portsmouth harbour that will help to guide the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers safely.
The last stage of construction will see the superstructures lifted onto the pile foundations driven earlier this year.
The 14 steel structures, standing at 30 metres from the seabed, will provide a platform for the lights that will be used to precisely position the two new aircraft carriers, the first of which will arrive at the city’s naval base in spring 2017.
Weighing around 22 tonnes, each structure is being lifted into place using a 350 tonne crane barge. The lights are powered by a combination of solar panels and batteries and will only be lit when the carriers are either approaching or leaving their berths at Portsmouth.
Around £100M is being spent in total by the Ministry of Defence to prepare the base for the carriers, the biggest and most powerful ships in the Royal Navy’s history. At 280 metres, the HMS Queen Elizabeth is 280 metres in length, has a tonne displacement of 65,000, and will hold a crew of 679 with embarked forces of up to 921. It will have a range of 10,000 miles and have a top speed of around 25 knots.
Under its contract, VolkerStevin is also undertaking the rebuild the Middle Slip jetty to accommodate the ships and providing a dedicated high voltage electrical supply to power the carriers.
DIO also awarded a contract to Boskalis Westminster Ltd to dredge the harbour to make it wide and deep enough for the ships.
The navigation light towers are being installed as part of a £34 million package of infrastructure work being delivered on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) by VolkerStevin to support the new carriers.
Philip Wise, DIO’s Principal Project Manager, said: “The navigation lights are essential to ensure the safe passage of the carriers into the naval base at Portsmouth. The work to install them represents a significant step forward in our preparations for the arrival of the 2 new ships which will be the largest ever constructed for the Royal Navy.”
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