Re: Bristol Floating harbour

On Tue, 29 May 2007 15:44:04 GMT, "Trevor George"
<tg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Adrian Stott wrote in message ...
The Council has got rid of the system that was part of the design of
the Harbour, which has worked well for centuries, and replaced it with
a contract for the use of an inferior system.

Not centuries ..... The Cutter-suction dredger probably operated for 10 - 15 years,
and was very efficient, as it gulped the mud up a tube through the dredger pump and
straight through a floating tube into various harbourside connectors. You can see one
of the connector tubes, in a siphon shape, left in place at this link
http://www.pooleswharf.com/gallery_viewbw12.htm

Those tubes allowed the mud to go straight out in to the river. That dredger had big
long legs which allowed it to 'walk' around the harbour and hold station, while the
cutter-part on a long arm made sweeps from side-to-side. It worked extremely
efficiently, as it didn't need to dilute the mud too much, just enough to make it
fluid.

Before they used that beastie I guess they used big grab-bucket-cranes which dug the
mud and dropped it into barges alongside, which then tied up alongside the
sluice-gates and dropped the mud there, so it could be sluiced away.

Perhaps there have been three (or more) generations here?

I had thought that the Harbour was designed with the "harbourside
connectors" (or that it was modified to include them fairly early on),
and with equipment of some kind to pump the silt into them. Could it
be that that "equipment" was retired when the "cutter-suction" dredger
was commissioned?

Adrian


Adrian Stott
07956-299966
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bristol Floating harbour
    ... straight through a floating tube into various harbourside connectors. ... Those tubes allowed the mud to go straight out in to the river. ... long legs which allowed it to 'walk' around the harbour and hold station, ... Like a lot of things these days, we no longer do them ourselves, but simply contract ...
    (uk.rec.waterways)
  • Re: Bristol Floating harbour
    ... I had thought that the Harbour was designed with the "harbourside ... connectors", ... and with equipment of some kind to pump the silt into them. ...
    (uk.rec.waterways)