Walcon Marine renews tug waiting pontoon at Shoreham Port

Walcon Marine returned to Shoreham Port in south-east England 25 years after it first installed a waiting pontoon to replace it with an all-new facility. Located outside the lock, the heavy-duty pontoon is a standby berth for the tugs and pilot boats that escort vessels in and out of the harbour.

In order to cope with the stresses of commercial operations, the facility is comprised of three, 15 metres by three metres, heavy duty Walcon Waliflote pontoons plus an aluminium self-levelling gangway (the angle of the steps change with the tide). The pontoons feature continuous buoyancy for maximum stability plus Jumbo steel frames and GRP mesh decking.

The Waliflote frames and decking were fabricated at the Walcon waterside facility at Woolston, Southampton, and delivered to the site by road while the Walcon Wizard piling barge removed the old piles and drove in the new ones.