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We do like to be beside the sea side….

Just how do you work over water? The Osborne team at Portsmouth Harbour station are currently in the midst of a strengthening and repair project on the underside of the station, which, at 250m long, sits on a pier above the harbour.

This is technically-challenging scheme, involving almost £2million worth of scaffolding over tidal waters.

Osborne Project Manager, Martin Parsons, explains that one of the most challenging aspects is working around the tidal flow:

“As the tide comes in, much of the equipment has to be dismantled and moved out of the way. It then has to be reassembled and dismantled again according to the tide. Because of the tides, we have to be careful with fatigue management and shift patterns.”

Not only that but to remove scaling, old paint and rust of the existing structure, the team are using ultra-high pressure jetting, running at 36,000 pounds per square inch.

Martin added, “The guys doing the jetting wear Kevlar suits and we set up exclusion zones because of the sheer scale of the water pressure.”

Osborne started the £6.2m project in April and work will be carried out six days a week 24 hours a day. Upgrading these sections will ensure the future of the structure for years to come.

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