Land and Water Project; Berthon & Sustainability

Land and Water, a civil and environmental engineering company, is currently undertaking a project focused on waterway maintenance and restoration on the Boiler Marsh. The operation began with the careful assembly of two working platforms constructed from pontoons. Using Berthon’s yard wall, sections of the pontoon were craned into place and securely connected to create a stable base capable of supporting heavy machinery, including two extractors. Unlike conventional diggers, these work more like traditional steam drag boxes, running along the seabed. This floating platform was essential for accessing areas that required dredging and restoration work.

The primary objective of the project is to retrieve and redistribute silt material that had previously been dredged and deposited adjacent to Boiler Marsh to the east of the RLymYC platform by Berthon’s dredging of the Lymington River and its marina. This material, a mix of mud and seabed sediment, will be used to rebuild and restore the mud flats, which play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the river ecosystem. The process of assembling and deploying the pontoons took three days, during which our boat movers assisted in manoeuvring the entire setup down the river to the designated work site using their tug boat that was also craned in over the yard wall.

The scope of work involved in this project is wide, including dredging to maintain waterways, erosion control to prevent further degradation, and habitat creation to support local wildlife. These activities are integral to the broader goals of environmental conservation and sustainable development that Land and Water strives to achieve. “Two 25-meter ‘dumb’ barges are needed – one in Pylewell Lake , the other in East Lake – where they will be held in position by spud legs. A winch system will operate between the barges to tow a saltmarsh restoration drag box, which moves the sediment [on to the marsh sedge grass]. The works are due to complete before the end of October, following which de-mobilisation again takes place at Berthon.