Adverse weather hampers ferry pier construction works

7 February 023

Fenders have been bolted on to the caisson

Plans to install a large concrete structure at Lochmaddy pier were unsuccessful at the weekend.

Strong winds hindered the operation which was abandoned to a later date.

A new attempt to place the 3,200 tonne box in its permanent place as a pier extension is proposed for later this month.

Upgrades at Lochmaddy port are being undertaken by construction company, George Leslie, on behalf of harbour owners, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

For months, delays caused by “technical complexities” have hit the positioning of the structure or caisson.

MV Hebrides which is operating a temporary Ullapool ferry service cleared the berth and relocated to Lochboisdale in South Uist for the installation works.

Construction works, including the movement of the caisson, are very dependent on the weather.

For the last four months the block has remained in a spot by a navigation channel near the pier after it was towed from the Harland and Wolff yard in Belfast.

Increasingly, the lifeline ferry service encounters disruption and cancellations with a combination of adverse weather and pier works hampering vessel manoeuvrability in the harbour area, often making it unsafe to depart and arrive.

With North Uist now only receiving one inbound sailing a day because of a diverted service to Ullapool during the closure of the Skye operation, ferry cancellations interrupt the delivery of food and supplies as well as the movement of travellers to the island.