Ferry pier foundation heading for Lochmaddy

A concrete ferry pier structure is ready to set off on a voyage from Northern Ireland to Uist.

The 14-metre-high concrete cassion will form the foundation to support linkspan for the new ferry berth.

Built to order at the Harland and Wolff yard in Belfast, the structure successfully floated when the drydock was filled with water two weeks ago.

A tug will tow the structure up the Minch to North Uist.

It has been named Bloca Loch nam Madadh or Block Maddy by North Uist youngsters following a competition.

Civil engineering contractor George Leslie won the £15 million contract to upgrade the pier. Works are scheduled to finish in spring 2023.

This is the second time the council - which owns the pier - has tendered the project.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar axed the initial deal - for £10 million, a third less than the latest price - with a different company - Keating Construction - in November 2020.

But the Irish firm stopped works during Covid lockdown restrictions, reappearing in June 2020 only to vanish again within weeks.

Strengthening and extending the pier is required for a replacement ferry for MV Hebrides. Other works include upgraded fendering, land reclamation and seabed dredging.

The new ferry is being built at the Ferguson Marine base on the Clyde but has been delayed for years and may not take up commercial service until January 2024 after chaotic shipyard snarl-ups.

Massive 3,500 tonne ferry pier foundation heading for Lochmaddy

September 2022