Update 10.52 17 April 2020
This from Red7Marine.
“Smashed it! Red7Marine have completed the installation of the final pile at the Police Pontoon in Wapping ahead of schedule. Work will continue for the next 3 weeks to complete the rest of the project but there is no more intrusive piling work required. We would like to thank the residents of Wapping and Southwark for their patience during these works especially at this difficult time.”
The MPS Marine Unit (MPU) pontoon at Wapping is being repaired by marine construction company Red7Marine and this involves two very big piles being, er, piled into the river bed.
The first pile was installed last week and the final pile will be installed this week on Thursday 16th April from 3.30pm till 5.30pm and Friday 17th April from 10am until noon.
This is a very noisy operation but unavoidable.
Red7Marine tell us that the work was granted dispensation from Tower Hamlets noise team but with the coronavirus lockdown forcing people to stay at home the noise from the piling is impacting local residents a lot more than anyone could have anticipated.
A letter has been distributed to residents in the local vicinity of the work.
Red7Marine sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused by the work and is endeavouring to make the impact on the community as minimal as possible.
Specific measures that have been taken to reduce the impact of the piling are as follows.
A review of the project was carried out to determine if the piling work could be suspended until after the lockdown had ceased.
This was deemed unfeasible due to the poor structural condition of the existing structures which could compromise the Metropolitan Police’s operational response to the crisis and its normal work patrolling the Thames and providing Counter Terrorism support.
Silent piling techniques were considered but excluded as they would not work in the specific situation at Wapping.
A less noisy vibration piling hammer is used to initially drive the pile as far as possible and reduce the amount of impact hammering by one hour.
The impact hammer is limited to only two hours per day and will be not be used before 10am.
No impact hammer work will be undertaken at the weekend.
Site working hours are restricted to 08:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday / 08:00 – 13:00 Saturdays and no noisy works are permitted on Sunday. The exception to this is when barges are moved as this is dependent on the tide levels and times.
A soft start procedure is employed to slowly increase the intensity of the hammer to full power.
Before any work starts a team briefing is held emphasising the importance of keeping noise levels to an absolute minimum.
A leaflet drop detailing the proposed works including details of who residents should contact if they be disturbed. The catchment area for the letter drop has been increased.
As well as Red7Marine’s website information is also available from the Metropolitan Police twitter accounts @metpoliceuk and @MPSonthewater.
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