Project details
In late 2016 Southbay were awarded the contract to install river wall protection at an area of the River Thames foreshore directly in front of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The foreshore had been eroded by vessel scour and tidal currents of the river. This erosion has significantly reduced the level of the river bank; any further reduction would have compromised the integrity of the river wall. To mitigate the continued erosion, scour protection mattresses filled with locally sourced stone were placed onto the foreshore.
The scour mattresses (Kyowa Filter Units) were placed onto a layer of membrane geotextile by a mobile crane positioned on the access road to the south of the river bank and walkway. The Kyowa filter units were filled off site in the quarry where the stone fill is sourced, these were then be brought to site and placed.
As the erosion of the river bank has uncovered remnants of historic archaeological interest such as timber pile caps dating back to Tudor times these remnants were be protected with specialist geotextile and imported sand infill, under the guidance of a qualified archaeologist.
The main operational area for the mobile crane was along the east – west access road in front of the King Charles building. This building, constructed in the 1700’s by Sir Christopher Wren was in close vicinity of the works for which the methodology took full consideration of its protection, visiting tourists and general public passing though the college, as well as its surrounding parks and walkways.
