Hydrographic-Geophysical Survey
Solent Gateway shiplift
Solent Gateway
Hydrographic-Geophysical Survey
Solent Gateway contracted ABPmer to obtain the necessary consents and permissions to undertake maintenance dredging and disposal around the jetties, shiplift and their approaches.
As part of this process, contamination sampling and hydrographic surveys were conducted. ABPmer acquired the contamination samples ready for laboratory analysis.
ABP Southampton’s hydrographers regularly conduct multibeam bathymetric surveys, using the survey vessel Protector, of the area as part of their routine safety of navigation surveys.
However, beneath the shiplift, there is very shallow water, limited space and no GPS coverage, so ABPmer developed a bespoke survey solution.
To overcome the restricted access, we mobilised a remote-controlled catamaran, Hydrone-RCV, utilising a singlebeam echosounder.
With no GPS beneath the structure, positioning with conventional methods also could not be used. Instead we used a robotic Leica Geosystems Total Station.
Survey control stations were established on the adjacent jetties where the Total Station was installed. A prism was installed on the Hydrone-RCV in order for the Total Station to provide a position at 1-second intervals whilst the remote-controlled vehicle navigated beneath the shiplift structure.
The bespoke approach was incredibly successful, and can now used in various challenging inshore survey environments.
ABPmer's surveyors support marine developments with a comprehensive understanding of the seabed, delivering quality maps and analysis of depth and features. Learn more about our hydrographic-geophysical survey capability.
