Surveys of St Catherine’s slip

A specialist infrastructure consulting firm will be surveying St Catherine’s breakwater and slipway later this month. AECOM will be carrying out geophysical and geomatic surveys of the slipway and breakwater from 5-14 March, to determine the level of reparation work needed to safeguard the structure.

Sections of the slip were damaged during Storm Ciaran, leaving cracks ranging from 50mm to 150mm in width, as well as some undermined stonework toward the lower end.

The surveys will incorporate drones, ground penetrating radar (GPR) and multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW). Some of the surveys use large pieces of equipment which will temporarily restrict access to parking spaces, the breakwater, and slipway. Parking restrictions will be kept to a minimum and will only affect a small number of spaces, for short periods of time.

The details of access limits will be confirmed once AECOM is on site. It is essential to assess the full extent of the damage before planning the repair work, which will be planned and undertaken once the results of the survey have been analysed.