ABP Southampton instructed Seawork to recover a linkspan and debris following an incident where a RoRo vessel lost control and hit the linkspan pontoons resulting in the linkspan detaching and sinking on the berth.

As the lifting points selected to attach the rigging were below the roadway plates the deck had to be partly removed underwater so that these areas could be accessed. The linkspan weight was 120 tonnes and there was also the silt / mud on the deck to take into consideration.

The slings were attached and all items prepared and checked as we only had a very short (3 hour window) for the crane barge to be on site.

While this work was being undertaken Seawork fabricated trestles to land the linkspan on when lifted ashore.

The photos below show the key stages to a successful conclusion.