New lights that will guide the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers safely into Portsmouth harbor will soon be completed as the top sections of the structures are put in place, the UK government announced.
The final construction stage involves lifting the superstructures onto the pile foundations driven earlier in the year.
In total around £100 million is being spent by the Ministry of Defence to ready the base for the carriers, the biggest and most powerful ships in the Royal Navy’s history.
The 14 steel structures, which will rise 30 meters from the seabed, provide a platform for the lights that will be used to precisely position the 2 new aircraft carriers, the first of which will arrive at the city’s naval base in spring next year.
Each weighs around 22 tonnes and is being lifted into place using a 350 tonne crane barge. The lights are powered by a combination of solar panels and batteries and will only be lit when the carriers are either approaching or leaving their berths at Portsmouth.
The navigation light towers are being installed as part of a £34 million package of infrastructure work being delivered on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) by VolkerStevin to support the new carriers.
Under its contract VolkerStevin is also working to rebuild the Middle Slip jetty to accommodate the ships and providing a dedicated high voltage electrical supply to power the carriers.
DIO also awarded a contract to Boskalis Westminster Ltd to dredge the harbour to make it wide and deep enough for the ships.