Sandsayre Pier

This project involved the complete reconstruction of the historic pier at Sandsayre.

  • Contract Value: £630,000
  • Contract Length: 2 Years
  • Client: Sandwick Social and Economic Development Company

Project Description

The pier is used for summer sailing regattas and is the base for the passenger ferry to the island of Mousa, site of the world’s best-preserved broch. Despite previous attempts at repair, the pier had deteriorated over the years and there were fears that a bad storm could destroy it. The contract value was £630,000 and the client was the Sandwick Social and Economic Development Company.

The work took approximately two years. It was an unusual job presenting some interesting challenges. The pier is a Listed Building and it was therefore essential that the reconstructed pier was identical. This meant that every stone had to be individually removed and numbered before being stored and then replaced in its original position. Many of the stones were very large and even the smaller ones weighed up to 60kg.

The project involved the construction of a coffer dam, formed using weighted shipping containers. Concrete was used to make the coffer dam as watertight as possible; even so, three pumps were deployed to remove water. The old pier was then taken down to the seabed and a new concrete foundation laid. After each storm, considerable amounts of water had to be pumped out and seaweed had to be removed.

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