underwater explosions in jersey

[Somerset in Jersey]

what affect will this have on sea life?

 

UNDERWATER rocks will be blown up in St Aubin's Bay next week as part of a training exercise by the UK military.

Two towers of rock near Ruaudière Rock and Buoy will be packed with explosives and blasted, causing a sea motion that will be felt under water as far away as the south coast of England.

[ChrisW]

what affect will this have on sea life?

 

UNDERWATER rocks will be blown up in St Aubin's Bay next week as part of a training exercise by the UK military.

Two towers of rock near Ruaudière Rock and Buoy will be packed with explosives and blasted, causing a sea motion that will be felt under water as far away as the south coast of England.

 

Being ex-military and having used explosives myself although land based I should imagine that in the close sorrounding area some marine life will be damaged and no doubt killed. It all depends weather directional charges are being used, if so most of the shock wave should be directed into the rock and so not cause too much damage.

 

ChrisW

[Prowler]

"UNDERWATER rocks will be blown up in St Aubin's Bay next week as part of a training exercise by the UK military."

 

Yes to make it safe for big cruise liners to anchor up, I want to use the F word so badly, no not fish.

 

Divers carrying out rock blasting in harbour approaches

Jersey Harbours has been encouraged by Jersey Tourism and more recently the Minister of Economic Development to find ways of attracting larger cruise ships to visit the Island. The exposed nature of the St Helier outer anchorages often require large ships to abandon their visits, as their passenger tenders cannot operate in poor weather conditions. If even some larger vessels could safely anchor closer to the port, their tenders would have a shorter trip into the harbour, in more sheltered waters.

 

 

Two particular rocks cause a restriction on the size of ships, both in length and draught, which can use the port and anchorages of St Helier. They are positioned 1100m South Westwards of the end of Elizabeth Castle Breakwater towards the Ruaudière Buoy (green), south of St Aubin’s Bay,

 

 

Following an initial survey by the Jersey Harbours diving team, it was found that the small reefs each had 2-3 metre high rock pillars which could be demolished. The work will involve drilling the bottom of the pinnacles, placing and firing of explosives to blast them off the main base of each reef. The removal of these heads will also give safer under keel clearances, in rough weather, for the larger ferries now supplying the Island.

 

 

From Saturday 29 July 2006, for about one week, Jersey Harbours have been offered the dive time and expertise of the Defence Diving School, Portsmouth, for an exercise and deployment to the Island, accompanied by an Army RCL (Landing Craft), for use on the work. The Defence Diving School is the UK’s No1 establishment for top level training for specialist military and naval underwater operations.

 

 

The Planning and Environment Ministry has been consulted and recognise that the position is about 1 mile west of the South East Coast RAMSAR site and the rock blasting is a 'one-off event' and will not pose a long-term threat to the aquatic ecosystem.

 

 

Divers will begin surveys and preparations this weekend by drilling the rocks to take the explosive charges. The RCL from 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, Marchwood, will be the base for the diving team during their stay. Detonation of charges is timetabled for around HW at 1100 Monday 31st July and again HW at 1230 on Thursday 3 August, exact timing will depend on shipping movements.

 

 

A 1 Kilometre Safety Exclusion Zone will be required for about 20 minutes during each detonation. Notices to Mariners will be published and Navigation Warnings broadcast for each operation. The 1km Safety area will be policed by the RCL landing craft, the Duke of Normandy and other Jersey Harbours Marine Section vessels. The boundary of this safety area will be a line joining the Oyster Rock beacon, East Rock buoy, Hinguette buoy, Ruaudière Buoy, Diamond Rock buoy, Baleine buoy and Les Bûts beacon.

Edited July 30, 2006 by Prowler

[Somerset in Jersey]

Being ex-military and having used explosives myself although land based I should imagine that in the close sorrounding area some marine life will be damaged and no doubt killed. It all depends weather directional charges are being used, if so most of the shock wave should be directed into the rock and so not cause too much damage.

 

ChrisW

 

Tis not land based but in the water. so casualties will occur,

 

? Will they call this collateral damage? or accidental friendly fire?

[Prowler]

Tis not land based but in the water. so casualties will occur,

 

? Will they call this collateral damage? or accidental friendly fire?

It depends on whether their American or not

[Zigs]

thats outrageous, if they need to remove underwater rock hazards then drilling & wooden wedges should suffice, it works in the quarries, no reason it wont work underwater, in fact it should work better as the wedges would be saturated.

[RayJ]

thats outrageous, if they need to remove underwater rock hazards then drilling & wooden wedges should suffice, it works in the quarries, no reason it wont work underwater, in fact it should work better as the wedges would be saturated.

 

 

You're lucky they aint building a hotel on the rock

 

A side note....when is this happening..I know it could be a marine nightmare..but it could also be a sight to see

Edited July 29, 2006 by RayJ

[Somerset in Jersey]

You're lucky they aint building a hotel on the rock

 

A side note....when is this happening..I know it could be a marine nightmare..but it could also be a sight to see

 

next week makes me sick!

 

the rest of the story...

 

Assistant Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean said that his department was approached by the Defence Diving School, who wanted carry out a training exercise in Jersey and decided that the two underwater pinnacles were perfect.

 

'There is some advantage in moving these rocks and it won't cost us anything, so it was a win-win situation,' said the Deputy, adding that blasting the rocks would encourage bigger cruise ships to stop in Jersey.

 

During the lowest tide of the year the rocks lie about four metres from sea level 580 metres east-north-east and 800 metres south-east-south from St Aubin's Bay. They jut out from an otherwise flat sandbank and throughout history have made crossing the bay hazardous in rough seas.

 

oh what a shame.....

[Prowler]

They ought to put the explosive to good use instead and use it on some of the Deputy's, oh and not forgetting th Chief Minister.

[darnsarf]

Not like me to be contensious but I think we could be over reacting here. This is the MOD we are talking about not the US Navy. How it will work is "OK chaps here is the volumn of rock we need to move how much explosive will we need?" Lots of thumbing through tables and calculations will ensue and a figure will be agreed. " Ok as this is a trainng exercise you will be only given 2/3 of the total. This will test and hone your skills."

 

So anybody expecting a huge bang will be disapointed. The resident wildlife will clear off during the preparation stages and probably return once their previous tower block has been turned into a pile of boulders. Is'nt that what we call a reef. So in the long term it could be good for wildlife, tourism and our lads can go into a pretty dangerous future combat demolition situation with a bit of previous. Trust me "every little helps".