Hi, I’m Garry Brimecome and I’m DIO’s Project Manager for the dredge at Portsmouth. I work with Philip Wise, the Principal Project Manager for the infrastructure we’re providing at Portsmouth to prepare the Naval Base for the arrival of the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers. In total, the infrastructure work at Portsmouth for the carriers is an investment of more than £100m.
If you’ve read Philip’s previous blogs, you’ll know about the dredge but it’s an appropriate time to explain a little more, because the project is now finished.
![HMS Queen Elizabeth under anchor awaiting low tide before departing. [Crown Copyright/MOD2017]](https://insideDIO.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/07/DES-2017-0189-0325-1.jpg)
Dredging Facts
The contract was awarded in June 2015 with work commencing that November. The contractors, Boskalis Westminster Ltd, used numerous specialist ships to complete the work, including a survey vessel, trailer suction hopper dredgers, and crane barges among others. Between them, these vessels removed 3,200,000 m3 of material from the sea bed to deepen the channel.
![An infographic of some key facts on the infrastructure work. [Crown Copyright/MOD2017]](https://insideDIO.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/07/Portsmouth-Jetty-01.jpg)
[Crown Copyright/MOD2017]
We took the environmental requirements of the project very seriously. The marine licence sets out stringent requirements which take into account the local marine and coastal environment. We had to relocate local oyster growers and avoid restrictions on bird reserves. All this important work had to be done without impacting on the existing operations at HMNB Portsmouth.
Archaeology of the Sea Bed
It wasn’t just sand, gravel and so on that the dredging uncovered. Nearly 21,000 individual items were recovered and catalogued. There were numerous finds of bottles, plates and other ceramics, as well as pieces of shoes which likely belonged to a sailor.
The dredge also uncovered various pieces of ordnance, ranging from bullets and cannonballs to a British torpedo, a German sea mine and five large bombs, evidence of Portsmouth’s naval history and how intensively it was targeted during the Second World War. The dredging team worked with the Royal Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel to destroy or otherwise render safe these items.
![Some of the items discovered during dredge work at Portsmouth. [Crown Copyright/MOD2017]](https://insideDIO.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/07/Portsmouth-dredge-archaeology.jpg)
![Some of the items discovered during dredge work at Portsmouth. [Crown Copyright/MOD2017]](https://insideDIO.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2017/07/Portsmouth-dredge-archaeology-2.jpg)
3 comments
Comment by Cdr Peter Bruce posted on
What provenance is believed of the human skull found in the Portsmouth harbour dredge? Could it have been the head of Lt Cdr Lionel Crabb who dived on the Russian cruiser in Portsmouth in April 1956 and who was not seen alive afterwards and whose headless body was found in Chichester harbour a year later?
Comment by DIO Communications Team posted on
Interesting idea! It was handed to local police so perhaps they considered that possibility.
Comment by Peter Bruce posted on
I have been trying to get a response out of the police via the internet but nothing so far ....