£4m bill to repair walls at Weymouth's ferry terminal

10:13am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in Latest By Martin Lea

WORK IN PROGRESS: Weymouth Lifeboat passes the repair area of Weymouth ferry terminal WORK IN PROGRESS: Weymouth Lifeboat passes the repair area of Weymouth ferry terminal

THE cost of repairing Weymouth’s crumbling ha-rbour walls has almost doubled to nearly £4million.

Council chiefs are facing a race against time to fix the quay so Condor Ferries can restart its cross Channel sailings next spring.

But the bill for the work, originally estimated at £2million, has shot up to £3.92million because the damage is worse than first thought.

It comes after bids were invited from companies to tender for the work, a major project during the winter to a tight timescale.

The condition of the 80-year-old quay has led to a ‘more significant engineering solution than first envisaged’, says Weymouth and Portland Borough Council .

A 60-metre length of berth where fast ferries dock will be demolished and a new quay built in its place.

Money put into a harbour walls fund will help to pay for repairs but the majority will have to be borrowed.

Condor, which was Weymouth harbour’s biggest customer and pumped millions into the economy, switched its sailings to Poole in February after concerns were raised about the harbour wall. Movement of the structure was observed and cracks started to appear.

Damage has been caused over years by tides and the water-jet system used for manoeuvring fast ferries, which has sucked filling material from the structure of the quay.

Acknowledging how important the ferry link is to the town, councillors ordered repair works to be carried out so the berth could be ready for the summer sailing schedule in March, 2013.

Engineering consultants Atkins were appointed and started conducting studies before emergency advanced work was done to stop the wall collapsing.

This work, costing £242,000, was completed before the Olympics .

A report to the council’s Management Committee next Tuesday outlines the next step, saying that a contract must be awarded to one of three companies invited to tender for the main works ‘without delay’.

A works programme of 24 weeks has been suggested and the report also seeks approval for the increased figure of £3.92million.

The report, written by council engineer Ben Murray, says: “The condition of the quay, ascertained through investigations during the design phase, has led to a more significant engineering solution being required than first envisaged.

“The condition of (the existing structure) is such that a simple repair and reuse would carry excessive risk.

“The design solution proposed is comprehensive and will provide a modern, fit-for-purpose quay with a minimum design life of some 40 years.”

The initial estimated cost for the main works due to take place was £1.75million but this has now risen to £3.3million.

“The total bill is anticipated to be £3.92million which also includes design fees, the emergency work before the summer, risk allowance and contract supervision.

Mr Murray said discussions with Condor continue and have been ‘very positive.’ He said the firm wanted to return but was concerned with the ‘poor facilities’ at the port.

Poole Harbour Commissioners are keen to keep Condor in the port and are aiming to hold talks over the future of the service.

Condor has reiterated its desire to move back to Weymouth but said it did not want to comment on the latest developments.

Comments(23)

ManOnTheSilverMountain says...
10:37am Wed 26 Sep 12

Any update on if it was actually Condor's bow thrusters that actually caused the damage?

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Dorset Guy says...
10:43am Wed 26 Sep 12

ManOnTheSilverMounta
in wrote:
Any update on if it was actually Condor's bow thrusters that actually caused the damage?
Soon find out if the same thing happens at Poole
Best solution is to fix it and sell it off ASAP so the council dont have to be involved any more

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Baxters says...
11:16am Wed 26 Sep 12

O what a surprise. The levels of incompetence displayed by this council are staggering...They knew the harbour needed work but decided to spend the money elsewhere, they missed out on all that extra revenue Condor could and should have brought during the olympics, and now they're surprised that the repair bill is more than expected! Well I can tell you you bunch of incompetents, your false economy is costing Weymouth a hell of a lot more than 4 mill and the sooner you stop grinning inanely at the cameras and resign the better..

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Presstostop says...
11:47am Wed 26 Sep 12

Weymouth and Portland Council is just not fit for purpose. Its costing the people of The Borough too much.

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Simon 1965 says...
12:49pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Oh well, at least the tender process has been completed. Once this addtitional spend is rubber stamped (and they have no choice on this, they wil be lynched otherwise), the contract period of 24 weeks should be sufficient to deliver the project by March 2013 as planned.

Simon N.

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Simon 1965 says...
12:49pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Oh well, at least the tender process has been completed. Once this addtitional spend is rubber stamped (and they have no choice on this, they wil be lynched otherwise), the contract period of 24 weeks should be sufficient to deliver the project by March 2013 as planned.

Simon N.

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radiator says...
1:17pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Its no surprise that the cost will be nearly doubled from the original estimate, they didnt honestly expect work of this nature to be two million did they?The repair to the harbour wall looks like a quite straight forward civil engineering exercise to an experienced company,I just hope the likes of Ackerman and co dont get involved otherwise the job will take twice as long.

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billy badger says...
3:48pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Is there any risk that Condor will not return when the work is completed ? They keep sticking comments in about poor facilities,are they hedging their bets with Poole ? Surely they could make a commitment now to come back to Weymouth.

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bollywood says...
4:03pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Perhaps prior to Condor returning the council will reinstate the right turn at the top of King Street onto the esplande to stop cars having to over to St Johns Church to turn round. Fill in the underpass and put a roundabout in. I wonder why the council is always suprised that the price on anything doubles when they are involved, could it be that the rose coloured specs are now a pair of very dark glasses.

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portland rebel says...
7:47pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Presstostop wrote:
Weymouth and Portland Council is just not fit for purpose. Its costing the people of The Borough too much.
but dont you know they know so much better than us plebs.

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Simon Nicholas says...
8:12pm Wed 26 Sep 12

In answer to Billy Badger, Condor`s business model needs two fast cat ports to be viable - they moved everything to Poole once before (in 1997) and the figures and passenger numbers just did not add up. Weymouth was therefore served once again from 1998 and they have been a constant here ever since. They have, to be credit, during this sorry saga, pledged their future to Weymouth time and time again. The repairs to the harbour include new facilities, something they have been after for years, so as long as the repairs are completed on time, the future looks rosy.
If they drag on however Condor may well consider operating fast cats from Portsmouth (where they already operate a conventional ferry) instead - as stated above, they cannot survive on Poole alone.

Simon N.

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steve37 says...
8:18pm Wed 26 Sep 12

They want to get the company that are going to build the new Academy at Southwell (if it goes ahead)there doing the whole lot for 7 million!!! Really

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lostnfound says...
9:07pm Wed 26 Sep 12

steve37
I thought that the Academy building at Southwell was already there, just needs a lick of paint n some damp-proofing and it is all ready for the poor souls who will be dumped there and who will be easily accessible to any Tom, Dick or Harry who visits the Southwell industrial site.

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snowleopard says...
10:34pm Wed 26 Sep 12

Surely it would be cheaper to move Condor to Portland Port

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bnaty12 says...
10:45pm Wed 26 Sep 12

First rule of the civil service, get nothing right. Seriously how can you be 100% wrong on an estimate? Any time someone is this incompetent they should be named and shamed in the Paper.

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bnaty12 says...
10:46pm Wed 26 Sep 12

First rule of the civil service, get nothing right. Seriously how can you be 100% wrong on an estimate? Any time someone is this incompetent they should be named and shamed in the Paper.

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Phaedrus says...
7:02am Thu 27 Sep 12

I should like to know when concerns were first raised about the condition of this quay and what the council officials did about it. It is the lack of action until the quay actually became dangerous that is the real scandal, and for which in a commercial organisation the person responsible could expect serious damage to their prospects if they were lucky enough to keep their job.

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bnaty12 says...
11:32am Thu 27 Sep 12

Funny thing is people are winning free tickets from the Echo for the condor ferry!! As nice as that is, the cost of going down to Pool now, parking, aggravation etc make it not worth it :-(

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ex sapper says...
12:21pm Thu 27 Sep 12

One advantage that Weymouth has over Poole is that they can get into high speed mode quickly,whereas at Poole they have clear the chain ferry before they can and that is quite a time lag.
As we know time costs money

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bootedsw says...
7:51pm Thu 27 Sep 12

why wasn't this work started over the summer, they are now going to fixing in the winter storms.
istr in Feb the ferry company said that they were going to use weymouth more this year with the afternoon crossing being worked out of weymouth. So there is a business case for them to return. I would imagine the the thought of using portland port was ignored due to the games.

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EtaoinShrdlu says...
4:56am Fri 28 Sep 12

Ahh . . . cost doubles, out come the brown envelopes, the old mates network, the freemasons . . . soon get rid of that 4 million. Don't panic chaps, just pay up when the nice man from the council send the bill. We don't want troublemakers or commies in Weymuff so lie back and think of England. What's the next debacle? Keep putting money in that piggybank, you'll need it.

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Desk24 says...
7:45am Sat 29 Sep 12

This should be a priority for central government funding. Infrastructure projects are needed in the U.K. , With economic problems in the E.U. an expansion of holiday destinations could boost the passenger volume. Spain by boat looks obvious.

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marabout says...
7:10am Tue 2 Oct 12

snowleopard wrote:
Surely it would be cheaper to move Condor to Portland Port
Sadly, Portland Port is too expensive.

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