Hinkley Point C giant water intakes craned onto seabed

Abstract

Engineers have just completed the first precision placement of a 5,000-tonne water intake head on the seabed of the Bristol Channel. The work to install the cooling water intake heads is regarded as one of the world's most complex marine engineering projects - as the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range on the planet. Each intake head, at 44m long and 8m high, is being lifted into position by two floating cranes named "Gulliver" and "Rambiz", working in tandem. The heads have been built by Balfour Beatty in Avonmouth, in Bristol, and are being transported to Hinkley Point C on barges. Hinkley Point C water intakes will be fitted with special fish protection measures, including the low velocity heads, a fish return system, and screens. This helps prevent fish entering the cooling system and the size of the intakes heads slows the flow of water on either side, allowing nearby fish to swim away. The work to install all six heads will continue into the early autumn.