The UK Royal Navy’s explosives handling jetty (EHJ) is undergoing a major refurbishment at the navy’s strategic weapon facility (SWF) in Coulport, Scotland, UK.
The EHJ is designed to allow the loading and unloading of tactical and strategic weapons to the Vanguard Class ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) submarines.
The refit work of EHJ is being supervised by Defence Estates (DE) and carried out by its regional prime contractor for Scotland, Turner Estate Solutions.
During the refurbishment, the 125t and 35t cranes inside the jetty will be overhauled and installed with new control systems.
Turner Estate Solutions will work on the refurbishment of one crane at a time to ensure that the facility remains available to support the fleet as necessary.
Renovation work on the jetty is part of the EHJ continuous availability project (CAP), which is designed to refresh the current facilities while keeping the jetty operational in support of the Trident nuclear programme.
DE team leader John McGuigan said the facility was originally intended to have a major refit, which would have meant taking it out of service completely for up to 18 months.
“The increasing demands of the Trident programme meant that was not an option,” he said.
Work is expected to be complete within three years.
