Watchet web cam

[pondfish]

Just been looking at the new Watchet web cam
Great views of the marina pity about the mud
No change there then
Don't look like it will be sorted for this year again

 

[PCUK]

Having been reading the WBOA minutes it looks as though there is a lot going on in the background and that it is now a matter of waiting for the new dredger to be completed and the council to agree to a mechanical dredge to clear the mud down to bedrock. After this the new dredger should be able to cope. So many people want the dredging to succeed!

 

[ribdriver]

The questions is, and always was - who will pay for the harbour to be cleared back to the bedrock....? It won't be cheap.

 

[PCUK]

As the outer harbour is the council's responsibility it needs to start with them.

 

[Sneds]

Fingers crossed for a successful outcome, perhaps the local chamber of trade should lobby the council?

More visiting boats means more pounds spent with local businesses

 

[sarabande]

The original design by Dunball (?) was flawed, and they went against the advice of the local fishermen and their boat group. If you look back on how the harbour was managed, with the stream flowing THROUGH the basin, you can see why the muck settles when the flow is stopped.

And then for years the Environment Agency got 'stremely huffy over plans to pump out muddy slurry on outgoing tides thinking it would damge the local beaches. This was without looking at the millions of tons of suspended mud which rush up and down the Channel twice a day.. Fighting nature instead of working with it.

 

[Birdseye]

I remember it before the marina was built. True there was a stream flowing through but there was also still large banks of mud. I ploughed them often enough.

 

[pondfish]

Spoke to Watchet yesterday they are waiting for a jet wash dredger in feb even the hammerheads are drying out now so I cant see them sorting it out this year,

I don't understand if they got that much mud in there why do they keep using the gate just leave it down.

 

[Birdseye]

I dont think they have the ability to do that. Even if they did, the mud would gradually rise to the level of the cill.

 

[pondfish]

I would have thought the faster the water leaves the marina more mud would go out.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I would have thought the faster the water leaves the marina more mud would go out.

Indeed but the current arrangement needs to augmented by a lifting sluice so more of outflow between top of tide and level when gate is needed, is from the bottom where the mud is. A bit like a version of the Underfall in Bristol Docks but less efficient as no lock gates. Alternatively just pipe the river back where is belongs.

 

[vodzurk]

Have they now turned the webcam inwards?

Can't find a link to the marina one anymore .

 

[Yellow Ballad]

http://www.visit-watchet.co.uk/index.php

It does pan and stop in places though so give it time if it's pointing the other way.

 

[vodzurk]

http://www.visit-watchet.co.uk/index.php

It does pan and stop in places though so give it time if it's pointing the other way.

Ah yes, thank you... it panned as I loaded it up .

Yep... mud still there.

 

[david_bagshaw]

It looks as if the yacht harbor is full of mud to the sill depth. Any afloat berths any more?

 

[bitbaltic]

I would have thought the faster the water leaves the marina more mud would go out.

No, it does not work like that. Mud when settled is hard to erode (because clay clings together electrically). A fast outflow would not touch most of the mud flat that is the marina berthing area, but might scour a relatively deep and narrow trench in front of the gate.

The answer as often stated is:

1. To coffer dam the marina and dig out all the mud to bedrock

2. To ensure that when the gate is closed the water remains sufficiently agitated to prevent significant settling of mud in a still water column. The stream might, or might not, achieve this, depending on the mud load of the seawater and the velocity and turbidity of the stream.

 

[Birdseye]

2. To ensure that when the gate is closed the water remains sufficiently agitated to prevent significant settling of mud in a still water column. The stream might, or might not, achieve this, depending on the mud load of the seawater and the velocity and turbidity of the stream.

It never did so before. It just left the trench you mentioned. But in any case, if the cill is at a level to provide floating depth for the bots then there is that same level of water left in the marina to deposit its silt. If left alone, the bed of the marina would rise to the point where it was level with the top of the cill.

 

[vodzurk]

It never did so before. It just left the trench you mentioned. But in any case, if the cill is at a level to provide floating depth for the bots then there is that same level of water left in the marina to deposit its silt. If left alone, the bed of the marina would rise to the point where it was level with the top of the cill.

So over time, cill height becomes the new ground level?

I wonder how long it would take if a sprinkler system was placed along the walls, the cill removed, and for a few hours at low tide, turn on the sprinklers to flush out the collected mud... then put the cill back up at the start of the season? Would the water / sprinklers be cheaper than machinery?

Possibly even from a tub of collected seawater... sucked from the top, after it's had the mud settled to the bottom per tide?

Ok, I'm barking mad / spouting garbage, I know!

 

[pondfish]

At leased when their small dredger was working some berths had water now the dredging has stopped there are no water berths not even the hammerheads,

The hight of the mud is higher than the cill,
This needs to be sorted out if they want boats back using the marina and spending money in their community.

 

[PCUK]

Does anyone know the cost of a full harbour and marina dredge?