No we're not having a concert, but hopefully the birds will make a bit of a song about the work when it is finished. The Titchwell Marsh Coastal Change Project has been on the go for 32 days, and things are moving fast.
The latest monster machine on site is the piling rig. This is no ordinary rig, it is installing 'band drains'. Theses are like flat pack straws that will draw the water away from the wall as we begin to pile the clay on top of the foundations.
Usually as you place a bank of 'mud' on the ground the weight forces water up from underneath and usually this would undermine the bank. The band drains we are installing will draw this water up into the carr stone layer where it will soak away into the lagoons.
Despite all the high tech machinery there are still some basic tools on the job. Note the garden shears in the guys hand as he cuts the textile band drain. The blue spots on the ground mark the location of the drains.
The machine drives a metal post about 10m into the ground and then pulls out the post leaving the band drain in place. In the next five days this machine will install approximately 3000 drains.
This means we can construct the wall in three months and more importantly means we can build the new Parrinder hide next November. Without the band drains we may have had to wait longer before we built the new hide on the bank. So it really is 'band aid'
Good to find Titchwell on the community site - visited in 2008 and will be interested to be able to follow the development there.
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!