This morning at approximately 9.30am, the first section of the surf reef was laid on Boscombe seabed. Journalists and film crews recorded this landmark moment as the webbing base and geo-bags slowly rolled off a barge and entered the water.

The first reef section was transported on a barge from Poole to the sea-based construction site at Boscombe.

The eastern-end of the reef was attached to 5-tonne anchors on the seabed by a team of expert divers. The barge was then slowly winched along the reef site, allowing the section to gradually unfold and peel off into the water. Winches then pulled down the reef onto the seabed and secured it in place.

The reef is now ready for filling. Each of the 16 bags on reef section 1 will be filled one at a time. This takes between 1-4 hours each, depending on the size. Once this has been completed, section 2 (already built on-land) will then be deployed and filled and so on, until the fifth section is deployed and filled.

Courtesy of www.thesurfreef.co.uk

A peek under the computer-generated sea reveals how Europe’s first artificial surf reef will be constructed.

The geo-textile bags and webbing base for the Boscombe reef are on their way from Australia and New Zealand and are expected to arrive in the UK at the end of June.

Construction on the reef can then start in the middle of July, with a completion date of the end of October.

For more information, read today’s article in the Bournemouth Echo

Article Reproduced with Permission.