Brief

Writtle University College contacted RA Marine Ltd back in 2020 when they were looking to undertake a project to improve entry to and from their reservoir water for wild swimming, paddle boarding and kayaking.  Initially this would be to support the outdoor Further Education and Higher Education curriculum.  However, they also wanted allow for the option to open to the public at weekends and over the summer when students would not be using it, should they decided they wanted to in the future.

Solution

The solution came in the form of three constructions - a 10 metre jetty, a floating island and a 5 metre ramp.   All designed, constructed and installed by the RA Marine Ltd team.

The 10 meter, aluminium framed jetty would allow for access to the reservoir for paddle boarding and kayaking, whilst also providing access, at a sensible water depth, for diving.  The jetty was decked with GRP grid to provide a clean, non-slip entry to the lake.

The 5 metre ramp, again decked in GRP grid, was installed to aid swimmers with exiting the lake easily, post swim.

A floating island, in the form of a pontoon was installed to be part of the planned swimming course and also provide a rest island, should it be needed by wild swimmers.  The floating pontoon also had a ladder installed to enable swimmers to get on and off of the floating island safely.

A final addition was a row of marker buoys to keep swimmers and other reservoir users away from a bird nesting/breeding area.

Challenges

Although there were a number of different elements making up this project, it was relatively straightforward for the RA Marine team.  It was also a trip down memory lane for Chris as he was a student of Writtle University College some years ago! 

The reservoir was constructed by excavating sand and gravel deposits and had been lined with compacted clay.  Extra care was therefore needed to not damage the compacted clay lining, something that the RA Marine team had come across before and were able to manage.

The biggest challenge for this project was for the client, due to timescales.  The planning process took a long time, partly due to the work being part of a wider project, which meant the planning application was fairly lengthy.    Writtle contacted us back in December 2020 and we were delighted to complete the project for them, after they had secured all of their permissions, in February 2023