Originally Posted by WE Branch Fanatic
CVF must happen. If not we're all screwed.
why are we? I think the Royal Navy would cope pretty well without any form of Aircraft Carrier. We have done before and we will cope again.
ENVIRONMENTAL experts have been drafted in by naval leaders in Portsmouth to help pave the way for the arrival of the future carriers.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales will be the largest ships ever commissioned by the Royal Navy when they enter service next decade.
More than £60m needs to be spent on infrastructure in Portsmouth Naval Base to accommodate the leviathans which are expected to displace around 65,000 tons apiece.
(HMS Hood displaced 48,000 tons, Vanguard 51,000 tons and Ark Royal IV 53,000 tons fully-loaded.)
Considerable work has already been carried out on surveying a potential route into harbour for the flat-tops – the existing main channel is neither deep enough nor wide enough to allow safe passage.
An estimated four million cubic metres (141,258,667 cubic feet in old money) of material will have to be scooped out of the channel and also in the harbour itself.
That dredging operation demands an Environmental Impact Assessment by a firm of engineering and environmental consultants, Royal Haskoning.
The firm will talk to English Nature, the Environment Agency, English Heritage, the Mary Rose Trust and others to ensure that when the work begins it causes the minimum of disruption to marine life in the Solent and environs.
As part of the study, scientific tests will be carried out, as well as archeological investigations, surveys of seabed sediment and analysis of fish and marine ecology.
Complex hydrodynamic models will also be created to see what impact the dredging might have on the flow of water. The final survey will be made available for public consultation once completed.
Apart from dredging, major work is needed to upgrade the berths and jetties in the dockyard
to ensure that when the work begins it causes the minimum of disruption to marine life in the Solent ... How on Earth can dredging 141,258,667 Cubes of glug cause "minimum disruption to the environment" ?
Or, you can bin the whole stupid, wasteful idea and spend the money on preserving the infrastructure around Pompey, spend some money on maintaining the historic buildings, spend the money on the environment....but don't waste money on this folly.
141,258,667 cubic feet of sludge is going to have to be shifted...whats that going to do for the environment? Where are they going to put it? Hey, maybe they could plonk it in the Solent and extend the IOW onto the mainland...cool