St Mary’s Lighthouse

Project duration: Ongoing

Project value: £250k

Client: North Tyneside Council

 

St Mary’s Lighthouse was built in 1898 and became operational in 1899. Its construction was essential to assist navigation along the rugged coastline, which was hazardous for ships. lighthouse tower stands 38 meters tall, allowing it to be seen from a great distance by ships navigating the North Sea. The beacon served as a guide for vessels to safely navigate away from the treacherous coastline and into the safety of the River Tyne. By the early 1980s, advances in navigation technology made many coastal lighthouses redundant, and St. Mary’s Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1984. After its decommissioning, it was preserved as a heritage site and transformed into a visitor attraction, complete with a small museum and a café.

Starting in June of 2024 we have provided scaffolding works to St Mary’s Lighthouse and outbuildings, enabling blasting and repainting works to take place as part of North Tyneside Council’s (NTC) current refurbishment project.

To prepare the site a number of tasks were required, including the creation of a site compound both on the island and the mainland (addressing storage and logistical constraints), protective works to items of historical significance, installation of sound barriers to safeguard wildlife and track matting to protect burial sites when utilising forklifts on the island.

Due to the island acting as a natural habitat for seals, the works were approved on the understanding the entire project was to be completed by 16th of September, avoiding disruption to the mating season. As such, to expedite works, we prioritised the construction of scaffold to the outbuildings, which was completed in six days and shrink-wrapped within two, allowing other contractors (e.g. NTCS painting contractors Trident) to begin works whilst the lighthouse structure was installed.

Our team then began constructing the 18-lift lighthouse structure which was a fully designed, freestanding structure, featuring a roof that was canter levered from the 12th lift. The construction was completed in 16 days and shrink-wrapped within one week, nine days ahead of schedule.