Hinkley Point C has released video and images of its latest spectacular engineering achievement – the precision placement of a 5,000-tonne intake head on the seabed of the Bristol Channel — the work to install the system is regarded as one of the world’s most complex marine engineering projects as the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range on the planet.

The structure is the second of four “intake” heads being connected to five miles of tunnels, which will supply Hinkley Point C’s two nuclear reactors with cooling water. The two ‘outfall’ heads have already been lowered into position.

Each intake head, at 44m long x 8m high, is being lifted into position by two floating cranes named “Gulliver” and “Rambiz”, working in tandem. Their platforms are the size of football pitches and have a combined lifting capacity of 7,300 tonnes.

The heads have been built by Balfour Beatty in Avonmouth, Bristol, and are being transported to Hinkley Point C on barges. The lifting at sea, carried out by the marine construction specialists, NewWaves Solutions, takes several days, due to each step taking place within 6hr tidal windows.

Hinkley Point C is the first power station in the South West to have fish protection measures in place, including the low velocity heads, a fish return system, and screens. The heads are accurately placed sideways to the tidal flow with a very high degree of precision. This helps prevent fish entering the cooling system and the size of the intake heads slows the flow of water on either side, allowing nearby fish to swim away.  

The work to install all six heads will continue into the early autumn.