tarboat's photos with the keyword: estuary

Boluda Towage Liverpool Ltd tug V B Sandon attends the platform vessel Irish Sea Pioneer off Seaforth in the Mersey. The Irish Sea Pioneers was returning to Langton Dock in Liverpool after duties servicing the gas platforms in Liverpool Bay.

A train from Gunnislake to Plymouth is seen crossing the Calstock viaduct which links the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The viaduct is 120 feet (37 m) high with twelve 60 feet (18 m) wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of 110 feet (34 m). It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and WR Galbraith. Originally there was a steam powered lift on the Calstock end of the viaduct, which lowered wagons to the quayside some 113 feet (34 m) below. The lift was abandoned in September 1934 and subsequently dismantled.

Stanlow oil refinery seen over the Castner Kellner chemical works at Runcorn. The Mersey estuary intervenes between the two areas of chemical production.

A train from Gunnislake to Plymouth is seen crossing the Calstock viaduct whilst the local ferryboat sits on the mud at low tide. The viaduct is 120 feet (37 m) high with twelve 60 feet (18 m) wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of 110 feet (34 m). It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and WR Galbraith. Originally there was a steam powered lift on the Calstock end of the viaduct, which lowered wagons to the quayside some 113 feet (34 m) below. The lift was abandoned in September 1934 and subsequently dismantled.

The double-leaf Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge over the tidal Dee at Queensferry was opened in 1926 to replace the 1897 Victoria Jubilee Bridge which incorporated a retractable timber structure. The new bridge was designed by Mott Hay and Anderson, and built by Sir William Arrol and Co. Ltd, for £83,051. The lifting spans, totalling 134ft are now fixed in place and the barges carrying Airbus wings have to arrive at a low enough state of the tide to allow headroom for them to pass.

The stone built jetty at Glin on the Shannon estuary still provides a sheltered berth, but the iron pier extension has seen better days. Only the framework remains, slowly rusting away and will one day crumble into the sea.

When viewed from the hill behind the Castner Kellner chemical works in Runcorn it is hard to believe that Hale lighthouse overlooks a vast range of chemical factories and an oil refinery.

Another view from the Runcorn Hill trip as the sun sets behind the chemical industries and reflected off the waters of the Mersey estuary.