Sovereign Harbour is the largest, man made, land locked harbour in the United Kingdom. The harbour is served by two access locks within which are four pairs of Sector Gates.
Kenneth Grubb Associates Ltd worked directly with the specialist Gate Contractor to develop the structural, mechanical and electrical design of the Sector Gates, and their associated control and operating systems. The Gates are some of the largest of their type in the country measuring 10 m wide x 11.5 m and 8 m high respectively.
Extreme care was required in designing the Sector Gates as they form part of the flood defences for a large part of Eastbourne. Great care was taken to ensure that the flood defences could be maintained under all foreseeable failure modes.
The Sector Gates can either be controlled directly from a central control and administration building or locally from control stations on the central island.
In addition, two sets of stop logs were designed in order to maintain the sector gates in future periods.
GATE CONTRACTOR: GEC Alsthom Hydropower Ltd
CLIENT: Crumbles Harbour Village Ltd.
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