Alderney is planning to spend an extra £1.28m on redeveloping its commercial quay.
Filling a hole the size of a double garage in the upper berth west wall is going to cost £950,000, while £250,000 is needed to bring the quay's fire fighting system up to standard. An extra £80,000 is required to install a new oil transfer pipeline.
The total cost of the project, which began in May 2008, will exceed £12m if, as expected, States members back the plans at their December 16 meeting. Treasury & Resources in Guernsey will also be required to ratify the extra spend.
The original budget of £9.5m comprised of £6m from Guernsey States and £3.5m from Alderney's cash reserves. Alderney agreed to fund any overspends from its e-gambling receipts - a decision which means the island is likely to end up spending more on the redevelopment than Guernsey.
General Services Committee chairman Bill Walden said marine consultants Beckett Rankine earmarked just £20,000 for minor repairs to the upper berth west wall at the project's outset.
Writing in December's Billet, Mr Walden said: "While airlifting silt in order to lay concrete foundations on bedrock for the new concrete block and anchor walls of the lower berth, a hole was uncovered at the base of the wall at the junction of the upper and lower berth.
"As core fill from within the quay was being sucked out by the airlift process, operations were stopped, the wall shuttered and grout pumped through drill holes into the cavity behind the wall. The cavity was approximately the size of a double garage.
"Resulting concern about the stability of the upper berth west wall and the potential impact on the lower berth project led to the commission of a thorough dive and laser survey by Halcrow in July 2009.
"In summary, Halcrow compared their dive survey data with that of Inta-Sea [1982 survey] where the main problem had been bagwork rotting away over time (18 of the 27 holes reported). Some had been plugged in the interim period as has that at the upper/lower berth junction. Halcrow also located additional defects."
Mr Walden said the fire fighting system was essential in order for the island to receive heating and fuel oils. As for the oil transfer facility, Mr Walden said serious corrosion of the pipeline was noted during the early stages of the quay's redevelopment. He went on to say the cost of the pipeline will be recovered through an increase in the oil landing fee.
Alderney's Gambling Control Commission and receipts from house sales will fund the remaining extra work.
The Guernsey Bereavement Service has made three visits to Alderney over the past few months and would like to continue to help you. We are visiting the island again on
Tuesday, 23rd February 2024 and would invite anyone who feels they would like Bereavement Counselling to telephone the Bereavement Service Office on 257778 to make a time to meet one of our counsellors.