Traffic tailback as first delivery made of massive towheads for Subsea 7 project

Published: 18:45, 03 August 2020

Towhead being moved from Wick harbour up Scalesburn on Monday morning at the start of its journey to Subsea 7's Wester site. Picture: Alan Hendry

TWO massive towhead sections were transported through Wick this morning as part of Subsea 7's latest pipeline bundle project for the oil and gas sector.

The main towhead, known as a Callater, began its journey from Wick harbour to the Wester fabrication site shortly before 10am. It was moved by the heavy lifting and transport company Mammoet, with Subsea 7 staff keeping a careful eye on its progress along the way while members of the public looked on.

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A police officer looks on as the first towhead movement gets under way on Monday morning. Picture: Alan Hendry

It is the first of six towhead structures scheduled to be taken through Wick this week. The plan is to transport two at a time over the course of three days – Monday to Wednesday – depending on weather and the availability of police to provide an escort.

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The large structure is accompanied by various security vehicles and police.

Various roads were closed off and traffic diverted up by Wick airport.

The huge structure on its way out of Wick at 11.20am on Monday morning.

Security vehicles assured that the progress was smooth.

A second smaller section followed know as a Skene towhead.

The smaller Skene towhead section followed behind the main Callater towhead.

The Skene towhead slowly makes its way out to Wester.

The two parts of the structure head along the A99 past Tesco.

A large tailback of around 100 vehicles formed behind the giant structures. Pictures: DGS

The towhead slowly appears from behind trees as it leaves Wick. Pictures: DGS

The Callater towhead was followed by a smaller Skene structure on a large drawbar hydraulic trailer.

Police redirected traffic travelling from the northern part of the A99 to George Street on a temporary diversion through Wick airport industrial estate.

A tailback of around 100 vehicles followed behind the two structures but was eventually able to clear by around 11.30am.

Subsea 7 again thanked local residents for their co-operation in removing vehicles from the route through various streets on the north side of the town, as the structures are so large they require the full width of the road.

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