Plans to revitalise a fabrication yard where part of the Skye Bridge was built have been given a £500,000 boost.

The Kishorn Yard was once one of the largest dry docks in Europe and employed about 3000 people at its peak.

The yard has lain dormant since 1993 but Kishorn Port Ltd now intends to bring it back into use for decommissioning.

The company plans to spend £500,000 testing whether or not the dry dock’s gates still work after being shut for 23 years.

Director Simon Russell said: “The dry dock at Kishorn is one of the largest in western Europe at 160m in diameter with 13m of draft, allowing it to accommodate some of the largest floating structures that have been fabricated for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

“The Ninian Central production platform – which at 610,000 tonnes is one of the largest concrete structures ever to have moved across the face of the Earth – was constructed there in the late 1970s.”

The caissons for the Skye Bridge were the last project to be completed at Kishorn in 1993.

Oil and Gas UK believes North Sea decommissioning will be worth more than £17bn over the next decade.

More than 100 platforms are expected to be scrapped by 2026, around 1800 wells plugged and 4600 miles of pipeline removed.

Plans are also in place to convert the former McDermott fabrication yard in Ardersier for decommissioning work.

Source: www.reuters.com