The original design remit for the JST Services integrated floating pier system – was to meet one of the major challenges facing forestry owners, harvesting companies and investors involved in realising timber assets in some of the UK’s more remote woodland properties.
JST’s floating piers are patented and uniquely engineered assets of self assembling marine equipment that provide a key interface between shoreline and a suitable depth of water, to facilitate a stable ‘constant freeboard’ height and secure floating platform.
They are designed to move resources in and out of remote locations facilitating vessels of up to 3000 tonne capacity to berth alongside and load or Discharge specific resources such as timber and aggregates.
When paired with low ground pressure haulage to feed the pier, the system provides a minimal operational / environmental footprint and an overall low impact solution to the transfer in or out of
materials and equipment.
The original design remit for JST’s Integrated Floating Pier System was to meet one of the major challenges facing forestry owners – that of efficiently realising timber assets in some of the UK’s more remote woodland properties.
This geographical constraint presents a viability challenge to forest owners with excessive supply chain costs to get timber to the market, and practical/ecological blockages due to the poor road network. Moving timber and other resources by water can help address these challenges and is consistent with the key strategy elements of the Scottish Executive Freight Action Plan, Scotland’s National Transport Strategy, and the Scottish Forestry Strategy.
JST operates three Floating Pier systems and estimate its pier operations help to reduce emissions of CO2 produced as a result of timber transportation from Scotland by around 2,574 metric tonnes annually, saving 1.75 million HGV road miles per annum.
Ardcastle
Created in 2017 with support from the Strategic Timber Transport Scheme, JST Floating Piers Ltd delivered a purpose-built timber storage and ship loading facility has been created on at Ardcastle on Loch Fyne in Argyll. In addition to the floating pier, the site incorporates forest road upgrades and creation of a 7,000 tonne round timber storage area. JST’s pier site also generates its own on power from wind and solar installations.
Glen Etive
This site was set-up in 2023 in partnership with Scottish Woodlands to extract timber from the northernmost part of Loch Etive. Road access from these woodlands is virtually impossible given the single-track carriageway and high levels of tourist activity on the route.
Ships loading at the Glen Etive Pier head south down to Loch, exiting under the Connel Bridge before steaming to local mills in Scotland and north-west England.
Drimnin and Gorteneorn
Established in 2021 via the creation of JST’s third Floating Pier. These operations are unique for JST – the pier alternates between two sites, Drimnin on the Morvern Peninsula, and Gorteneorn at Ardnamurchan; and both sites are relatively exposed so operations can only be undertaken during the summer months.
Photographs
