A combination of rock-climbing skills and a spider crane is being used torepair a decades-old timber pier.
The work at Sharpness Dock inGloucestershire is a race against time and tides as the River Severn has thesecond largest tidal range in the world.
The 689ft (210m) long pier dates backto 1874, when the dock was opened, and some of its massive 36ft (11m) tallwooden legs are original.
As a gateway from the River Severn to the Gloucesterand Sharpness Canal, the pier is exposed to huge tidal pressures, and mainlysubmerged, so a regular programme of repairs ensures it is kept in topcondition.
This year, engineers from the waterways charity Canal & River Trustare using a spider crane to bring in massive greenheart oak planks which willbe fixed in place by a team lowered down on ropes suspended over the muddyriverbed.
Sharpness is one of the most inland ports in Britain and each monththe dock welcomes up to 250 ships bringing in supplies from mainland Europe.