Piling 80ft into Portsmouth Harbour mud for new transport hub

The Hard is hugely important to Portsmouth as a transport interchange. It is a site where bus, train and boat services come together and for many people it is the first thing they see when arriving in the city.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Jul 2016, 06:00 BST

Horse-drawn cabs awaiting customers on The Hard in the 19th century

Work began last autumn to make the interchange more efficient and attractive and improve the surrounding road layout. It is expected to take a year to complete.

The project could cost about £7m.

The work going on there prompted Alan Crockford to send me the brochure he was given when he attended the opening of the interchange on May 18, 1979.

Some of the 450 concrete piles driven into the harbour for The Hard Interchange

All today’s pictures come from that booklet which explains that the one-acre site was largely built on reclaimed mudflats.

More than 450 pre-cast concrete piles were driven into the clay beds in the harbour to a depth of between 50ft and 80ft so the new transport hub could be built.