D-day era floating roadway saved by preservation work

Part of a historic floating World War Two roadway of the type used during the D-Day landings has been saved from further deterioration and is set to go on display.

Mulberry Harbours, as they were known, were built in the UK and used overseas to help transfer Allied troops and equipment as they began the liberation of France.

Associated British Ports (ABP) used cranes to lift the flexible roadway section of the Mulberry Harbour, known as a whale, from Town Quay in Southampton last year after it had spent decades partially submerged.

It will later be placed at the Solent Gateway site in Marchwood, where it is believed to have been built, along with information boards explaining its history.

The whale will be displayed as a "passing monument" outside of the Solent Gateway site, visible to anyone passing by on the public road, but ABP have urged against attempting to stop, park or gather at the site entrance due to heavy freight traffic and a lack of public pedestrian facilities.

After serving as a loading ramp for Isle of Wight Ferries until the 1960s, the relic spent decades partly submerged, becoming a familiar sight for passengers crossing to the island.

It is one of only two known surviving examples in England that are not submerged, the other being at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

Richard Parkinson, port director at ABP for Solent Gateway, said this particular 28-tonne whale was not thought to have been used during the D-Day landings, but instead was kept as a reserve.

"The Allies couldn't use the ports in northern France, and so they had to have some way of landing the thousands of people and vehicles," he said.

"The whales were essentially the bridge spans that joined the floating harbour to the shore."

Now preserved, it will soon be placed at the Solent Gateway site as a "gate guardian".

"It's absolutely right that we have it here, at a port that was used to support D-Day and is currently the home of the British Army's port operators," Parkinson said.

Joe Lester, project engineer at ABP for the preservation works, said it was first brought to Marchwood for preservation by a specialised 18-wheel trailer.

"I apologise to anyone who was on the A35 that day," he joked.

"We've managed to scrape away all of the old marine growth and shot-blasted off the lead paint."

Anti-corrosive marine paint was then added to prevent it from deteriorating further.

The whale was slightly warped and twisted, and the original bottom deck plates - which vehicles would drive upon - had to be removed due to their rusted condition.

"The rest of the structure is in a really good condition," he said, adding that he was surprised by how much was able to be saved.

"We thought we would have to do a lot of remediation works to make sure it was safe," he said.

"But it's an incredibly well-designed structure."