Ardbeg Distillery Sea Wall Anchors

The Project

During the ferocious Storm Éowyn on January 24th 2025, the roof and sea wall at the Ardbeg Distillery on the island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides were seriously damaged. Plans for the reinstatement and repairs to the pier and sea walls were approved by Argyll and Bute Council in April 2026. The remaining sea wall was to be removed and replaced with a resilient concrete structure to permanently safeguard the future of the historic site; Bell Access and Engineering Ltd were tasked with mobilising ASAP to complete anchor drilling works as part of this project.

The Ardbeg Distillery is world renowned for producing a smokey, peated single malt whisky. The remote location of this site provided us with many logistical challenges. As well as the location, much of the concrete base had already been poured, meaning that the drilling locations could not be reached by heavy machinery.

Our Method

Working with Waitings Ltd of Penrith, our drill rigs and compressors, as well as a 9 tonne long reach excavator were transported to site on a hiab truck and drag. In order to ensure that the works remained on schedule in this difficult to reach location, a full range of drilling equipment and spares were transported to site in order to account for every eventuality. The long reach excavator was able to position our Ripamonti Speedy pneumatic drill mast by spanning over the still-curing concrete. We also used our man-portable alloy drilling frames to access the locations that the long reach could not.

Works Undertaken

• Over 100 anchors were installed vertically into the bedrock at 0.5m and 1m centres
• Overlying concrete was diamond core drilled to avoid damaging it using percussive drilling
• GB30 stainless bar installed with Minova Locset resin – hole depths up to 3m
• Anchors load-tested as per the design

The Outcome

By rapid mobilisation, and planning for every eventuality, Bell Access were able to help their client remain on schedule. Our operatives were praised for their professionalism, and the use of a single hiab to transport all of the materials and equipment to site helped reduce both the cost, and the environmental impact of the works.