Project Redsand aims to restore a Maunsell Army Fort
The ambitious volunteer led project to restore one of the WW2 heavy anti-aircraft forts in the Thames Estuary
Project Redsand is an ambitious volunteer project to restore one of the 'Army Forts' in the Thames Estuary. The forts were built to close the gap created by the Thames in the WW2 Anti-Aircraft defences of London. The army forts consisted of 7 towers linked by gangways and they followed the pattern of land based HAA sites.
The towers were built on land, floated out and sunk in position using techniques which had been used in WW 1 for the 'Shoreham Towers' and were later used on a large scale for North Sea oil exploration. The army forts were designed by renowned Civil Engineer Guy Maunsell who also designed 'navy forts' which were further out to sea.
Project Redsand progress includes; an access system for one of the towers, a diving survey to prove the stability of the towers and securing one of the original 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns used on the seaforts.
FSG members will no doubt be keen to see this project succeed. As many members will know, a series of definitive book on the sea forts were written by Frank R. Turner and are long out of print.
