Wind and wave loading on the Skerryvore lighthouse

Assessing wind and wave loading on Skerryvore lighthouse to gather data that supports lighthouse preservation
Skerryvore lighthouse

Wind and wave loading on the Skerryvore lighthouse

Assessing wind and wave loading on Skerryvore lighthouse to gather data that supports lighthouse preservation
FSDL Ltd
Title: Wind and wave loading on the Skerryvore lighthouse
Funded by: Northern Lighthouse Board and EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account
Funding amount: £88,000
Location: Skerryvore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Dates: 1 September 2024 – 28 February 2025
Project partners: TU Delft
University of Plymouth PI: Professor Alison Raby 
University of Plymouth staff: Mr Furkan Demir, Mr Gunay Gazaloglu
 
Historic rock-mounted lighthouses remain essential for safe navigation, yet their resilience is threatened by increasing wave loading under climate change. As the Northern Lighthouse Board moves to decarbonise its Pillar Rock Stations by replacing diesel generators with solar powered systems, concerns arise about how new external structures may alter wind and wave forces on these exposed towers. 
Building on the EPSRC funded STORMLAMP project, the University of Plymouth assessed wind and wave loading on Skerryvore lighthouse, working with AECOM, UCL and FSDL Ltd to provide validated data that supports structural analysis and ensures lighthouse heritage assets remain safe and operational.

Objectives

  • Obtain wind and wave data for the location close to the Isle of Tiree, in close proximity to Skerryvore lighthouse
  • Determine worst case values 
  • Modify the computational fluid dynamics models developed in earlier projects 
  • Propose full aero- and hydrodynamic loads for the lighthouse 

Context of the issue 

A commitment to the UK's net zero targets is encouraging the decarbonisation of rock lighthouses, but technologies to replace diesel generators must withstand harsh climates of wind and wave loading. 

How the project addresses the issue

Numerical modelling of extreme wave interactions and small-scale wind loading (conducted in our Energy and Sustainability Laboratory) provided loading information on which AECOM can base designs.
Sub-sonic wind tunnel, Energy and Sustainability Laboratory, Babbage Building

Centre for Coastal and Ocean Processes and Engineering (C-COPE)

C-COPE brings together strength areas from across the University's Faculty of Science and Engineering with a research focus on the physical and chemical processes in coastal, ocean and marine environments, and their human impacts.
The Centre's sphere of interest stretches from the head of tidal estuaries to the bottom of the ocean, and includes the disciplines of physical oceanography, marine biogeochemistry, coastal engineering and marine geology.
 
Tuvalu Tepuka atoll