Pontoon Exercise – Blessington Lakes – 7th September 2013

12 September 2013

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Wednesday, 19 November 2014 .Home > News > Pontoon Exercise – Blessington Lakes – 7th September 2013

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Pontoon Exercise – Blessington Lakes – 7th September 2013

8 Counties took part in a Pontoon event on the Blessington Lakes last Saturday. The teams from all around the country were briefed on their tasks by Commander Peter Cox in the Phoenix Training Centre prior to departure. Each team had to build a floating walkway using all 32 cubes in their set against the clock. The second task was to construct a jetty using the same cubes and again timed. All teams performed well and gained valuable experience. The final task was a combined task for all 8 teams to construct and floating walkway with handrails directly under the bridge on the lakes (see picture). Our equipment manage to extend to 90metres in length. It was a difficult task with each teams “built” section having to be towed into position by RIBs prior to final connections being made on the water. The task demonstrated counties working well together in what was poor weather conditions and swirling waters. There were some technical issues with the equipment that came to the fore. The manufacturer of the equipment will attend our debrief in a few weeks time so that we can iron out these issues. The exercise was conducted in a positive manner by all concerned and I would like to thank Commander Peter Cox for his professionalism as Exercise Director. I would also like to thank the CDOs in Dublin for the logistical and safety support during the event. A final word of thanks to the assessors from Dublin who gave valuable feedback to the teams after each task. There was one winner on the day and that was “Civil Defence”.

Link to photographs of Pontoon Exercise:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88337262@N03/sets/72157635489346603/