North Haven

An inlet which gives as much shelter as is possible on the very exposed Fair Isle (Shetland), North Haven lies below the island's Bird Observatory. In good weather the ferry from Grutness on the Shetland Mainland lands at a pier here, after its 2½ hour trip. There is also a pontoon for visiting yachts. The facility is owned and maintained by Shetland Islands Council.

The pier and associated breakwater were constructed in 1992-93 at a cost of £2.4 million. Built to the designs of Surrey-based Peter Fraenkel & Partners, the project involved the modelling of the structure at the Hydraulics research laboratory at Wallingford (near Oxford) to ensure its viability. Construction of the breakwater involved the importing of 27,000 tonnes of rock armour from Norway, with individual rocks weighing up to 18 tonnes. The 8-m (26-foot) high quay is of precast concrete. As part of the project the North Haven was dredged to a depth of 4m (13 feet).

There is a sandy beach at the head of North Haven.


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