HMS Victory

PHD Access has won the prestigious contract from The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), to provide specialist access required for the latest stage of the renovation of the world-famous HMS Victory. 

PHD Access has been awarded the £4million access contract for the renovation work which is taking place exactly a century after the ship was first moved to a dry dock in 1922. By designing a fully enclosed scaffolding installation, it will allow the vital conservation work to take place while simultaneously allowing the public to continue to visit Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s iconic flagship at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

The Conservation

The latest phase of the conservation work is part of a wider 10-year renovation project that will ultimately see rotten wooden planks painstakingly removed and replaced in a bid to preserve the 18th century ship for future generations. A temporary building will be constructed by PHD Access over one section of Victory at a time, initially allowing the process of drying to take place and then continuing to keep her weathertight during conservation work.

The specially designed, public-friendly platforms and the temporary building will move along the 227 feet long ship in three phases as the work progresses. The company will use specialist 160-tonne cranes for scaffolding installation over the 62-metre-high ship.