small Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Howdy (first post - please be gentle), I'm a member of a regatta committee. Our usual site for firing our fireworks has been taken away from us. We have persmission to fire them from the middle of the river. However, the hire costs of a barge are £x000s which is beyond our budget. I was looking for some ideas for something to buy/hire that is a lot cheaper. We will move to an electronic based firing system that can be done from the shore. We are based in Dorset. Many thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocpyro Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 What type of fireworks are you attempting to fire from this platform? Is it small callibre cakes and candles that you can get retail or is it large cakes and shells being fired by a professional company? What size is the display and how long has it to last ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
small Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 What size is the display and how long has it to last ? It is a professional display of about 20 minutes. It is the big finale to our event. It is being done on a very tight budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocpyro Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 If it's a profesional display, I wouldn't imagine the company providing the display would be happy with anything other than a barge or a platform built in the river. I know I wouldn't nor would my nice insurance provider!Have you looked at the possibility of firing from the far shore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
small Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 Have you looked at the possibility of firing from the far shore? We used to use the far shore but it is now SSSI site. Another question - how far away can the firing site be? We have a school field that could be an option which is 700m away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocpyro Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Is it a company firing the display or are you fring it yourself? 700m is no use if you're not using shells as the entire show would have to be based on at least 25mm cakes and no shells smaller than at a push. Also the site would have to be in a clear run of site to the audience, no obstructions. 3" shells lift to about 75 mtr and have a burst pattern of about 15 - 20mm depending on the shell type. Is there a work boat for the regatta that has a large steel deck that you could fire from if the owner is willing or could you organise pontoons to be moored at the far shore thus avoiding the SSSI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundo26 Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I live in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. There is a garden centre here where there is stored a mobile water stage, I think the company operating the stage is called Aquastage. The garden Centre is the Malmesbury Garden Centre owned by a company called Nurden's. I'll try to find out more for you if that sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
small Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 ...I'll try to find out more for you if that sounds interesting. Yes, please. :) - Excess quotes edited from three posts :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 If you're getting a display company in to fire the show, your best bet is probably to get them to source the necessary platform. They'll know what they need, and it also absolves you of the responsibility if there are any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 As a regatta committee you will likely have a contact with a boatbuilder or ten! so the construction should be possible. However you must first consult your fireworks supplier/firer. You must find a solution that meets their needs, and regulations. Look at finding an empty steel narrow boat in the back of a boatyard. Otherwise could you create something? out of barrels or builders foam polystyrene and some B&Q decking. Where would you load the fireworks and how long would it take to tow the rig into position after the regatta had passed. Is this to be a regular event? will you be better to buy or build, would you store it over year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 If you're getting a display company in to fire the show... it also absolves you of the responsibility if there are any problems.Ooh steady! :o Sorry to contradict a fellow mod in public :) but AFAIK that's not totally true. IIRC (and this may have changed, but I don't think so), the client on any show is regarded by the HSE et al as the promoter of the event (whatever it is) and thus basically has the same responsibilities as a concert promoter staging an event at Earls Court, or the organisers of a festival. Part of these involve using "investigative means" to ensure that all contractors you hire to supply x services, are competent to do so. This doesn't mean having them trailed by private detectives, but you really should be asking for copies of their insurance certificates, health and safety policies, risk assesments and any training certificates they may (should, in the case of pyrotechnics) have. It is likely that their crew may include self-employed freelancers, in which case you should ask for copies of their insurance certs, etc. You also have to provide them with a safe working environment, which means that if the firework company says a river display can only be done safely from a barge or certain structure, then a barge you must have. The water stage sounds like a possibility, but I'd be concerned that even a slow-moving river could sweep it away without firm anchoring, specifically designed for that stage, by the manufacturer; it may have been designed for use in a lake :) Basically, if you fail to meet these responsibilities and the unthinkable happens, you stand a very good chance of being up in the Dock, next to the contractor :( The Blue Room contains many threads on the general subject of, "How do we do this spectacular, but potentially dangerous thing?" and the answers are always the same for any high-risk activity (which includes fireworks)... 1. You don't.2. Get a professional company to do it.3. Don't automatically go for the lowest quote. Sorry if that sounds like a reading of the Riot Act, it wasn't meant to be. There are a couple of serious pyro experts on the forums, maybe they'll make themselvesand their thoughts known if they happen to surf by :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert morley Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Ok first things first, thanks to lightnix for saying that I Am a serious pyro expert (** laughs out loud **).1, what is a sssssssssiii site ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 SSSI - Site of Special Scientific Interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Gordon Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 1, what is a sssssssssiii site ?Site of Special Scientific Interest = think Nature Reserve or Wildlife Reserve etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyromark Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Hi All, I have used these bods before, I fired a cake display from it on a river and was mightily impressed, I would be comfortable firing upto 4" shells off of it Airfloat The man came along with it in a trailor, assembled it in no time and floated it into psoition for me, It was not that expensive either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.