The Genesis of Storm in a Teacup

Eugenius Birch’s iconic 12-inch diameter cast iron screw piles are a testament to Victorian engineering ingenuity.  Nearly all of the original piles, over 200 of them, still stand fully functional today.

I visited Hastings Pier at sunrise on the morning of 31st March 2014 – the time of a particularly low spring tide – to inspect the piles at close proximity.  As I stood beneath the tip of the pier, waste deep in my waders, I could feel the crushing pressure of the English Sea around my ankles.   I found it impossible to resist the power of even the smallest wave to sway my body.  ………..

But as the sea waves flowed steadily past me towards the Hastings shoreline, I didn’t experience the steady force I had expected.  My body swayed and undulated like seaweed on the ocean floor.  I realised I would need to know more about the complex hidden hydrodynamics of the sea before I could begin to understand its physical impact on the pier. – Brendan Walker, Artist & Engineer
http://www.storminateacup.info/