Severnside Sirens

The Severnside Sirens are a system of Civil defense sirens located along the South Severn Estuary coastline from Redcliffe Bay to Pilning, northwest of Bristol. They are activated by Avon and Somerset Police[1] in the event of a potential incident at one of the COMAH sites located in the area, mainly in and near Avonmouth.[2] The system was setup in 1997 following a fire[3] at the Albright and Wilson site in 1996.[4]

The Victoria Road siren in Avonmouth, a Federal Signal Modulator

Severnside Sirens Trust

Severnside Sirens Trust Limited is the organisation responsible for maintaining the system. It is a registered company (number 3348008) and charity (number 1063224)[5] and was incorporated on 9 April 1997.[6] The trust's activities are funded by the 3 local authorities whose constituents the sirens serve, North Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, and South Gloucestershire Council, and from donations from the organisations running the COMAH sites themselves.

Sirens
The directional siren in Lamplighters Marsh, Shirehampton. The antenna used to receive control signals is clearly visible.

The sirens themselves are mounted on dedicated poles and all but one are manufactured by the Federal Signal Corporation. Most of them are Federal Signal Modulators. They are operated via radio signal from a control system at Avon and Somerset Police Headquarters in Portishead.

Severnside Sirens, as of Sept 2019[2]
Designation Location Comment
Siren 3 Portishead Fire Station car park
Siren 7 ("Sevalco") Chittening, towards the north end of Chittening Road Located across the road from the site of the former Sevalco carbon black factory.
Siren 10 ("Hallen") Hallen, In the vicinity of the Hallen Fuel Depot between the village and Henbury Added to the system in 2013.[7]
Siren 11 Redcliffe Bay, on the Arqiva transmitting mast
Siren 12 Redcliffe Bay
Unknown Royal Portbury Dock
Unknown Avonmouth, at the end of Victoria Road
Unknown The former AstraZeneca plant off, Severn Road
Unknown Lawrence Weston - behind the Lawrence Weston Clinic
Unknown Shirehampton - in Lamplighters Marsh. This siren is directional, with loudspeaker cones pointed across the river to Pill and towards Shirehampton proper.
Unknown Royal Edward Dock - opposite St Andrews Road railway station
Unknown Pilning - behind the Pilning Surgery

Testing

The sirens are tested at 1500 on the 3rd of every month. The test comprises the following:[8]

  • 3 minutes of the alert warning (a continuous, stepped, rising tone)
  • 1 minute of silence
  • 1 minute of the all clear siren (a continuous constant tone)

Local volunteers monitor the sirens on test day.[9]

References
  1. "SEVERNSIDE SIRENS TRUST Ltd Report and Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2014" (PDF). Charities Commission. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  2. "Severnside Sirens Safety Advice" (PDF). North Somerset Council. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  3. "The Fire at Albright and Wilson, Avonmouth. 3rd October 1996". www.hse.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. Pickstock, Heather (8 August 2017). "There is a glitch with Bristol's emergency warning siren". bristolpost. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. "Charity Details". beta.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  6. "SEVERNSIDE SIRENS TRUST LIMITED - Overview". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  7. "Emergency siren network expanded". 3 July 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  8. "Hazardous Chemicals and Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) - bristol.gov.uk". www.bristol.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. "SEVERNSIDE SIRENS TRUST LIMITED Report and Financial Statements Year Ended 31 March 2018" (PDF). Charities Commission. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.