Ocean technology and exploration company DEEP has revealed it will invest more than £100m ($189 AUD) to build an underwater research base in Dayhouse Quarry.
The Tidenham site will feature deep water rescue training for emergency services and other workers, as well as educational opportunities for local universities and schools. Equipment, including submersibles, will be tested at the former quarry.
According to the company, its “ultimate goal” is “humans being able to live, explore and understand the oceans whilst living underwater” and increase understanding about deep water environments.
DEEP President Steve Etherton said the company hoped the Tidenham campus would be “fully operational” by 2027.
“We need to preserve the oceans. To do that, we need to understand them,” he said in a statement.
“Through our innovative technology, DEEP will enable scientists to operate at depth for extended periods of time, and we hope, in some small way, will contribute to our understanding of this life-giving environment.”
Deep’s initial investment has secured the land and started the construction works to set up the campus on the former quarry site.
The Dayhouse Quarry was the site of the National Diving and Activity Centre, which opened in 2003 but closed in 2023 after being shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recreational scuba divers, as well as technical, military and free divers, used the former quarry for diving due to its 80m maximum depth.
DEEP’s global services president Mike Shackleford, told BBC Radio that the location had been chosen from a worldwide list.
“We had been looking for a facility in places like Japan and Poland. In the old Dayhouse quarry, we found a 600m long by 80m deep limestone filtered-through water quarry which is a world-class, one-of-a-kind facility,” he said.
“It’s a marine engineering powerhouse, so it was a natural space to put our design facilities.”
Works have started on the site after Forest of Dean District Council delivered the green light for initial structures to be built on the site.
Councillor Jonathan Lane said it was great to see the former quarry being reimagined into something of a community value.
“To have innovative and world-leading research being conducted here in the Forest of Dean is extremely exciting for all concerned and it’s been great getting to meet the team behind the project and find out more,” he said.
“The benefits that DEEP will have for schools, universities and businesses across the Forest of Dean, the South West and beyond, is incredible and we look forward to working with DEEP and local organisations to develop that relationship further.”
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