Lighthouses of Scotland

Construction of a Lighthouse

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Construction Lighthouses can be constructed as fixed structures on land or sea. The latter can be problematic to construct given the cost and specialist construction techniques required to withstand tides, currents, sea action, ice and the potential for bottom erosion. Offshore stations anchored to the sea bottom are expensive to build and operate. More popular in the US, these are typically steel structures, similar to oil rigs but much smaller, and comprise living quarters, a helicopter deck, machinery area and a tall mast carrying the shipping light, a radio beacon antenna and a warning light for aviation. When a fixed structure is impracticable, floating buoys (with lights around 7m above the water line) can be used as small warning elements; on a larger scale, lightships (with lights on mastheads) can be permanently moored at the required locations.