Vital sea defence work to help protect West Bay from flooding has been completed on time and on budget.
The £10 million coastal defence works, completed this week by Dorset Council and the Environment Agency, will better protect 148 homes and 112 businesses from flooding.
“Thanks for bearing with us during the works”
Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport and Highways, said: “I am delighted that this important project to help protect West Bay from flooding has been finished on time and on budget. I’d like to thanks residents and businesses for bearing with us through the works.”
What work was done?
On East Beach a large rock revetment made up of 20,000 tonnes of rock was buried along the line of the shingle ridge. This will reduce the frequency of flooding from storms.
On West Beach a new rock groyne was built near the pier, extra beach shingle was also imported. A flood wall has also been built along the Esplanade, which will also help reduce the risk of flooding. Work on the wall was suspended during the school holiday season to minimise disruption, but ‘facing work’ was restarted last month.
During the works 40,000 tonnes of granite was used, as well as rocks as large as 10 tonnes. Engineers are just finishing clearing the site. Any leftover materials will be used on other projects. The Esplanade has now re-opened.
on visiting west bay I was appalled to see the pumping of sludge from the harbour via pipeline onto the beach accompanied with a stench . A build up of thick grey mud is stagnating at the outfall site and the and the sea and sand was brown . A terrible welcome to tourists and a health hazard especially to swimmers and dogs .( A friends dog became very sick after ingesting some of the mud). Please explain why this is happening … The harbour used to be dredged and the sludge taken away in lorries.
The harbour has recently undergone its annual dredge to remove sands and gravel that have washed in during the year. The material has to be removed in order to maintain a navigable channel, the dredged material is then used to help provide protection to the base of the sea wall and to reduce the wave overtopping risk as much as possible, in addition, the beach is maintained for leisure purposes. The material is predominantly sand and gravel with a small percentage of fluvial silt (hence the smell and colour). After various tide cycles and some wave action the silt is quickly removed leaving the sand and gravel.
In previous years the material was dredged using excavators and dump trucks and then placed on West Beach, the material has never been removed from site by lorries. Over the last 2 years we have changed the method of dredging and pumped the material but the disposal site has varied little with the material either being placed or pumped to West Beach, or West Cliff beach.
Without these works, the harbour would not be navigable for leisure craft and the fishing fleet, without the material being placed on the beach, there would be no beach for tourists and locals.