Work to repair the storm-battered sea wall at Chesil Cove on Portland has been completed by Weymouth & Portland Borough Council in partnership with the Environment Agency and contractor Team Van Oord Ltd.
Heavy winds and strong tides hit the Dorset coast hard during the winter period, damaging sections of the wall and stripping Chesil Beach. Beach levels were reduced by up to four metres, exposing the foundations of the sea wall and without repair work this increased the possibility of further damage.
Rebuilding and strengthening work took place over the last few months including sheet piling and a mixture of concrete and rock armour to offer further protection and stability to the wall. Other work included repairs to the slipways used by fishermen, fixing handrails and repairing surface damage such as minor cracks.
Work started quickly due to the borough council and the Environment Agency agreeing to use the same contractor and around £300,000 being made available from central government’s emergency repair funding.
Ben Murray, Head of Infrastructure at Weymouth & Portland Borough Council , said: “ It is great news that the sea wall is now fully repaired and open to the public. The work was crucial to ensure the sea wall continues to offer the same level of protection it was designed for prior to the storms. All the work has been completed with minimum disruption and with no incident and we would like to thank the public for their patience while the work took place.”
The Environment Agency is continuing to repair and replenish Chesil Beach at Chiswell. These works are expected to be finished in the next few months.
Once these repairs are complete it will ensure flood defences are back up to their original level of protection.
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Press Release, May 13, 2014