Officials Open Runswick Bay Coastal Defense Scheme

A plaque was unveiled yesterday to mark the completion of a £2.2 million award winning coastal defense scheme in the North Yorkshire village of Runswick Bay.

Photo courtesy of the Scarborough Council

The Runswick Bay Coastal Protection Trust and local residents joined representatives from Scarborough Borough Council, Environment Agency, Royal HaskoningDHV, JBA Consulting and ESH Construction to celebrate the end of the construction project to protect the village’s concrete seawall with around 9,500 tonnes of high density granite armor stone after it had reached the end of its serviceable life.

The newly created rock revetment defense, which is 250 meters long, eight meters wide and two meters high, will provide better protection to the village, including six listed structures, by helping to combat the effect of predicted rising sea levels and increased storminess, reported the officials.

Members of the local community were involved in steering the design and construction of the scheme and more importantly made financials contributions totaling £100,000 to the scheme via the Runswick Bay Coastal Protection Trust. It is the first major coastal defense project on the Yorkshire coast to receive financial support from the local community.

Core funding of £1.488m came from a Defra Grant in Aid administered through the Environment Agency and there was a £700,000 in kind contribution from Yorkshire Water, who undertook the enabling works to allow the main works to be constructed.

In the short time since completion, the scheme has already gained recognition in the following awards:

  • Design Award Winner 2018 for Best Landscaping Project awarded by North York Moors National Park Authority;
  • A Gold Award Winner in the Building and Construction category of the International Green Apple Award 2018 for Environmental Best Practice;
  • Shortlisted for The Institution of Civil Engineers Yorkshire & Humberside Awards (Smeaton Award) which is for projects of a value less than £5 million that demonstrate outstanding civil engineering work. Award winner yet to be announced.