Updated:
Thursday, September 25, 2008 20:20
I imagine I am no different from many of you in wondering where summer went,
in that it didn't seem to arrive on the south coast. But with most schools returning
this week for the 2008-9 academic year, it is now time to turn our thoughts
to preparing the beach for autumn and winter.
A beach recharge of Sovereign Harbour is expected to happen, but with continuing
unseasonable weather it is being delayed as progress elsewhere suffers. Work
is now not expected to start until the end of September.
In the meantime the first bulldozer is expected on 10th September to start work.
This will closely be followed by the arrival of dumptrucks that will move shingle
along the frontage, east to west, to reinforce naturally deleting areas such
as Herbrand Walk, Normans Bay East and Beachlands.
Regular surveys have showed that there has been a build up of beach material
at Cooden. This year for the first time we will be running dump trucks along
the beach all the way from Cooden to the harbour. This will involve a lot more
trucks than usual - probably 10, but because of the distance involved it will
not result in a constant stream of vehicles. I expect to run them in groups
of 5, and with a round trip taking over an hour, trucks should only pass any
given location four times per hour. This work will take one week, Monday to
Friday, and I will try and choose a week when the forecast is not going to encourage
many people to be on the beach.
Despite the longer hauling distance, moving shingle from Cooden to the harbour
is still more cost effective than importing increased amounts of sea dredged
aggregate. It also maximises the benefit from shingle already here, and minimises
the use of our sea bed gravel deposits, which are not infinite. A reduction
in dredging should also benefit sea bed eco-systems. I will keep you informed
as and when we expect recycling to start and when plant will be in different
areas.
The unseasonable summer has meant that there is already a significant build-up
of shingle on the southern harbour arm. The first bypassing of this beach will
start in early October, which is when Eastbourne BC allow our lorries on to
the road again.
As ever if you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact me
by email, phone or mobile as indicated below. Let's hope the winter is better
than the summer has been.
Best wishes
Ian
Ian Thomas
Project Manager
Pevensey Coastal Defence Ltd
Environment Agency Depot
Coast Road
Pevensey Bay
East Sussex BN24 6ND
Tel: 01323 761202
Fax: 01323 764368
Mob: 07884 234298
email: pcdl@pevensey-bay.co.uk
Updated:
Thursday, September 25, 2008 20:20