Eastbourne Beach Recharge Scheme

Client Eastbourne Borough Council Value £3.8m
Location Eastbourne, West Sussex Contractor Pevensey Coastal Defence Ltd
Date January 2011 – March 2011 Contract NEC Option D

 

Project Information

Project Highlights:

  • 30 loads of shingle were imported by the Prins der Nederlanden, bringing a total of gross 195,000 m3 shingle ashore in 15 working days.
  • 72,000m3 of recycling on the existing beach front was carried out in 12 working days
  • All local shingle vegetation was fenced off prior to commencement of the works to protect this natural habitat.
  • All works were started up, executed and closed down completely in less than 2 months despite working in the worst season of the year.

Due to erosion by wind, waves and rising sea levels, the beach front at Eastbourne needed to be reinforced. The previous campaign to improve coastal defence was carried out in 1998 and in 2011 the shoreline no longer fulfilled the design criteria for safe coastal protection.

 Consequently Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) developed a scheme comprising the recycling of existing material, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas (SSSI – Beachy Head) and the importing of bulk quantities for the rest of the beach frontage.

 The sequence of the works was to execute the recycling first and subsequently fill the groyne bays to the required profiles with imported shingle.

The site stretched over a total length of 5.5 km, from Beachy Head in the west, along the  whole of Eastbourne front, to Langney Point in the east.

The design profile varied over the length of the site, with the aim of achieving a design crest width  and height with seaward slopes of approximately 1 in 9. 

As the works had to be carried out over the whole site at the same time, almost all the beach had to be closed to the public for several weeks. This required close communication and liaison with the client and the various stakeholders (public, tourists, water sports centres, fishermen, etc). All areas were closed off by fencing and marshalls patrolled up and down the beach in order to ensure no members of the public could walk within the working dry earth moving plant working area. 

All dry earth moving was subcontracted to Ovenden who executed the works with up to 3 excavators, 4 bulldozers and 10 dump trucks working at the same time. 

The imported shingle was mainly dredged at Owers Bank / Area 435. The material supplied complied with the design requirements, having a D50 in the order of 16m. 

As this material had to be pumped ashore via an 1100m long sinker line, a heavy duty dredger with substantial installed power was needed. The Prins der Nederlanden was therefore mobilised, with a total of 19,000 kW installed capacity, every one of which was required during pump ashore.

 The works were executed without a single lost time injury and without any negative comment from members of the public, thanks mainly to the proactive involvement of Eastbourne Borough Council, The Westminster Dredging site team and local stakeholders prior to commencement.