THE final phase of a flood defence scheme has been completed.
The third and final phase of the West Bay Coastal Defence Improvements Scheme, which has improved the downstream western riverbank of the River Brit and provided protection to West Bay and Parkdean Resorts' West Bay Holiday Park, has been completed.
Flood protection works had already been carried out on East and West Beach in October 2019, and the latest work completes the scheme.
Work started on November 30, 2020, with the removal of 29 static caravans from the works area, ten of which had to be lifted off the site by crane.
Next, 380-tonnes of stone was laid to create a haul road along the riverbank, which allowed for safe access for heavy machinery and protected the caravan park infrastructure.
In total, 693 sheet piles were installed - averaging around 8m in length - to create a 390m-long defence wall. A welded capping plate has been fitted along the top of the sheet pile wale, with the piles painted to protect them against the elements.
The riverbank was regraded using a 20-tonne long-reach excavator, with a 14-tonne excavator compacting the ground. At some points, over 150 tonnes worth of machinery was moving around the site.
Within this construction activity caravans were returned to their bases each week as the work progressed along the riverbank, meaning the works area had to be reinstated – and the haul road removed – as work progressed. The first two caravans were returned to their pitches only four weeks into the project.
This allowed the resort time to reconnect services and outside decking areas for each holiday home.
With construction work finished, the works area was landscaped with 300-tonnes of topsoil levelled and 1,450m² of turf laid, and the main entrance to the popular holiday park was re-instated.
David Clegg, Dorset Highways service manager for operations, said: "This project had a challenging timescale, during what is a challenging time for all construction sites ensuring workers are in a Covid-secure environment.
"This was not made any easier by the weather conditions throughout the winter period. It was a difficult challenge to balance the needs of the local community and the safety of those working on the site. It is humbling to see what the team were able to achieve in this environment.
"This project has demonstrated the benefits of our highways mixed-economy model, where we can work with private sector partners as well as maintain our own skilled in-house workforce, which makes us an agile, modern highways service."
Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council portfolio holder for highways, travel and environment, said: "I’d like to praise the efficient collaborative working of our highways and flood and coastal erosion risk management teams in delivering a challenging scheme, quickly, economically and to a high standard.
"I’d also like to thank the team at Parkdean Resorts for working with us to deliver this scheme successfully."
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