Published on Thursday 22 September 2022
BCP Council will shortly begin works to replace four timber groynes on Bournemouth Beach, to support the council’s ongoing investment to protect its coastline from erosion and flooding.
Starting in October, timber groynes will be renewed on both sides of Bournemouth Pier. This year, the two groynes closest to Bournemouth Pier will be replaced at East Cliff, and early next year, two will be replaced at West Cliff. This project forms part of the Poole Bay Beach Management Scheme, which is designed to protect the coastline from flooding and erosion, as well as making it more resilient to predicted sea level rise for the next 100 years.
The contractors, J T Mackley, will be on site from 9 October 2022. They will carefully deconstruct and replace four life-expired timber groynes with four new, more evenly spaced ones. Each new groyne will be constructed using a mix of new tropical hardwood timber and recycled planking from previously deconstructed timber groynes.
The works are due to finish by the end of March 2023.
Councillor Mark Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste, said:
"In May 2020, the council received £33 million funding from the Environment Agency to progress the Beach Management Scheme across Poole and Bournemouth. The continuation of the groyne renewal programme is essential in ensuring we protect our local communities from coastal flooding and erosion. Timber groynes, which need replacing every 25 years, slow down the loss of beach material moved by waves and, along with beach re-nourishment, to protect the seawalls and cliffs. Without our groynes, our coastlines could erode by up to a metre each year.
"The order of the works have been planned in support of high profile public events and we are co-ordinating operations to minimise disruption to beach visitors and local businesses during these essential works."
The promenade will remain open for the duration of the works but for safety reasons, the length of beach where works are taking place will be fenced off. These areas become temporary construction sites and all beach visitors are asked not to ignore safety signage. Sand can become very unstable when it is excavated around groynes so people should keep out of these zones, even at low tide.
Our contractors will be on site during normal working hours; however, the teams work with the lowest tides on a rota system, and this may occur outside daylight hours. All works will be in accordance with planning and environmental consents.
More information and updates are available online.