Sea Defence 2016

Update 22/12/2016

Storm Barbara is expected to move northeast between Iceland and Scotland tomorrow bringing wet and windy weather across the country.  Most impacts will be seen across northern areas.  Here, we expect gusts of 40-50mph expected during the afternoon.

A further storm is expected to the north of Scotland on Christmas Day leading to more wet and windy weather.  Again, major impacts in the north, with Pevensey expecting afternoon gusts of up to 45 mph.

High pressure then builds on Boxing Day (Monday) and should last most of next week, bringing a good deal of fine and sunny weather but also some overnight frost and fog. 

As a result we do not expect to have any machines working after tomorrow until the New Year.  Machines forming a small recycling team are parked up in the Environment Agency depot, so should things change they are ready to act.

With big tides again in the middle of January, it is likely machines will back for a week or so from 9th January if they are not required before.

Update 08/12/2016

The recycling team has now left the beach, leaving just the bulldozer to tidy up and complete small, localised repairs.

On Monday the forecast for the middle of next week and 7.9mCD tides was not good.  However, for now, that has changed completely. The current version shows high pressure over continental Europe keeping Atlantic depressions off the west coast of Ireland and hence quieter conditions in the Channel.  Of course a lot can change again in the next 4 or 5 days, but hopefully we will not need to restart recycling until the New Year

Update 01/12/2016

Although basic protection after storm Angus has now been re-established, it will be some time before a full crest width is restored.  As the pictures below indicate there is a substantial berm along much of the beach, containing sediment drawn down two weeks ago.

We are in the strange position of wanting a brief period of moderate to rough SW waves, which would push the berm up further and hence fill the gap between it and the crest for us.  On the other hand, as you can see, it presents an unusual sight at high water as the two images from Herbrand Walk illustrate.

Some work still remains to be done at Cooden, so trucks will remain over the weekend and do two or three more days before finishing

Update 21/11/2016

A small recycling team is now on site and has started work at Normans Bay East.  Another period of severe gales is expected overnight with gusts in excess of 50mph, with winds dropping back around lunchtime tomorrow.  From Wednesday, it expected that winds will come from the north for several days thereafter.

Although big waves are again forecast for high water at 05:00 tomorrow, water levels are 0.6m lower than Sunday, with the wave direction SW rather than S.  Conditions are therefore not expected to be as bad as Sunday.

The recycling team will remain on the beach and gradually work east to west repairing erosion as they go, eventually reaching Sovereign Harbour, probably towards the end of next week.  If necessary they will then reverse direction and head back to Cooden to take care of any areas that were missed or which received only partial reinstatement.  Repairs are expected to be complete before the next set of big spring tides that will start three weeks today.

Update 20/11/2016

Forecasts for this morning’s 02:45 high water got progressively worse during Saturday so the intensity of the overnight waves was to some degree unexpected.  So much so that it has now become the first named storm of winter 2016-17 (Storm Angus). 

Predicted offshore waves earlier on Saturday had been 5m offshore.  By 00:00 this morning predictions had changed to 7.2m offshore.  This rapid escalation of the forecast meant it was too late to get machines on the beach today. 

However peak waves have now come and gone and they are expected to drop back to 1m by tonight.  There is also a negative storm surge this afternoon, and with tides falling away too, there will be almost 1m less water at 15:10 than there was twelve hours earlier.

Machines have been ordered this morning and should start arriving later today to start repair work tomorrow.  As crest widths are either gone or dramatically reduced in many places this will take time, but we will endeavour to have defences restored before the next spring tides in 10 days’ time, but most especially before the 7.9m tides in the middle of December. 

Of course with Coast Road still closed machines will have to arrive at either Cooden or Sovereign Harbour and then work along the frontage, so it will be several days before all areas have been covered.

Update 07/11/2016

All recycling machines have now left the beach, with just a bulldozer remaining until the next storm “reorganises” the beach.  Hopefully, we will get through the next round of 8mCD tides on 14th to 17th November without their return.  Current forecasts suggest NW winds will dominate next week, which – if true – is good news

Update 31/10/2016

Continuing good weather means we should be able to complete the current round of recycling by Friday 4th November.  From today there will be 4 trucks working, with most of the work concentrated in the east at Cooden, Herbrand Walk and Normans Bay East.  Several places still need levelling after last week’s work so the bulldozer will need to cover all areas in the next couple of days.

Update 21/10/2016

Shingle bypassing of Sovereign Harbour will finish this afternoon, so that recycling can start on the north side of the marina on Monday 24th October.  Since nothing has been done since late April, there are small amounts of work required in several places right along the frontage.

In ten days’ time Coast Road will be closed at its junction with Wallsend Road for several weeks.  This means we will be unable to deliver to or collect machines from the Coast Road depot as low loaders are unable to negotiate the Normans Bay level crossing.  Therefore the only machine access available to us is by Martello tower No.64 off Pacific Drive, Sovereign Harbour or at East Stream depot, Herbrand Walk.

For this reason we shall try and programme the works in a west to east direction so that machines end up at Cooden/Herbrand Walk where they can be collected.  Of course the weather we get in the next couple of weeks may change those plans.  Initially we will use just two dumptrucks, perhaps increasing to four when at Cooden/Herbrand Walk, and it is expected that work will last between two and three weeks.

Update 07/10/2016

The first bout of bypassing shingle from Langney round Sovereign Harbour is to start on Monday and is likely to last until Friday 21st October.  Work will be Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 16:30 approx.

With part of Site 1 (the development site immediately west of the marina) now fenced off there is less space for pedestrians walking between Sovereign Harbour and Eastbourne seafront.  If you are walking that way please try and keep clear of the lorries as the leave and enter the site.

Update 29/09/2016

Although the weather hasn’t quite broken yet, it is definitely on the way towards autumn.  Consequently, the bulldozer will be returning to the beach from Monday.  Next week’s forecast still looks reasonable, so there are no plans to start recycling immediately.

However, with the next set of 8m tides arriving over the weekend 15/16 October I will be surprised if we don’t need to start by then.

Update 08209/2016

It seems as though summer has a few more days (weeks?) to go before the arrival of autumn, so we have no plans to reintroduce machines to the beach just yet.  If we can get past the 8m tides on 19/20th September, they may not be needed until October.

In the meantime Sospan Dau is due to be leaving dry dock in Holland where she has been undergoing maintenance, and heading for Sussex.  First port of call I believe will be Pevensey Bay where we will have around 10,000m3 of shingle added to the beach at Sovereign Harbour.

In early October she will be working in Eastbourne for around two weeks supplying shingle either side of the pier.

There is already a build-up of beach west of the marina, so there will be an inevitable restart of road lorries moving shingle round the harbour in early October before storms can wash it into the harbour entrance.

Update 22/04/2016

I am sure that this is one of the most anticipated messages of the year.  All machines how now left the beach and hopefully will not have to return until autumn. 

May this good news herald a long, calm, warm and peaceful summer for us all.

Update 18/04/2016

All trucks have now left the beach, leaving two bulldozers to do a final push up where necessary, and a general re-levelling and tidying up of the beach.  It is expected that they too will depart this Friday

Update 04/04/2016

The forecast for this week’s big spring tides is, for once, encouraging, with predominantly light winds.  If this turns out to be the case, hopefully the current recycling exercise will finish a week on Friday and be the final one before summer.  However, a full beach survey won’t be completed until Monday 11th and the results from this will determine how much shingle still needs to be moved.

In the meantime this Wednesday 6th April sees our Annual Public Display, this year held to be on the 2nd floor of Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club overlooking the marina between 14:00 and 18:00.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and discuss the sea defences, and anything connected to them. Or just to say hello and have a cup of tea or coffee.

Update 29/03/2016

Our earlier plans have predictably been changed by Storm Katie and there is now a significant amount of repair work to be done ahead of the “proper” spring tides in 10 days’ time.  Basically the crest has been eroded along most of the frontage and needs to be reinforced in order that the fuel bowser can be moved around to support the machines.  Because the excavator and trucks are at the Coast Road depot they are now starting here and working west.  One bulldozer will stay at Normans Bay and restore the crest prior to moving to Beachlands and the subsequent arrival of the recycling team, probably next week. 

The forecast is currently favourable for the next 10 days, and all the machines will be staying until at least the end of April’s big spring tides.  Whilst storms in April are less likely than March, they are not completely out of the question.  Even without further storms the beach will probably take 3-4 weeks to repair.

Update 24/03/2016

It doesn’t seem that we are getting any spring weather over Easter weekend, and the forecast for next week doesn’t currently contain much sun either.  Three dump trucks are already in the Coast Road depot, ready to start moving beach on Tuesday 29th March ahead of the 8.0mCD tides in early April.  Over the next couple of weeks they will move through the frontage reinforcing those areas that are still showing signs of erosion.

Whether this is the last bout of recycling required before summer remains to be seen.  Let’s hope so.

Happy Easter!

Update 16/03/2016

Recent and continuing north easterly waves mean that work bypassing shingle round Sovereign Harbour will finish today for the summer period – not that the wind temperature feels much like summer yet.

In the remaining days before Easter two bulldozers will come through Beachlands, Normans Bay, Herbrand Walk and Cooden to repair crest damage caused by last Wednesday’s storm.

After Easter recycling will resume, probably working west to east from Cooden ahead of the 8.0mCD tides in the first week of April.  If there are no more storms, I would hope all machines will be finished a week or so after that.

Update 01/03/2016

This week should see the end of beach recycling, for the time being at least.  There are still some substantial spring tides to come late next week and in early April, so some level of beach erosion is likely before we can expect machines to leave the beach for summer.  Hopefully this can be achieved in two or three weeks after Easter school holidays.  In the meantime works at Beachlands and Normans Bay should be completed today and tomorrow, before the recycling team finishes at Grey Towers, 'White Horses' and Sovereign Harbour at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the current wind and waves are adding more shingle to Langney beach, so works there are set to continue well into March.  However, works have to be completed by the end of the month, as this is the seasonal cut-off date imposed by Eastbourne Borough Council.

Update 22/02/2016

Theoretically there is one more week of winter before the official start of spring.  On the other hand there are significant spring tides in March and April, both months that have in the past resulted in beach erosion due to storms.  Whilst spring may be just round the corner, there is plenty to do before we can consider an end to works for winter 2015-16.  

As a result recycling will continue, now working from Cooden with four dump trucks, returning shingle to Herbrand Walk, Normans Bay East and Beachlands.  If necessary a smaller team will then continue west through Pevensey Bay to Grey Towers and Sovereign Harbour to reinforce any areas that require attention.

Meanwhile, Ovenden have now completed removal of shingle from the outer harbour for Premier Marinas.  The resultant stockpile remains to be transferred round the harbour to the north beach, which is likely to take two weeks.  Last weekend’s storms have pushed more shingle up against the southern breakwater, so it is everyone’s interests to also try and remove some more sediment from the beach before we leave.  If it is not removed it will only end up being driven inside the harbour where it will form another spit similar to the one just removed.

Update 11/02/2016

According to Monday’s forecast we were due a much more severe weather event than eventually materialised, primarily because offshore wave heights were nowhere near as big as expected.  Nevertheless several areas suffered significant erosion to the front of the beach crest, some of which were those where erosion is not usually a big problem – for instance Sea Road car par.

Tides fall from today and NW winds are set to predominate for the coming week, so the process of restoring eroded areas can proceed in a more orderly fashion.  Although Normans Bay East and Beachlands have received some additional shingle, machines will gradually work back towards Cooden next week.

Ovenden are currently removing substantial amounts of shingle from inside Sovereign Harbour all of which will be brought round to the north east side of the marina in the next couple of weeks.  There is still a lot of shingle on Langney beach, much of which also needs to be bypassed round the harbour.  If left on the beach it too will be forced round the breakwater and into the harbour.

Update 01/01/2016

Kind regards

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
Website: www.pevensey-bay.co.uk