Phase 1 of the Arundel Tidal Defense Scheme Underway

The Environment Agency contractors have started engineering surveys of the river defenses in Arundel under the phase 1 of the tidal defense scheme.

According to the EA, contractors will be working on and near the River Arun for a number of days over a 12 week period.

These surveys include drone surveys from the air, visual inspections on foot and ‘scraping’ of sheet steel piles on the River Road side by boat (to measure their thickness).

On 19 November 2018 the contractors started to dig small boreholes in 8 locations along the river banks in Arundel. This is so that the material below the ground can be analysed, to gain a better understanding of the stability of the engineered river defenses over the long-term, reported the Environment Agency.

All these engineering surveys will help the Environment Agency to understand the condition of the defenses and assist them in preparing a preferred design option for the scheme.

The EA also added that repairs to the collapsed wall at River Road will be completed first, and work there is scheduled to begin by autumn 2019. The whole phase 1 scheme is estimated to be completed by autumn 2020.