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Van Oord recently kicked off work on a £7 million beach renourishment project in Lincolnshire, UK.
Over the next few weeks, around 400,000 cubic meters of sand will be topped up on beaches between Saltfleet and Gibraltar Point. The work began in early May and will help reduce the risk of flooding for Lincolnshire’s coastal communities.
The Environment Agency’s annual beach management sees sand dredged from licensed areas of the seabed. This is then pumped onto the beach to replace levels naturally lost to the sea throughout the year. This reduces the risk of flooding for 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land.
Replenishing the sand means that the beaches, instead of hard defences like sea walls, take the brunt of the waves’ force and energy. This reduces the amount of damage and erosion to those hard defences and lessens the risk of water overtopping them.
The EA has been restoring sand levels on the Lincolnshire coast every year since 1994. In addition to reducing flood risk, the work brings supplementary social and economic benefits by retaining the sandy beaches for a vibrant tourism industry.
Starting at Boygrift, the work has been progressing along the coast in stages at these approximate dates (subject to change):