Round the clock work on vital sea wall bridge

ENGINEERS from Network Rail plan to work around the clock over Christmas to lay the foundations for a new bridge at Dawlish railway station.

New aerial pictures highlight the latest progress in linking the two sections of the £80m sea wall to protect the railway at Dawlish.

Network Rail’s contractors BAM Nuttall are busy constructing the new link bridge that will run parallel to Colonnade viaduct and connect the two sections of public, accessible promenade and the new stilling basin, where Dawlish Water runs into the sea. The abutments and piers – pillars that support the spans – are in place and scaffolding is up for construction of the deck.

Since the summer, the team has been continuing its work to construct the new stilling basin at Colonnade breakwater. The new structure sits on the footprint of the old basin but is much stronger and is designed to take energy out of the waves, reducing some of the beach material being deposited under the viaduct.

Access to the beach and King’s Walk promenade at Colonnade underpass currently remains closed for safety reasons while the link bridge and stilling basin are being built.

The promenade, beach and Coryton Cove can still be reached via the diversion over the stepped footbridge near Kennaway Tunnel. The underpass will reopen when it is safe to do so.

The first section of new sea wall – which runs for 360 metres along Marine Parade south west of Dawlish station – was completed in July 2020. Construction of the 415 metre second section – stretching from Coastguard breakwater northeast of Dawlish station to Colonnade breakwater – began in November 2020 and was substantially completed in August 2022 following the installation of 164 wall panels, 203 pre-cast blocks and 189 recurve units, which return waves back out to sea.

This innovative design, coupled with the increased height of the new sea wall, will help prevent delays and disruption to passengers by minimising the likelihood of the tracks flooding and allowing the line to reopen more quickly after major storms. The line was breached by a storm in 2014.

Progress is being made on a new bridge on Dawlish sea wall