Sea wall work resumes after summer holiday
WORK resumes this week to build a new sea wall to protect the main railway line at Dawlish in South Devon.
Network Rail hopes the £80 million project will prevent a repeat of the 2014 disaster, when the line was left hanging in midair after a storm washed away its foundations.
The work – which was interrupted during the peak holiday season – is scheduled to finish in the spring, but could be delayed by bad weather.
This week contractors are moving equipment back on to the site, with some arriving by sea because it is too big to go by road.
The beach and footpath at Dawlish will remain closed until the end of February, Dean Shaw from Network Rail said.
“Panels will start to be put in place in October, giving a visual idea of the size and scale of the sea wall,” Mr Shaw said.
This autumn Network Rail will begin a second round of consultations on the next phase – protecting the line from Parson’s Tunnel to
Teignmouth, a section that is at risk from cliff rockfalls.
Earlier this year the company held consultations on a plan to move the line further out to sea, giving engineers space to stabilise the cliffs.
That scheme will need a Transport and Works Order Act as Network Rail does not own the land.
The new alignment will push the track seaward across Holcombe Beach – a proposal which has caused some controversy locally.
The second round of consultation will centre on plans amended as a result of the first consultation, in June and July this year.
After that, the plans will be submitted to the government and, if approved, the Department for Transport will need to agree to fund the work.
Network Rail estimates that the build phase of the project will take about four years. Work is complicated by access problems, and most equipment and materials will arrive by sea.
The new track will be built off-site and connected up to the existing tracks.
The sea is less of a problem than the cliffs at Holcombe Beach, Mr Shaw said. But if the scheme goes ahead, the new track will be protected by a sea wall and a rock revetment.
He said the aim was to build a line with a 100-year lifespan.