Foam material in new rail wall is washed into sea
LESS than three months after it was unveiled, Network Rail is investigating a problem with the £80 million Dawlish sea wall.
The sea wall, which is designed to protect the Great Western Railway main line which runs adjacent to it, was built to prevent a repeat of an incident in 2014 when storms damaged the track and severed the railway connection, causing months of misery for travellers.
However, just months after the completed phase one of the project was unveiled in September by Minister of State for Transport, Chris Heaton-Harris, residents have reported seeing black material detaching from the sea wall and falling into the water below, raising concerns for the safety of the structure in addition to the environmental impact of the material ending up in the sea.
Network Rail has confirmed that the material, which is closed-cell neoprene, was applied to joints in the wall to maintain structural integrity and has become dislodged before being washed into the sea and that it is working with its contractor to arrange repairs.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Network Rail said: “The black foamlike material that can be seen between the panels of the new sea wall at Dawlish is called expanded closed-cell neoprene and has been applied to the joints between the wall panels to initially maintain the structural integrity of the new wall and, in the long term, prevent beach material getting into the joints and protect the wall against movement due to changes in temperature.
“Network Rail is aware that some of the neoprene has become dislodged and is working with our contractor to repair it.”
The news comes a day after Network Rail issued messages on Twitter showing large waves hitting the sea wall at Dawlish which illustrated how the sea wall was preventing flooding of the track.
A spokesperson wrote: “Yesterday’s (December 16) severe weather resulted in waves crashing over the existing sea wall at Dawlish and flooding part of the railway, temporarily disrupting train services.
“At the other end of Dawlish where the first phase of the new sea wall has been completed, the railway remained unaffected and free from flooding thanks to the sea wall design and curved top to deflect waves back towards the sea.
“We are continuing to work hard on the construction of the second section of the new sea wall at Dawlish, which will provide greater protection to the railway and town from rising sea levels and extreme weather.”