The former coal wharf at Burry Port Harbour was Grade II listed because of its historical interest.

With a tidal range of 8m the harbour used to empty at low tide, so a plan was drawn up by the client, the Millennium Coastal Park Commission, to impound the harbour, and restore the harbour walls. To enable the new marina to be built, Dean & Dyball first had to narrow the 140m wide harbour mouth by building two new walls consisting of a double line of sheet piles backfilled with stone.

A 14m wide impounding gate was built in the middle of the new wall along with an 8m wide weir, which is designed to handle the effects of extreme tidal conditions. The gate was designed by Bournemouth-based consulting engineer Kenneth Grubb Associates and built and installed by Taylor & Sons of Cardiff. The client's project manager for the new marina was Arup, with Dean & Dyball acting as design and build contractor, and Babtie Group acting as the client's consulting engineer.

Earlier in the project, Arup completed an options study and tender design for upgrading the harbour into an impounded marina and fishing harbour.

The proposals included a tidal flap gate, a high level impounding wall that also functioned as a breakwater and as a new quay, plus the provision of pontoons for unloading fishing boats and temporarily mooring yachts.

Arup said the improvements also had to take account of the constraints of the existing listed dock walls, a Harbour Revision Order and funding considerations, and attract yachts and improve facilities for fishermen. Arup's brief also included landscaping around the harbour to link the project to the Millennium cycleway and footpath along the south Wales coast.

The scope of work assigned to Arup also included a hydrodynamic study to assess the likely wave conditions inside the harbour.

The new marina was completed about a month later than originally anticipated - mainly due to bad weather, heavy seas, and a couple of very rare seismic tremors in the area during the construction process.

Currently, Burry Harbour marina is an all-moorings facility, but plans are in hand for the installation of 150 berths on finger pontoons which are expected to be installed at a later date.