Pagham Beach scour mitigation scheme underway
Hampshire UK based Earlcoate Construction, specialist in rock armour and coastal defence, was recently awarded the contract to undertake works at Pagham, West Sussex, for Arun District Council.
The scheme is funded by Arun District and Pagham Parish Councils (with kickstart funding from West Sussex County Council), the Environment Agency and contributions from the local residents.
The £500,000 project has got off to a flying start although recent additional scour necessitated some beach reprofiling prior to the construction of the rock revetment, which will provide added protection to the nearby properties.
A total of 6,600 tonnes of rock armour, in 3 to 6 tonne units, is being carefully placed on a filter barrier which is designed to contain the finer materials within the beach behind the new structure. Most of the rock is being imported by sea from Norway and offloaded from barges on the nearest part of the beach, transferred by Volvo dump trucks and placed on a prepared bed using Earlcoate`s in-house plant and equipment, including a Cat 336E Hybrid, Komatsu 290 and JCB JS 360.
The powerful CAT 336E Hybrid is a particularly efficient machine, which not only uses up to 25% less fuel than conventional plant of its size but provides more output. It does so by using recovered energy from the hydraulic hybrid swing and conserving fuel via an electronic programmable pump. It is the first in England and Earlcoate`s investment is a noteworthy step in reducing the carbon footprint of such operations.
Related Articles
MARINE CONSTRUCTION
EQUIPMENT
MARINE CONSTRUCTION