Shifting Shoreham shingle to Lancing for better flood protection
Recent storms caused erosion on the beach in Lancing. Up to 12,000 cubic metres of shingle will be brought in to maintain defence to homes and businesses.
Winter storms have taken their toll on the Sussex coast, like many places, so the Environment Agency is building up the natural flood defences beaches provide.
Important shingle replenishment work started on the beach between Shoreham and Lancing on Monday 2 January 2024. This work will help give better protection to local communities from coastal flooding this winter.
Recent storms eroded away some of the shingle beach in Lancing which provides a soft engineered flood defence.
Nick Gray, flood and coastal-risk manager at the Environment Agency in Sussex, said:
We are taking shingle from Shoreham Fort and moving it along the beach to the eroded area at Lancing Beach Green.
As we enter the winter months, it is essential that the shingle beach is maintained to ensure it continues to provide protection to homes and businesses in Shoreham and Lancing.
Sea levels are projected to rise by over one metre in the south of England this century, and with more frequent powerful storms also predicted, the risk of increased coastal erosion and flooding is likely.
The shingle recycling will help to maintain the flood defences offered by the beach, and to provide the standard of protection required by the coastal defence scheme completed by the Environment Agency in partnership with Worthing Borough Council in 2005.
The Environment Agency will move 12,000 cubic metres of shingle from Shoreham to Lancing. This is the equivalent of moving almost 5 Olympic size swimming pools.
The shingle is loaded into dump trucks by an excavator that then transport the material along the beach frontage to where it is needed. Bulldozers then position the material into the beach profile.
The beach will remain open, but the Environment Agency is advising the public to be cautious and keep a safe distance from working machinery.
Moving beach shingle to Lancing will shore up this natural flood defence as sea levels are projected to rise by over one metre in southern of England this century.
Residents living in a flood-risk area are urged to check their flood risk, sign-up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgencySE on X, formerly Twitter, for the latest flood updates.
Background
- A video clip of the work is available.
- The beach is carefully monitored, and regular surveys are done, to provide information on shingle volumes and locations.
- The work started on Monday 2 January and will continue until approximately 9 February.
- The work schedule is weather dependant and therefore subject to change.
- The 2005 coastal defence scheme built the rock groynes along Lancing beach to Widewater. The scheme was designed to slow the natural movement of shingle along the beach. It better protects more than 1,400 residential properties and businesses from up to one-in-100 year storms.
- The Environment Agency is working with Friends of Shoreham Beach Group, Adur and Worthing District Council, Shoreham Port Authority and Sussex Wildlife Trust to ensure there is minimum impact on the local nature reserve.
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