Littlehampton Arun East Bank flood risk management scheme
Updated 30 November 2017
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Background
The Environment Agency, working in partnership with Arun District Council, West Sussex County Council and Littlehampton Harbour Board, carried out improvements to the tidal flood defences along the East Bank of the River Arun in Littlehampton between 2013 and 2015. The work was done by contractors, Volker Stevin.
The scheme improved flood defences from the lighthouse on the Promenade to north of the A259. It raised the height of flood defences on the east bank from Arun Parade near the mouth of the River Arun, through the town centre to north of the A259.
Latest update: November 2017
When the Littlehampton East Bank scheme was completed in 2015, one section of tidal wall along the river frontage of 47 River Road was not completed as part of the original scheme as it was expected that it would be delivered as part of a private development. This did not happen so the Environment Agency has stepped in to replace this section of aging flood defence. Work is due to start on 29 November 2017 and finish by January 2018 (subject to weather conditions).
Construction
The work required to replace the existing flood defence will include a new vertical sheet steel pile flood defence wall. The new flood defence wall will be 26 metres long and will be installed on the riverward side of the existing timber retaining structure. The steel sheet piles will be installed from a jack-up barge on the River Arun. The wall will meet the alignment and height of the adjacent walls upstream and downstream of the area. Concrete capping beams will be put in place and connected to the existing downstream walls to form a water-tight connection.
The barge needs to be as close to the current wall as possible in order to carry out the work safely. The Environment Agency has contacted pontoon holders and users to agree the relocation of their floating pontoon along with any vessels. These will need to be moved away from the immediate construction area in order to allow the appropriate space required for this work.
You may notice noise during this work. The duration of the piling work will be approximately 2 weeks and piling is planned to be completed by mid-December 2017. The installation of the steel sheet piles will result in increased noise levels locally. The Environment Agency will take steps to minimise this and will also aim to complete piling activities as quickly as possible. The contractors will be working from 7am to 6pm weekdays and from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. Piling will not start until after 9am.
Contingency plans
The Environment Agency has robust contingency plans in place to use temporary defences during bad weather and high tides until the works are complete. The £22-million scheme is nearly finished and is already performing as it should to reduce tidal flood risk to £188,500,000 worth of homes, businesses, and other property in the district.
Contact
For more information, email: [email protected].
You can look at images of the scheme on our Flickr pages.
You can also follow the scheme on Twitter: @EnvAgencySE #LittlehamptonFAS