Around 400,000 cubic metres of sand are set to be pumped onto Lincolnshire’s beaches to reduce flood risk to more than 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land in a massive Environment Agency-led project.

The Lincolnshire Beach Management project involves the raising of beach levels lost naturally to the sea, by dredging sand from the seabed and pumping it onshore. The work forms a key part of the Environment Agency’s management strategy for the Lincolnshire coast, which reduces coastal flood risk to thousands of homes, businesses and static caravans as well as agricultural land.

The project started on 30 April at Boygrift. Over the course of the next eight weeks, the dredger will move to Trusthorpe, Mablethorpe, Ingoldmells, Trunch Lane, Wolla Bank, Chapel Six Marshes and Huttoft to complete the project for this year.

The HAM316 dredger, which has the lowest carbon footprint of its class, is operating continuously, delivering approximately 5,000 cubic metres of sand twice a day.

Mark Robinson, senior coastal advisor at the Environment Agency, said:

“Our work to restore beach levels is important as it protects our coastal defences, such as sea walls, from the energy of the waves as they impact on the coast.

“Our defences along the Lincolnshire coast help us reduce coastal flood risk to tens of thousands of homes and businesses as well as significant areas of agricultural land. By replenishing beaches, we extend the defences’ life.”

The work to restore beach levels on Lincolnshire’s coast is part of the Lincolnshire Beach Management 2018-2021 scheme.

With storms and flooding becoming more frequent and sea levels rising due to climate change, the Environment Agency has recognised a need to review whether the current coastal flood risk management approach will be sustainable in the long term for Lincolnshire.

The agency has been consulting with the public on six coastal flood risk options to work alongside beach nourishment as part of the Saltfleet to Gibraltar Point Strategy. The strategy will set out the most sustainable way of managing flood risk on this stretch of coast from 2021 to 2121. A draft strategy will be taken to consultation this summer.

The Environment Agency is working to better protect more than 49,000 additional homes and businesses across Lincolnshire with £221million of government investment by 2021.