The Environment Agency is starting work next week on groundwork for flood defences in Shanklin and Yaverland, part of a wider programme to reduce risk of flooding and coastal erosion.
Image:Flood defences at Yaverland will be strengthened, along with others around the island
The Agency will start ground investigation work for the coastal defence schemes that will continue to protect homes and businesses from the risk of coastal erosion and flooding on the Isle of Wight.
Specialist equipment will be used to drill boreholes and dig trenches along the esplanades and on the beach.
The results from the investigations will give the project team information about the composition of the ground and existing foundations where the coastal defence refurbishment is being proposed.
Nick Gray, area flood and coastal risk manager at the Environment Agency, said:
“The existing coastal defences are in poor condition. We want to improve them, so they continue to offer protection for local communities and ensure they withstand the increasingly extreme weather we are experiencing because of climate change.
“The ground investigation work is an important step in assessing the best options to protect Shanklin and Yaverland from coastal erosion and flooding in the future.”
The Shanklin and Yaverland coastal defence schemes are partnership projects involving the Environment Agency and Isle of Wight Council. The delivery partners are JBA Consulting and VolkerStevin.
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, cabinet member responsible for the environment for Isle of Wight Council, said:
“It is really encouraging to see that the Environment Agency is beginning the process of ground investigations in Shanklin and Yaverland. Recent damage to the defences in Ventnor has illustrated the potential implications of deterioration of our sea defences. It is important that we progress this work as quickly as possible.”
The schemes are part of a wider programme of work on the Isle of Wight to reduce the risk of flooding and/or coastal erosion. This work includes:
- refurbishment and replacement of some of the existing coastal defences and additional slope stabilisation measures in Ventnor.
- repair work to the sea defences at Embankment Road, between St Helens and Bembridge.
Although the Shanklin defences are owned and maintained by Isle of Wight Council and a third-party landowner, the Environment Agency is working on the council’s behalf to develop a business case for future investment.
Different parts of the Yaverland defences are owned and maintained by either the Environment Agency or Isle of Wight Council, but the organisations will work together to assess how best to refurbish or replace parts of the coastal defences.
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