Repairs to Teignmouth sea wall completed
Three months after winter storms damaged a section of Teignmouth's promenade, repairs have been completed.
Repairs to Teignmouth's promenade are now complete
The area around the sea wall has been re-opened to the public.
The sea wall, promenade and beach area are popular public spaces as well as providing coastal flood protection to Teignmouth. It was therefore essential to carry out repairs quickly as the instability of the wall and promenade threatened increased flood risk to homes and possible safety risks for the public.
The Environment Agency worked with Teignbridge District Council and contractors Team Van Oord to repair the sea wall and secure it for the future.
During the work a granite ‘obelisk’ – thought to be a marker stone dating back to 1874 – was discovered on the beach. The stone was recovered and the local authority hopes the obelisk can be reinstated in its rightful place near the lighthouse.
Conditions during the repair work were challenging, with continued storms, bad weather, and access for machinery only possible on the low tides around spring tides.
Environment Agency staff were only able to work on the beach for a few hours at a time, for a few days at a time, and often had to work during the night.
Thom Buxton-Smith, for the Environment Agency, said:
Despite these challenges we worked with Team Van Oord to complete the repairs quickly. The voids have been filled beneath the promenade, slipway and car park. We have repaired the limestone masonry sea wall and installed steel sheet piling at the base of the wall to stabilise it,
The promenade was re-opened to the public in time for the Easter weekend and the remaining fencing and site equipment will be removed by the end of this week.