In May, a significant hole appeared in the sea wall in Torquay, on the promenade at Meadfoot beach, with further cracks appearing in a nearby section of the structure the following month.
As Devon Live reported, repairs on the sea wall have already started and it now appears that it is going to cost the local council over £100,000 to repair the damage to the structure.
Mike Morey, Torbay cabinet council member, told the news provider that the repairs so far had cost £92,000, with the council expecting the further work that’s required to cost around £45,000. This will put the total bill for the repair work well over £100,000.
It took 250 tonnes of concrete to fill the initial hole that appeared in the sea defence, the publication revealed.
Councillor Morey also told the newspaper that the repair work that was carried out in May took place “just in time” to save the structure and prevent the retaining wall, as well as a viewing platform, the road and the sewer below from being damaged beyond repair.
The cracks that appeared elsewhere in the sea wall in June were caused by rough seas that were driven into the structure by strong easterly winds.
At the time that the new cracks were discovered, the news provider shared a statement from Torbay Council, which said: “During the investigations [by engineers] it was established that the location was identified as an area of anticipated deterioration due to the recent underpinning of an adjacent section of the sea wall.”
As a result of the findings, this section of the sea wall was closed off to enable engineers to carry out further investigations and decide on the best course of action.
Sadly for the residents of Torbay, repair work is regularly required on the sea wall. In fact, as the newspaper pointed out, the same stretch of the sea wall was closed for ten weeks in 2018 to enable repairs to be completed.
In addition, it pointed out that the slipway at the end of Meadfoot has been swept away, and another sinkhole has appeared at nearby Daddyhole Plain.
Another significant maintenance project elsewhere in the UK has almost been completed, the BBC recently reported. Whaley Bridge dam, which suffered a partial collapse last summer, is nearing the end of its temporary repair work.
Concerns that the Toddbrook Reservoir dam could collapse and flood the nearby town resulted in the 1,500 residents of Whaley Bridge being evacuated from their homes in August.
However, the Canal & River Trust, which manages the site, has revealed that the temporary repair works have almost been completed, with the work on permanent repairs due to start in the spring. In the meantime, the footpath around the reservoir is set to reopen next month before being closed to the public once the next stage of work starts.
The permanent reconstruction work on the dam is expected to cost £10 million and won’t be completed until 2023. The trust has stressed that the temporary repairs mean the dam is safe against any extreme weather event until the permanent repairs are completed.
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