Balfour Beatty secures £97m coastal defence for North Wales
Denbighshire Council has appointed the civil engineer to deliver schemes in Rhyl and Prestatyn, worth £69m and £28m respectively, which will protect more than 2,500 homes.
The Central Rhyl Coastal Defence Scheme will replace more than 600 metres of original sea walls, while the Central Prestatyn Coastal Defence Scheme will create a new coastal erosion embankment spanning more than 1,600 metres of Prestatyn coastline.
Existing defences in both areas are in poor condition and require improvements, especially at a time of rising sea levels and following devastating floods in Rhyl in 2015.
Peter Mumford, managing director at Balfour Beatty’s UK Construction Regional, said: “As the climate continues to change at pace, we will draw on our extensive experience and expertise to deliver these schemes to the highest standard and protect local communities in the area.”
Cllr Barry Mellor of Denbighshire Council stated that residents are grateful, “as they say they can now sleep peacefully at night with flooding worries taken away.”
A new 1,600 metre coastal erosion embankment will be built on Prestatyn’s coastline. Credit: via Denbighshire Council
Planning permission was granted for both coastal projects in July 2022, with construction due to start this month.
Work is expected to complete on the Central Rhyl Coastal Defence Scheme in 2025, with Prestatyn due to follow in 2026.
Search for application number 45/2022/0271 on Denbighshire Council’s planning portal to find out more about the plans for Rhyl, and 45/2021/1248 for Prestatyn.
Balfour Beatty is also currently working on the construction of Parkside Link Road in Newton-Le-Willows, expected to be completed later this year.
We will see how it works in 2038 when the floods come ?
By Duncan
I live on Marine Drive and have had to put up with the disruption of the site compound right across from my house, and what they did with the sea defence down at Splash Point is nothing but an eyesore, if that is how they intend to do the Central Defence it will just ruin the beach.
By Gary Fallows
What’s the current year on Year rise in the sea level at Rhyl?
By John Holmes
A temporary fix at best. As sea level rises( currently about 1cm every 3 years) the water table will rise and start and water will rise up in the living rooms of these houses with every high tide. King Canute learnt many years ago that you can’t beat nature
By Dr Chris Burgess