Flood defences refurbished in Essex

The Environment Agency is funding £2M worth of refurbishment to the flood defences that are currently in place to the west of Stansgate in Essex, providing the local residents with greater protection against winter storm surges which will be sure to hit in late 2019 and early 2020.

Work is focused upon the refurbishment of the embankment that is situated to the west of Stansgate Abbey Road and to the north of Steeple, which protects more than 200 homes in addition to agricultural land and natural habitats.

The outdated defences that are currently in place are consisted of worn concrete which has partially eroded from years of assault by the sea, however the Environment Agency’s contractors, JBA Bentley, will be removing the old concrete scour protection and shall be replacing it with a specialist mixture of stone and asphalt (OSA).

The Environment Agency Project Leader, Robert Brown stated: “This work will improve the condition of the defence and will reduce the need for maintenance works for many years to come.

“The OSA and equipment is being brought to site by lorry. We and JBA Bentley are working hard to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.

“For example, the old concrete blocks will be placed at the bottom of the seawall to act as a wave break and habitat, which will remove the need to take them away by lorry.”

The majority of protection will cover the village of St Lawrence and work will continue until the winter storms are predicted to hit in December 2019, although other work is currently underway at the adjoining defences by the landowner.

The funding comes as part of the Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy which, between 2015 and 2021, has reserved £2.6Bn to be spent on over 1,500 projects which will, in turn, protect 300,000 British homes.

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