Clacton’s new £36 million coastal protection scheme is proving effective under the strain of recent severe weather conditions, according to the Tendring District Council.
The coastline has been battered by strong south-easterly winds for around a week and the 23 new fish tail groynes from Clacton Pier to Holland Haven have reduced the action of the waves and therefore the effect on defenses.
The waves and tides have caused some reprofiling of the beaches themselves creating cliffing, but that is a natural response and only to be expected.
Nick Turner, TDC’s Cabinet Member for Coastal Protection and Seafronts , said that the scheme is doing exactly what it was designed for.
“Obviously this is the first winter since the project was completed and therefore there was always going to be some changes to the profile of the beaches ,” he said.
“ People will have noticed some cliffing on the beach in the past week or so which is a natural response of the dredged material used within the scheme.
“This is a result of the recent weather conditions moving and sorting the material around the bays.
“It is an expected movement of the material and it is considered that as the conditions change the material will then redistribute again .”
The bays within the scheme were overfilled with dredged material to allow for some redistribution and loss of finer material, which predominantly causes the cliffing.
This short term effect will reduce with each storm event as the beach responds to form its natural profile.
Cllr Turner added that the project had been completed under budget and ahead of schedule and would protect the coastline and around 3,000 properties for the next 100 years.
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