SeaRock, a new joint venture between Aggregate Industries and Earlcoate construction, has completed delivery of armor stone to protect Dorset’s West Bay, for principle contractor BAM Nuttall.
The project was part of a £9 million coastal defense project, funded by Defra, West Dorset Council and Wessex Regional Flood Defence Committee.
West Bay, on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, had been eroding rapidly, but SeaRock’s delivery of 36,000 tonnes – with each individual stone weighing between 0.3 and 10 tonnes – will halt the damage.
The armor stone derived from Aggregate Industries’ renowned super-quarry in Glensanda, Scotland, where it was loaded onto a waiting vessel – the Mobile Pearl – in full.
The Mobile Pearl then traveled 500 nautical miles to the agreed offshore anchorage position, 1.4 miles outside the Dorset coast’s Marine Conservation Area.
From there, the SeaRock operational team, with over 100 years’ experience joined forces with its marine partner, Holyhead Towing, which provided specialized shallow drafted tugs.
The result was efficient delivery of between 1,200 and 1,800 tonnes per tide – from ship to shore.