Balfour Beatty has been awarded the £7m contract to design and build a coastal protection scheme along the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast, at Sandsend, three miles north of Whitby.
The project, for North Yorkshire County Council, is needed to protect a section of the A174 road which is heavily relied on by the community of Sandsend to reach nearby Whitby and is currently threatened by coastal erosion and slope failures.
The scheme will protect 16 houses in the village from the effects of storms and wave action through the construction of approximately 780m of concrete-stepped revetment sea defences and supporting infrastructure such as public access steps, pedestrian crossings, highway drainage and public amenity areas. The highway will also be widened in places to accommodate extra parking to encourage more visitors to the area.
Balfour Beatty teamed up with designers, Royal HaskoningDHV, back in September 2013 to progress the scheme and jointly develop the designs. Balfour Beatty has been working to ensure the project is carried out sustainably through the break-up, reuse and relocation of existing sea defence material, and will transport all consequent surplus earthworks to a designated fill area on the seaward side of the A174.
The work programme will be designed to minimise the impact on the A174 which will remain open to traffic and pedestrians at all times throughout the construction phase.
Stephen Semple, Balfour Beatty Managing Director for North Central, said: “Our success in winning this project has been partly down to our ability to deliver innovative solutions, developed through our long history of delivering successful coastal defence work, together with our proposals to minimise disruption to local people and visitors. We are looking forward to working with North Yorkshire County Council to deliver this scheme, which, once complete, will safeguard the homes and future economy of Sandsend.”