Rockmead Road

This 3.7 million pound project addressed the land slip problems on Rockmead Road on 2 fronts because the geology here was very different to Sea Road being mostly clay with very little sandstone. A second berm to prevent toe erosion by wave action in conjunction with a complete re-profiling of the slope including land drains and open ditches to remove the surface water plus the installation of 56 boreholes with pumps to lower the water table.

Terry Oakes Associates, civil engineers that specialised in coastal protection works handled the Defra grant application and the planning application for the scheme.

Main contractors Dean & Dyball reprofiled the slope, installed the system of land drains and built the berm that was designed by Halcrow.

The electropneumatic pumps were installed by TP Geo the French company whose managing director designed the pumps and the boreholes were drilled by WJ Groundwater. The 56 boreholes stretch from Smugglers Way to 22 Rockmead Rd. The pumps are powered by 2 x 18.5kW compressors and discharge into the sea.

A total of 57,000 tonnes of limestone from the Carrieres du Boulonnais quarry near Boulogne was shipped across the Channel in 1800 tonne loads on the M/S Mari and transhipped offshore to the smaller 500 tonne self discharging ship M/S Ville, which deposited the limestone on the beach at high tide.