Dawlish - permanent resilience work - ongoing discussions

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

Not reported previously I think, but Teignbridge district have now approved the Dawlish phase 2 works, (Coastguards to Collonades and Dawlish station section), the detailed letter on their planning website dates from 01 Sep.

Planning details can be found here, there are a few updated drawings:

Application reference:  20/00933/NPA
Address:  Coastguards Breakwater To Colonnades Breakwater And Dawlish Railway Station, Station Road, Dawlish, Devon, EX7 9PJ

https://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/planning/planning-applications-and-appeals/view-and-comment-on-planning-applications-and-appeals/

The Network Rail webpage has also been updated to reflect approval:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/western/south-west-rail-resilience-programme/dawlish-sea-wall-section-two/

Paul

[Surrey 455]

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news with photos

A railway line that washed into the sea in 2014 will be protected "for generations to come" by a new wall, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said.
The minister officially opened the first section of the new structure in Dawlish, Devon, on Friday.
The wall forms part of an ?80m Network Rail project to safeguard the line which connects Devon and Cornwall with the rest of the rail network.
Repairs to the track, damaged in storms six years ago, cost ?40m.
Mr Heaton-Harris said: "Our investment in this new sea wall will provide a resilient railway for generations to come, delivering for the thousands of passengers that rely upon this vital link every day, and the residents whose homes and businesses must be protected.

Continues..........."

[Jamsdad]

More delays..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-54538258

It is not that difficult to engineer a gentle slope into the sea in front of the wall to ensure a sandy beach is still present. Sadly few people in the general public have much understanding of soft sediment coastal engineering!

[REVUpminster]

More delays..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-54538258

It is not that difficult to engineer a gentle slope into the sea in front of the wall to ensure a sandy beach is still present. Sadly few people in the general public have much understanding of soft sediment coastal engineering!

The engineers got it wrong at Dawlish Warren and doesn't inspire confidence.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/environment-agency-admits-made-dawlish-3660561

The only way to secure the railway is to remove any physical connection with the cliff face.

dlr - Copy by Robert, on Flickr

Picasso knocked this up for me. Retains the beach except for the piers. If the cliff face is cut back there would be more beach for the rocks to fall on.

[GBM]

Sorry, Picasso?  Your dog is called that! 

[IndustryInsider]

In addition to the sea wall works, the ?Dawlish Special Mode? has now been enabled on the Class 802 fleet.  Basically drivers engage it when instructed to and if a main circuit earthing is detected it allows up to ten engine restart attempts (rather than the normal two) before the engine goes out of service.

[grahame]

In addition to the sea wall works, the 'Dawlish Special Mode' has now been enabled on the Class 802 fleet.  Basically drivers engage it when instructed to and if a main circuit earthing is detected it allows up to ten engine restart attempts (rather than the normal two) before the engine goes out of service.

I would have read that with a pinch of salt ... except that I read elsewhere that a number of IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) have engines shut down at the moment and "more trains than normal requiring maintenance" at the same time.  Seeing that reason on JourneyCheck when there's a reduced timetable - few superfasts and fewer Cardiff services (Parkway these weeks) suggests there's something more than just the standard ebb and flow of trains coming in to be looked after. 

[paul7575]

Visible work on phase 2 now seems to have started, with heavy plant operating on the beach alongside the station to build a raised refuge area for storage between tides.  Not sure if a main contractor has been confirmed yet, although I only did a very quick search on Google.

However the ?wave walker? (the self positioning jack up barge mentioned in the planning application) has arrived on site.

Paul

[infoman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Spotlight news for the South West of England are reporting on the arrival of the oil type platform on site at 06:55am on tuesday morning as mentioned above

No film footage shown,might get some on the 13:30pm lunch time news or the 18:30pm evening news.

Just a reminder, as always, BBC local news is available for TWENTY FOURS only.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Dawlish Beach Cams have a video up of some of the aforementioned prep work and the arrival of the "wave walker" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-2hBedMZpw

Old shipping containers being used to build a protective area for plant.

[chuffed]

Wouldn't some old pacer units have worked just as well ??

[ellendune]

Wouldn't some old pacer units have worked just as well ??

They don't stack in the same way

[stuving]

I was disappointed. I expected at least stretcher bond.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Some great aerial footage of the wave walker on this which just came up in my YT feed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMRGIuAKkvU. It's big!

Dawlish Beach Cams have also posted this one of how it moves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM8XILynlAU.

[paul7575]

Seems now that it is BAM Nuttall that have got the contract for phase 2, as they did for phase 1.

Here is their news item, dated 10th Nov:
https://www.bamnuttall.co.uk/news/wave-walker/

Network Rail has started work on the second section of the new, bigger sea wall at Dawlish, Devon, to protect the railway and town from rising sea levels, and extreme weather, for generations to come. Construction of this next section of the ?80 million upgrade will take around two years to complete and follows years of detailed studies, designs and joint working between world-leading marine, coastal and railway engineering experts.
The first part, from Dawlish station to the Coastguard breakwater east of the station is expected to be completed in late 2021.The final part between the station and the Colonnade breakwater, which will link up the new wall at Marine Parade, will start to be built shortly after.

Paul