Dawlish and Dawlish Warren sea defences - ongoing concerns and issues discussion

[whole diary]

[willc]

The following notice is on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) homepage tonight


Dawlish Sea Wall
Sunday 06th July 2008 at 18:00

Due to expected high tides this evening at Dawlish, the line between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot may have to close.

There is a possibility that the line could remain closed on Monday 07th July.

Customers should check this website for details of possible service alterations before they travel.

[devon_metro]

Winds have dropped since last night and there weren't any major problems then.

[woody]

Heard from sources from within FGW^▸ (First Great Western) yesterday that two holes had been found under Dawlish station area hence the warning issued yesterday.

[eightf48544]

Two holes already, makes 50 years for opening a new route (see other link First Great Western Coffee Shop > Journey by Journey > London to the West > No Alternative To Dawlish Route "For Another 50 Years"
) seem a bit of a long time.

Looks like work should start on Okehampton to Bere Alston asap.

[devon_metro]

Two holes already, makes 50 years for opening a new route (see other link First Great Western Coffee Shop > Journey by Journey > London to the West > No Alternative To Dawlish Route "For Another 50 Years"
) seem a bit of a long time.

Looks like work should start on Okehampton to Bere Alston asap.

And miss out the area of devon that are economically reliant on the railway 

Dawlish, Teignmouth, Starcross and Torbay are reliant on a decent railway service - besides "Devon Metro" passenger number are growing!!!

[Lee]

Two holes already, makes 50 years for opening a new route (see other link First Great Western Coffee Shop > Journey by Journey > London to the West > No Alternative To Dawlish Route "For Another 50 Years"
) seem a bit of a long time.

Looks like work should start on Okehampton to Bere Alston asap.

Here is said link.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3098.msg23781#msg23781

[eightf48544]

[

And miss out the area of devon that are economically reliant on the railway 

Dawlish, Teignmouth, Starcross and Torbay are reliant on a decent railway service - besides "Devon Metro" passenger number are growing!!!
[/quote]

Definitely not what I meant. If sea wall goes the whole of West Devon and Cornwall will be cut off from the national rail network and Dawlish etc. will loose their rail service. Therefore, it's  not an either or situation, repair the sea wall or do Okehampton - Bere Alston. It's both.

Okehampton - Bere Alston should be done now so that there is an alternative  rail route to the West whilst work starts on the sea wall. When Okehampton to Bere Alston is reopened it gives a diversionary rail route to Plymouth and the West. Then if the line has to be closed to repair the sea wall and buses used at times between Exeter and Newton Abbot  it means through passengers will have rail service, which must be good. Although not good for Dawlish etc. passengers.

Virgin certainly think it's better to run a train throughout otherwise why would they bother to run trains to Euston via Greenford when Rugby is shut?

It also seems to me that now is also the time to start planning the inland diversion and safeguarding the route possibly even buying the land. Which would mean  that if in future years the sea wall is damaged beyond repair in a freak storm there will still be a still be a rail route to Cornwall and work on the inland diversion could be started almost immediately.

I predict that if the sea wall is destroyed  beyond repair and the Southern route has not been reopened then the rail network  West of Exter will die a lingering death and Cornwall and West Devon will  suffer a major economic decline.

But then planning ahead is not the British way we just love to muddle through and trust to luck.





[/quote]

[FarWestJohn]

RSSB^▸ (Rail Safety and Standards Board) have a very detailed study into this problem which is ongoing at the moment:

Working with the Environment Agency and using data from the Met Office Hadley Centre, RSSB modelled predictions of the effects of increased wave heights and storm surges on coast defences, using the length of railway at Dawlish in Devon.

^The effects of climate change, and in particular sea level rise, are likely to increase the severity of the wave, tidal and wind effects on coastal defences,^ said Network Rail^s chief engineer, Andrew McNaughton. ^This research aims to put us in a stronger position, to be able to quantify those effects and so consider future strategies.^

^Network Rail is using the results of the study to inform its specific feasibility study into the reconstruction of the sea wall at Dawlish, the results are due in the autumn.^

Further information about the research can be downloaded from the RSSB website:

http://www.rssb.co.uk/pdf/reports/research/T643_apps_final.pdf

This will give you a wealth of detail.

[James Vertigan]

Just heard this was discussed on Radio Devon this morning, residents are concerned the sea could break through at any time and they say the Environment Agency hasn't done enough.

Do Network Rail (or FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for that matter) work with the EA on protecting the sea wall, as it houses most of their property or do they have nothing to do with it?

Let's just hope it doesn't suddenly collapse with a train on it.

[inspector_blakey]

Don't want to sound too cynical but I think I'd have more faith in NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s structural engineers' ability to assess the integrity of the sea wall than the local residents'. There was an article in Rail a few months back detailing the extent of the maintenance and inspection the sea wall gets, and as reported this seemed pretty impressive.

[Phil]

I just phoned my cousin up who is a Dawlish Warren resident (bungalow overlooking the line) and she says she has no idea what this is all about or who the alleged "concerned residents" supposedly are.

[James Vertigan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p006ysct/Good_Morning_Devon_25_03_2010/

Listen back to the reports - it was mentioned pretty widely in the second hour (7am) - can't seem to find any online articles on it though.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Teignmouth News and Dawlish Gazette:

Beach fears grow

The ^100,000 flood defence project at Dawlish Warren beach is set to be completed by the end of this month ^ but Teignbridge Council is so concerned about the situation that the authority is calling for a further ^2.9 million cash injection from the Environment Agency.

Funding for the current works, which were seen as a necessity after recent storms caused beach erosion and damage to gabion and groyne defences, was secured in January.

And Environment Agency spokesman Paul Gainey told the Gazette that the project is near completion, as is work to remove ^dangerous^ metalwork from an old defence scheme.

[inspector_blakey]

damage to...groyne defences

Ouch. That sounds painful.

[devon_metro]

presumably they are referring to the spit spanningthe estuary which has lost a lot of sand in recent storms