Works set to restart on North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme

WORK is set to restart on one of Portsmouth’s critical sea defence schemes, it has been announced this evening.
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Efforts to continue with the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme will resume in April, Portsmouth City Council said.

Phase four of the project – from Kendall's Wharf to Milton Common – had been put on hold while overwintering birds were staying on the island.

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They have since left, allowing for the scheme to recommence.

An artists impression of what the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme will look like.An artists impression of what the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme will look like.
An artists impression of what the North Portsea Island Coastal Defence Scheme will look like.

With construction work moving south along Eastern Road it means Langstone Harbour’s viewing car park will be closed from Tuesday, March 15 until autumn 2023.

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The path along the coast between the Andrew Simpson Centre and the Langstone Harbour viewing car park will also remain closed, with a diversion in place.

Project manager for the scheme, Caroline Timlett said: ‘While we understand the car park closure may cause some inconvenience, it's a necessity for us to deliver the scheme and I thank people for their patience over what will be a huge year for us.

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‘We're continuing to build the flood glass coastal defence wall at Harbourside Park, as well as enhancing the local area for everyone to enjoy.

‘As work progresses, there'll be noticeable improvements such as new seating areas, viewpoints and paths, alongside environmental elements such as wildflower meadows and bee posts.’

The North Portsea Island Scheme covers 5.2 miles (8.4km) of coastline from Tipner through to Milton and is being delivered in five phases.

Phase four covering 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of seafront, from Kendall's Wharf to Milton Common, began in autumn 2020, and is planned to be completed in autumn 2023.

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Work around the Kendall’s Wharf site included raising the road level and building an earth embankment and a timber cladded steel sheet pile wall. This was undertaken between November 2019 and October 2020.

Work along the Eastern Road, including the construction of a textured concrete seawall with areas of glass flood wall, started in spring 2021.

Most of the sea defence wall along the Eastern Road will be a textured using an ‘ecoformliner’ mould, which imprints into the wall during construction. As such, the texturing is part of the actual sea defence and has a 100-year design life.

Coastal Partners worked with experts including the University of Glasgow and University of Bournemouth to design the mould for the project.

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The textured seawall aims to provide a habitat for marine plant and animal species found in Langstone Harbour and is the first specifically designed for inter-tidal ecology in the UK.

The Scheme is being delivered by Coastal Partners on behalf of Portsmouth City Council and is funded by the Environment Agency.

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