Groyne Works

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At the start of the PFI contract in 2000, there were 150 groynes between Sovereign Harbour and Cooden, many of which were at the end of their useful life. Replacing them would have cost around 12 million – 40% of the 25 year project total budget.

Some groynes maintain important discontinuities in beach alignment and are being retained. It is expected that eventually only about ten will remain. As the remainder fail they are removed before they can become a danger to beach users or break free and become a hazard to shipping. As the deterioration rate varies groyne by groyne and location by location, there is no programme for when this work will be done. The result will be a gradual transition to a more open beach – much as it would have looked in the first half of last century.

As befits an environmentally driven project, we try not to send any of the removed groyne timbers to landfill. Wherever possible they are re-used to repair groynes being retained.

Remaining wood is made available to local residents, farmers and small busunesses for projects as diverse as furniture making, drift-wood mirrors, gate posts, steam engine supports and garden landscaping. We also support “not-for-profit” recycling schemes, particularly Brighton & Hove Wood Recycling Project and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling Project.

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