Students check out Fleetwood's £63m sea wall

The new £63m coastal defences being built at Rossall have attracted the attention of engineering students.
Construction students and staff from the School of Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire at the Rossall sea defences site compound, West Way, Fleetwood.Construction students and staff from the School of Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire at the Rossall sea defences site compound, West Way, Fleetwood.
Construction students and staff from the School of Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire at the Rossall sea defences site compound, West Way, Fleetwood.

A party of students and lecturers from the School of Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire visited the Fleetwood site to see work on the replacement sea defences.

Wyre Council is replacing two kilometres of defences from Rossall Hospital to Rossall Point in an ambitious project which will protect 7,500 properties from the risk of flooding.

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More than 325,000 tonnes of rock armour are being used to create the base of the defences, to weather the harsh conditions on this exposed part of the coastline and allow the beach to build up in the area.

Between the rock revetment and the promenade, specially manufactured precast concrete is being used to form a stepped revetment to break the waves. The promenade will look similar in design to Cleveleys. The visitors are studying several different courses including undergraduate civil engineering and building surveying and postgraduate construction project management degrees.

Chris Pye, senior lecturer in building surveying, said: “Site visits are an important part of the learning strategy for these degree programmes as they help to reinforce what is taught in lectures as well as expose students to a working construction site environment. The Rossall coastal defence scheme is also unique in its design and implementation as all coastal defence schemes are designed to suit local site conditions.”

Wyre Council officers along with representatives from main contractor Balfour Beatty talked to the group about progress on the scheme.

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To date around 150,000 tonnes of rock have been placed in both the lower revetment and groynes. Over 1300 metres of steel piles have been installed, as have 300 precast concrete units including access steps and wave walls.

To find out more visit the info cabin at West Way car park from Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 5.30pm, or visit fyldecoastalprogramme.co.uk.