Crumbling harbour wall repairs resume over Easter

Works to repair a harbour's crumbling walls are entering a new phase over the Easter break.

The walls at Bridport Harbour in West Bay, Dorset, began showing large cracks in 2023 after tides undermined the structures, leading to fears they could collapse.

Last year, engineers installed sheet piling and injected resin to stabilise the damaged sections until a permanent fix could be carried out.

Work begins on Monday for eight weeks to repoint masonry and repair a walkway. The final phase of reinforcement work is due to get under way in the autumn.

The pavement between the roundabout and the Mound will remain open, except for some short-term closures to move equipment, and access to the kiosks will be unaffected.

Jon Andrews, Dorset Council's place services lead, said: "This next set of works will cause minimal disruption as they are mostly being done from a pontoon on the waterfront.

"We appreciate that they are taking place over Easter but this is a necessity for our work programme."

Scaffolding will remain in place for the final phase of the works, which will begin in the autumn with the installation of a cofferdam [temporary watertight enclosure] and sheet piling to allow long-term structural reinforcement work to be carried out below the water line.

During the first phase of works in 2025, contractors Geobear injected more than 10 tonnes of geopolymer resin at 215 points in the walls.

Council construction manager Kevin Davis previously said the "biggest benefit" to the injection system had been "no vibration at all".

He said: "Piling would have risked losing the wall.

"This was the best solution for the town, the businesses and our budget."