This project, the fourth since 1996, is one of several initiatives to reduce the risk to the railway and prolong the life of the line between Folkestone and Dover.The rocks, weighing between 4 and 8 tonnes each, are trucked by road to Calais and loaded onto the "Mari" for transport across The Channel in loads of 1,500 tonnes per trip. They are then transferred by the smaller 500 tonne capacity side-tipping barge, "Ville", to be dumped to the foot of the sea wall at the peak of the high tide. A total of 24 thousand tonnes of rock has been used in this project to shore up the failing defences at Folkestone Warren.
At low tide the rocks are individually placed to a designed profile with a 5-point contact to achieve a density of between 1.8 and 2.2, (66% to 80% of the rock density of 2.7). The design provides support to the wall, toe weighting to counter the landslide mechanism and effectively breaks the force of the waves. The rock is selected for its durability, proximity of source and environmental acceptability in this Site of Special Scientific Interest.
This phase, completed between 24 June and 19 July, 2002 cost £1m and extended the protection of the sea wall by 250m. The project was delivered through the Osborne arm of the Railtrack Construction Partnership using Dean & Dyball as the subcontractor for revetment construction.
01227 862 448
01227 784 013