Bournemouth BIS4.4

Last update: 09 March 2009

Bournemouth Beach Improvement Scheme 4.4

Bournemouth Beach Improvement Scheme (BIS4.4) March 2009

The dredger 'Crestway' The replenishment of a section of beach at Southbourne by the Fareham-based Westminster Dredging Company, using the Dutch dredger Crestway.

The Crestway made her first delivery to the beach on Wednesday 4th March 2009.

BIS4.4 was completed on Saturday 21st March, with 74,192 cubic metres added to the beach between Groynes 50 & 53.

Beach material was dredged off the Isle of Wight and brought close to the beach by the dredger from where it was pumped ashore through a 300m long floating pipeline and then levelled by bulldozers. The dredge/sail/discharge cycle from the IoW took approximately 11 hours.

100% Grant Aid funding was received for this project from The Environment Agency on behalf of Defra (the government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

The Beach Material

The dredging area off the Isle of Wight was selected because the material there is so similar to the natural beach material at Bournemouth, and is within economical reach for the dredger.

The material is a sand & shingle mix (predominantly sand). The coarser material is needed to ensure the beach is not washed away, and it is possible that, from time to time, it will naturally rise to the surface, particularly at more exposed areas in the east of the bay.

Further Work

One more top up is planned for 2010; the exact date and location will be confirmed much closer to the time

The existing timber groynes 51 and 52 are life expired and will shortly be rebuilt, using the replenished beach as a working platform.

Contact

Dr David Harlow

Coast Protection Manager

Bournemouth Borough Council

Town Hall Annexe

St Stephens Road

Bournemouth BH2 6EA

Tel: 01202 451389

Fax: 01202 451008

Email David Harlow

For more detailed replenishment process information and pictures see BIS4.1 (opens in a new window).

About BIS

Bournemouth beach loses approximately 70,000 m³ of material annually (1 million m³ every 13 years. Since the predominant direction of longshore transport in Poole Bay is from west to east, sand gradually feeds the beaches at Southbourne and Hengistbury Head to the east, and beyond into Christchurch Bay.

The shoreline has been replenished on several occasions in recent years and is now effectively an artificial beach. These projects are referred to as 'Beach Improvement Schemes' (BIS):

Scheme	Year	Quantity of sand (m^³)
BIS1	1970	84,000
BIS2	1974/75	1,400,000
BIS3	1988/89	1,000,000
BIS4.1	2005/06	600,000
BIS4.2	2006/07	898,000*
BIS4.3	2008	70,000
BIS4.4	2009	70,000
*included 15,000m³ stockpiled for the Boscombe surf reef

In the past Bournemouth Council has carried out "boom & bust" replenishment schemes, where the beach is delivered with a large quantity of material (e.g. 1974/75) and left until much of it is lost before further replenishment (e.g. 1988/89).

Beach Improvement Scheme 4.1 (2005/06) was part of a wider scheme that included the replenishment of beaches at Swanage and Poole using sand dredged from Poole Harbour [more]. The project continued at Bournemouth during the winter of 2006/2007, between Boscombe and Alum Chine, using a further 700,000 cubic metres of sand from a Licensed Dredging Area off the Isle of Wight [BIS4.2].

During the three years 2008-2010 the council pledged to make good the annual losses to keep the beach at a constant level and volume (BIS4.3, 4.4 and 4.5). Replenishment is localised and takes just a few days. It is undertaken during winter months in order to minimise disturbance to public access & enjoyment.

This product includes mapping data licences from Ordnance Survey © Crown Copyright and/or database right License Number 10024248

Web development & maintenance: Sarah Austin