Five new rock groynes for Poole

Since Poole’s beach is now wide enough to function as a coast protection structure, controls are required to ensure it remains that way for as long as possible.

The Council’s Coastal & Drainage team recently received planning permission for the construction of five new rock groynes at Branksome Chine and Branksome Dene Chine, each measuring between 45m-75m in length. 

The contract was awarded to Dean & Dyball and construction work commenced 24th November 2008 with completion scheduled for 1st May 2009.  This allows for a two week shut-down of the site over Christmas (22nd December 2008 to 4th January 2009) and one week over Easter (9th to 17th April 2009).

Some 20,000 tonnes of rock will be delivered to the beach by low-loaders transporting up to 500 tonnes daily via the car park at Branksome Chine.

Access to the promenade will be maintained while construction takes place. However, to ensure public safety, the stretch of beach from Branksome Chine to Branksome Dene Chine will be closed while the heavy plant and machinery is on site. Every attempt will be made to manage and limit disruption to public enjoyment of the beach.

• A plan showing the position of groynes can be found below.

• A project diary is published online and will be regularly updated.

The cost of this project is covered by government funding from Defra and is expected to total £1.9 million.

Once the groynes are constructed we will create new Safe Swimming Zones between them using yellow markers. These RNLI approved zones have been successful at Sandbanks.

Project Context

The choice of rock groynes for this latest project followed more than three years of detailed investigations and analysis by HR Wallingford.  Engineers from Italy, Holland and New Zealand were involved in the first stage of the study which considered more than 20 options for beach control structures.  A final report recommended four options for detailed consideration - three groyne options and one submerged reef option.  An economic appraisal concluded that rock groynes were the preferred option.

This project at Poole is a move away from the traditional coastal protection scheme in that a post project appraisal and programme of beach monitoring is being funded by Defra as part of the overall scheme, and will compare outcomes with computer modelling by HR Wallingford. The results will inform Environment Agency research, and help the refinement of beach plan shape models in the future.

Groyne Plan 

The groyne plan shows the position and relative size of each of the five rock groynes to be constructed.

The plan is too large to display on this page, but a pdf version is available to download (file size 650kb)

The Project • Project Diary • Proven Need • Construction