Work complete on £1.4 million sea defence upgrades at Port of Sunderland

Work is now complete on critical repairs and upgrades to sea defences after they took a battering from the elements.

The, structure located in front of Hendon Wastewater Treatment Facility, had been impacted by continuous storm damage and corrosion.

Esh Construction were appointed by Sunderland City Council to take the £1.4 million project at the Port of Sunderland to strengthen, reinforce and upgrade the existing sea wall at the Hendon Foreshore site.

Damage to the sea defence posed a flood risk to the site and adjacent wastewater treatment works.

Temporary emergency repairs took place in December 2020 to mitigate the impacts of erosion due to a previous storm event, which involved the placement of approximately 1,000m3 of rock armour to prevent further damage.  

Esh’s civil engineering division was appointed to relocate this rock armour and move it seaward, with the remaining gap being filled with stone to create a piling mat.

A total of 630 tonnes of sand was used in ton dumpy bags to form a temporary retaining structure for the stone to protect it from the sea. This enabled 21 metres of 12-metre-long sheet piles to be installed as a permanent barrier in front of the existing wall structure.

A total of 130 metres of the sea wall was strengthened with a new one-metre-thick concrete wall skin being built to encase the existing sea wall with a new reinforced concrete deck area being constructed.

Esh’s Divisional Director, Steven Garrigan, advised that the site team had to overcome difficult tidal conditions, with Storm Babet in particular creating problems. He said: “During Autumn, we encountered a number of storm events with Storm Babet classified as a once in 20–25-year storm event which caused significant damage to the working area and pushed completion of finishing works on the project into the winter period.

“The perseverance of the project team to bring the scheme to completion is testament to the hard work of all involved and marks another successful project within the Port of Sunderland.”

Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Vibrant City, Councillor Kevin Johnston said: “The Port of Sunderland is a key part of our city’s infrastructure and these important works on the sea defences are about the long-term protection of the port and all its assets.

"There are complex and unique engineering and construction challenges when updating sea defences and I would like to thank council engineering colleagues, the port and Esh for all their hard work.

"Maintaining, investing and protecting the city's infrastructure are always priorities for us as a City Council."

Earlier last year, Esh Construction deliver a multi-million-pound project to provide a shovel ready platform for prime developable land at the Port of Sunderland as part of an enabling works package on the Trinity Rail, Road & Sea Enterprise Zone site to improve port infrastructure.

In delivering social value to the area, Esh has reinvested 90% of the project spend within the North East through the responsible procurement of local sub-contractors and supply chain.

Esh also donated two concrete manhole rings which have been painted with unique designs and used as planters at Villette Road in Hendon. The donation supported the Back on the Map scheme to brighten up an urban quadrant, with students from Southmoor Academy getting involved to design and paint the planters.

To find out more about Esh Construction, visit www.eshgroup.co.uk