Beach replenishment

Coastal erosion is a persistent and growing problem as sea levels continue to rise. The maintenance of the coastline and its protection can be achieved in a number of ways, with beach replenishment providing an extremely effective solution in many cases.

The movement of beaches can be arrested by the construction of groynes and the creation of spending beaches to dissipate wave action. This can require the introduction of large quantities of material.

The delivery of this material by ship is the ideal solution. Not only is the most appropriate material used to nourish and replenish the beaches, the alternative of large numbers of lorries and the associated disruption is removed.

The material is normally discharged onto the beach direct from the dredger through a floating or submerged pipeline. An alternative is the use of splitter barges which place the material on the beach at high water. In both cases the dredger remains offshore and the potential problems associated with road transport are eliminated.

CEMEX UK Marine has considerable experience in this activity and has supplied a significant number of major replenishment contracts including more recently: