Work to protect the main railway line through Dawlish has reached a major milestone.
The installation of all 164 wall panels, 203 pre-cast blocks and 189 recurve units which return waves back out to sea is now complete as part of the second section of the sea wall.
This innovative design coupled with the increased height of the new sea wall will help prevent delays and disruption to passengers by minimising the likelihood of the tracks flooding and allowing the line to reopen more quickly after major storms.
Ewen Morrison, Network Rail senior programme manager, said: “Achieving resilience for the railway in Dawlish is a major milestone not just for Network Rail, but for our passengers, the town and the south west region as a whole. It’s what we set out to do when we were awarded £80m of funding from the Department of Transport back in 2019.
“This landmark moment is testament to the hard work and coordination of staff from Network Rail and our contractors BAM Nuttall, who have worked under extremely challenging conditions around the tides and through the seasons as well as during the Covid pandemic.
“We would like to thank everyone for their continued patience and understanding while we complete the work as quickly and safely as possible.
“As we near completion of the sea wall, it’s exciting to know the positive impact this project will have in Dawlish, which will provide greater protection to the railway from rising sea levels and extreme weather for generations to come.”
Read more: Government pledges extra £32million for Dawlish railway protection work
The work is part of a ongoing major project to protect the coastal stretch of railway that was washed away in February 2014 during devastating storms.
The region was effectively cut off to all rail services for eight weeks while the 'orange army' of network rail engineers worked all hours to re-open the line.
At the time, then PM David Cameron said he would pledge whatever it takes to protect the line in future.
The first section of new sea wall – which runs for 360 metres along Marine Parade south west of Dawlish station – was completed in July 2020. Construction of the 415 metre second section – stretching from Coastguard breakwater northeast of Dawlish station to Colonnade breakwater – began in November 2020.
The next stage is to complete the link bridge that will connect the two sections of public, accessible promenade and the new stilling basin, where Dawlish Water runs into the sea.
This work is now expected to be finished in December, due to the discovery of an uncharted gas main in June which delayed piling to install foundations for the new link bridge close to Colonnade viaduct.
While construction is ongoing, the access to the King’s Walk promenade and beach at Colonnade underpass will continue to be intermittently open for safety reasons.
The final part of the project will see the construction of a new, accessible footbridge with lifts at Dawlish station
Work is due to start in September, with the bridge due to open next summer.
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The new sea wall at Dawlish is part of Network Rail’s ongoing efforts since 2014 to improve the resilience of the railway between Dawlish and Teignmouth in Devon, known as the South West Rail Resilience Programme (SWRRP).
