5000 tonne rock shipment arrives from Norway to protect crumbling East Yorkshire coastline
A multimillion-pound scheme to protect a stretch of the East Coast that is eroding at six metres per year has received its first 5,000-tonne shipment of rocks from Norway.
The £5m sea defence scheme is to protect Withernsea. About 70 homes and more than 250 holiday chalets and static caravans in the town are at risk.
The current defences will be extended by 400 metres using 63,000 tonnes of rock similar to granite. The East Yorkshire coast has one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe.
The South Withernsea Coastal Defence Scheme received £3m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund and was given the go-ahead in October 2019.
Construction work, which began at the site in May, is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
Each rock, which weighs between one and 10 tonnes, will be used to create an interlocking rock structure, designed to prevent waves from reaching thecliffs.