Important shingle replenishment work started on the beach between Shoreham and Lancing on Monday 2 January 2024. This work will help give better protection to local communities from coastal flooding this winter.
Recent storms eroded away some of the shingle beach in Lancing which provides a soft engineered flood defence.
Nick Gray, flood and coastal-risk manager at the Environment Agency in Sussex, said:
We are taking shingle from Shoreham Fort and moving it along the beach to the eroded area at Lancing Beach Green.
As we enter the winter months, it is essential that the shingle beach is maintained to ensure it continues to provide protection to homes and businesses in Shoreham and Lancing.
Sea levels are projected to rise by over one metre in the south of England this century, and with more frequent powerful storms also predicted, the risk of increased coastal erosion and flooding is likely.
The shingle recycling will help to maintain the flood defences offered by the beach, and to provide the standard of protection required by the coastal defence scheme completed by the Environment Agency in partnership with Worthing Borough Council in 2005.
The Environment Agency will move 12,000 cubic metres of shingle from Shoreham to Lancing. This is the equivalent of moving almost 5 Olympic size swimming pools.
The shingle is loaded into dump trucks by an excavator that then transport the material along the beach frontage to where it is needed. Bulldozers then position the material into the beach profile.
The beach will remain open, but the Environment Agency is advising the public to be cautious and keep a safe distance from working machinery.
Moving beach shingle to Lancing will shore up this natural flood defence as sea levels are projected to rise by over one metre in southern of England this century.
Residents living in a flood-risk area are urged to check their flood risk, sign-up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow
