We are constructing a coastal defence scheme to reduce the risk of flooding from the sea to homes and businesses in and around the Kent town of Deal.
Some areas of Deal have a 1 in 20 (5%) chance of tidal flooding in any given year. We are building a flood defence scheme that will reduce this risk to 1 in 300, for 1,418 homes and 148 commercial properties in Deal.
The scheme will also protect:
- the Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Special Protection Area and Ramsar Site
- the Sandwich Bay Special Area of Conservation
- the railway line between Ramsgate and Dover
- Scheduled Monuments and listed buildings in North Deal.
Building the scheme is costing £10 million.
Public drop-in session - Saturday 15 June
Thank you to everyone who came along to our drop in session at Deal promenade on Saturday. Our project team spoke to over 160 people who came along to talk to us about the new sea defence scheme and give us their views.
We received lots of positive feedback and a number of helpful comments which will help us to improve how we deliver flood defence schemes elsewhere.
Most comments were about the new wave wall on the promenade and, on the whole, most people are very happy with it: 'Wall looks fantastic – really fits with Deal.'
We also received very positive comments about how the work was done: 'Good workers, mindful of local community, excellent outcome!'
The most frequently asked question was about why the wall doesn’t extend all along the sea front – this is because the beach to the south is more stable and already provides a very high standard of protection so a new wall here is currently not needed.
If you were unable to come to the drop-in and want to talk to us about the scheme, please feel free to contact us.
Progress on the scheme
We started construction in September 2012.
The weakest point in the defence had been the rock revetment at Sandown Castle. We replaced the existing rock with 21,000 tonnes of Norwegian rock, completing this part of the works three weeks ahead of schedule. This has reduced the risk of a breach, significantly reducing flood risk to most of Deal. This part of the scheme now provides a 1 in 300 year standard of protection.
We are now completing the final touches to the wave wall and promenade works.
We have monitored the beach throughout the time we have been at Deal. This has shown that the new beach contains more fine, sandy material than required. We are in discussions with our contractor to correct the mix of shingle on the beach. The details of the timings of this work are still to be finalised. We will keep you updated as our plans develop.
