Media centre

Tuesday 12 Oct 2004

MULTI-MILLION POUND CLIFF SCHEME ON TARGET

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Passengers who use Devon’s mainline coastal railway will be pleased to learn that the multi million pound project to prevent rock falls and landslips – and subsequent delays – on the line, is well underway. With approval from English Nature, “rock scaling” work on the sea cliffs at Teignmouth has begun. This involves checking the cliff face and removing loose material. The cliffs will then be stabilised and rock fall netting will be added. Andy Jenkins, Network Rail’s Project Manager, said: “We are extremely pleased with the progress of this project. The co-operation and support from local land-owners and residents has been, and will continue to be, crucial to the project’s success.  “The netting works in particular have attracted a lot of interest from people walking along the sea wall and everyone is pleased to see that, where meshing has already been installed, vegetation is already growing through.” Network Rail has already spent more than £6 million on the first three phases of the project to stabilise and manage this historic coastline between Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren.  This third phase of work will cost £2.8 million and is due to finish in April 2005.  Since starting the third phase of work in February 2004, Network Rail has:

• Installed more than 1,400 of the planned 2,550 soil nails
• Drilled some 7,000 linear metres of hole in the cliff for nail installation
• Pumped over 62,000 litres of grout to secure the nails into the cliffs
• Installed more than 8,500 square metres out of a total of 26,000 square metres of structural mesh

            The sea cliffs continue to be monitored regularly for signs of movement but Network Rail is confident it can reduce the potential impact on train services over the winter period to reflect the stabilization work that has taken place to date.  Over the summer period, only one significant slip on the cliff was recorded. Phase three does not mark the end of the project.  Further work is likely to be carried out and feasibility studies for the type and extent of this are currently being reviewed.