Lyme Regis, on the UK’s Jurassic Coast, is England’s first natural World Heritage site covering 95 miles of coastline from East Devon to Dorset. As well as being an internationally important site in terms of geology, geomorphology and ecology, it is also one of the UK’s most unstable geological settings, with years of landslides and coastal erosion leaving hundreds of homes at risk of damage.
Undertaking one of the UK’s most complex coastal stabilisation schemes, we designed a new sea wall, cliff protection, slope stabilisation and drainage systems, providing long-term protection to more than 400 homes, as well as roads and infrastructure.
The scheme is unusual in that its purpose is to prevent the expansion of the landslide system without stabilising all of it, in order to meet ecological constraints. Its success is the result of a huge team effort involving all partners, as well as the local community, environmental stakeholders, subcontractors and suppliers.