A £12 million Cockett Wick seawall improvement scheme has been successfully completed, protecting 3,000 homes and Business in Jaywick, Essex, from tidal flooding.

Contractor BAM Nuttall helped the Environment Agency bring about the project’s completion, which involved the placement of 14,000 tonnes of Norwegian granite, 150 steel piles and 330 metres of reinforced concrete footpath and seawall.
Consultant Jacobs, was also brought onto the project’s design, which was amended to use 152 recycled steel tube piles rather than new steel sheet piles, saving approximately 1,000 tonnes of carbon.
The objective of the project has been to adapt to the challenges of climate change, with the new wall designed to account for sea-level rise, accommodating a further wall raising in 50 years’ time.
Further carbon saving methods included:
- transporting revetment rock in 6 barge movements instead of 700 flatbed lorry-loads saving 48 tonnes of carbon.
- Redistributing 1,200 tonnes of surplus rock to support local collaboration projects with landowners to protect seawalls from erosion.
Last year, BAM Nuttall completed major works to repair, re-enforce and reconstruct a sea wall on the Devon coast, valued at £80 million.
The contractor overcame serious adversity on the project when an uncharted gas main was discovered, pushing its programme back by weeks.
Robert Harvey, project manager for BAM Nuttall, said: “We are delighted to have worked collaboratively with the Environment Agency and Jacobs on the Cockett Wick project, providing a successful flood defence scheme for the area, with sustainability, innovation and the local area at its core, benefiting generations to come.”
Louise Oldfield-Trim, project manager for Jacobs, said: “A key factor in the project’s success was the full commitment to collaboration by the entire team, including the Environment Agency, BAM and Jacobs.
“By prioritising sustainability at the forefront of the design, we developed an innovative scheme that achieved substantial carbon efficiencies.”
Floods minister Emma Hardy said: “The completion of the Cockett Wick seawall improvement project ensures thousands of homes and businesses in one of the most vulnerable areas of the country will receive better protection from the growing threat of tidal flooding.”
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