Image description: Two yellow diggers carrying out beach renourishment work in Lincolnshire. Image by: Van Oord / Environment Agency.

Sand will be topped up on beaches between Saltfleet and Gibraltar Point to reduce the risk of flooding for Lincolnshire’s coastal communities.

• Over the next 4 to 5 weeks, around 200,000 to 500,000 cubic metres of sand will be topped up on beaches between Saltfleet and Gibraltar Point.
• This reduces the risk of flooding for 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land.
• The Environment Agency has been restoring sand levels on the Lincolnshire coast every year since 1994.

The work will begin this week and is the second phase of works under the strategy for the coastline. The strategy aims to better protect the environment and support the prosperity of the coast for years to come.

The Environment Agency’s annual beach management involves dredging sand from licensed seabed areas and pumping it onto beaches, replacing the sand naturally lost to the sea throughout the year.  This reduces the risk of flooding for 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land.

Replenishing the sand means that the beaches, instead of hard defences like sea walls, take the brunt of the waves’ force and energy. This reduces the amount of damage and erosion to those hard defences and lessens the risk of water overtopping them.

The Environment Agency has been restoring sand levels on the Lincolnshire coast every year since 1994. In addition to reducing flood risk, the work brings supplementary social and economic benefits by retaining the sandy beaches for a vibrant tourism industry.

Deborah Higton, Flood Risk Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

Our current coastal management approach of re-nourishing the beaches between Saltfleet and Gibraltar Point is vital to managing tidal flood risk for Lincolnshire. As well as maintaining the county’s sandy beaches for us all to enjoy.

But despite our best efforts, much of Lincolnshire is at, or below, sea level meaning flooding can still happen. That’s why we urge people to prepare and plan for the worst by signing up to receive our free flood warnings.

The £7 million beach management work is funded as part of the Environment Agency’s capital programme. The Environment Agency is committed to delivering Government’s £2.65 billion investment over the next 2 years to protect thousands of homes and business from the dangers of flooding. Plus prevent billions of pounds worth of damages.