Sheet Piling UK Steps Up for Coastal Erosion Project

The UK's leading sheet pile installation specialist, Sheet Piling (UK) Limited, has demonstrated its expertise in coastal erosion projects, by providing its expertise to a project at Kinmel Bay, North Wales, on behalf of civil engineering company, Jones Bros.

Local residents at Sandy Cove had needed to be evacuated from their homes in April 2024, when seawall defences proved inadequate to keep back tidal waters.  With rising sea levels and increased storminess already – and predictions of more in future years – it was imperative to tackle a flooding risk to more than 2000 homes, through a new £13m project.

With 85% funding secured from the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Programme 2024-5 and another 15% from Conwy County Borough Council, a move to augment the coastal defences has involved a team from Sheet Piling UK.  

The project is adding 80,000 tonnes of rock armour to seawall defences between Hortons Nose and the end of Towyn revetment.  This reinforcement work runs right along the seafront and beach at Kinmel Bay, a local tourist hotspot during summer months.  

The seawall will be raised by between 500 and 750mm over a 2km stretch of existing wall.  Whilst the aim is to keep rising sea levels back, the opportunity to improve public realm has also been seized.  There is to be improved beach access for leisure users, with new steps from the existing promenade to the beach. 

To carry out the required work, Sheet Piling UK has worked in intertidal conditions, requiring worker safety to be ensured through the construction of  a large temporary works cofferdam. Working from within this safe framework, construction workers are protected from the dangers of sea swell whilst working.

The sheet piling approach, in a limited-access location, was well considered.  Sheet Piling UK deployed a Kobelco SK350 LC excavator piling rig with Movax SG75 side-grip vibratory hammer, to install the 104 Arcelor GU23 sheet piles required for the cofferdam’s construction.

This highly manoeuvrable rig overcame limited-access issues and helped reduce the footprint and impacts of the sheet piling project.  The size of working platform required for these works was minimised, to the benefit of the contractor and the local environment. Furthermore, the piles installed were first considerately delivered to a compound and then taken, by tractor and trailer, to the installation location.

To facilitate sheet pile installation, Sheet Piling UK pre-augured the pile line, using the Kobelco rig supplied from its own extensive fleet of compliant and state-of-the-art sheet piling equipment.

Sheet Piling UK also drew down piles from its extensive UK-based stockholding – the largest in the country – to offer piles supplied on a weekly hire basis. Extraction of the piles is scheduled following the installation of the access steps and the extracted piles will be recycled on another project, reducing their carbon footprint.

This flexible approach to sheet pile supply and installation kept things moving, so the disruption to local residents and tourists, who visit for watersports, as well as for a beach walk, picnic or paddle, has been minimised.

“Once work is complete, in spring 2026, the new sea wall will protect local residents and future-proof the area’s sea defences,” says Sheet Piling UK’s managing director.

“With coastal erosion a very real issue around the UK coastline, we hope to be involved in many more such projects.”

To find out more about Sheet Piling UK’s services, please call 01772 794141.

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Editors notes

Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd is the UK's leading national sheet piling contractor and sheet pile installation specialist, with well over 25 years' experience of handling a wide variety of land and marine-based projects. It supplies both permanent and temporary sheet pile solutions and has a fleet of cutting-edge equipment, including its unique and specially commissioned long-reach telescopic leader rigs, which have a reach 3m further than any other rig.