Poole Renourishment Trial Underway

Borough of Poole has been awarded £130,000 to carry out a trial investigating whether beach renourishment can be made more sustainable into the future in Poole Bay.

The trial, which is currently underway, will investigate whether small amounts of sand placed on the sea bed close to the shore, between Flaghead Chine and Canford Cliffs, will be moved by natural wave forces onto the beach.

The aim is to trickle feed smaller amounts of sand, onto the beach more frequently to stabilise its width and establish whether this provides a more economical solution to Poole’s traditional beach renourishment scheme. The sand will be provided by Poole Harbor Commissioners from maintenance dredging from the main channel inside Poole Harbor.

Funding has been provided by the Environment Agency who have awarded a grant of £130,000 for the placing of the sand and a further £115,000 from their National Research and Development fund. In addition, SCOPAC (Standing Conference on Projects Associated with the Coastline) are supporting the research and monitoring with a £15,000 grant.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has provided the licence to allow the placing of sand in the sea.

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