Whitby Flood Scheme Kicks Off

Work on a £2 million scheme to help protect the Yorkshire coast town of Whitby from tidal flooding is now underway and is expected to be completed by the end of spring 2020, Scarborough Borough Council reports. 

Image source: Scarborough Borough Council

The flood alleviation project will involve the construction of a flood wall, 303 meters long with an average height of 0.95m, to the east side of the town on Church Street, to improve the standard of flood protection for 54 residential and 8 commercial properties.

There are currently no formal flood defenses in place to prevent tidal overtopping of the quay walls. The existing quay walls function as retaining walls and to prevent erosion from fluvial and tidal flows.

The new floodwall will run adjacent to the public footpath from Parkol Marine to Church Street car park. It will be constructed to withstand a 1 in 100 year type of tidal flooding event and to comply with Defra’s and the Environment Agency’s best practice on coastal flood management, said the council.

Esh Group will carry out the construction and the project is being managed by Mott Macdonald on our behalf.