Burry Port Harbour Breakwater
A NEW £500,000 breakwater is being created at Burry Port Harbour.
The work will extend the west pier of the 1832-built harbour by 135 metres using 20,000 tonnes of boulders.
The work is being carried out by McCarthy's on behalf of Carmarthenshire Council in four or five-hour windows of opportunity — as much as tidal conditions allow on a daily basis.
The work should be completed in November.
Harbourmaster Rory Dickinson said: "We're looking for a long-term solution to a recurring problem caused by the forces of nature.
"It's a massive and complex development being carried out by one of the most experienced firms in the country on breakwater repairs and construction.
"Two walls of massive boulders, weighing up to a tonne each, will protect a central, impermeable core, channelling receding tides and sands from the harbour entrance.
"This vital work, if successful in keeping the entrance channel clear, will lead to a bid for European money to carry out more works to ensure the future viability of the marina and its fishing fleet." The new breakwater is replacing an old construction outside the 176-year- old harbour.
This is the first phase of works designed to protect the entrance to the triple harbour and marina, which currently has 280 boats moored and the capacity to extend to 400.
The harbour has been kept open over the past two years with a mix of dredging and sand excavation from the entrance using bulldozers.
Harbour user Raymond Hall said: "Local council members, leader Meryl Gravell and executive board member for regeneration and leisure Clive Scourfield deserve praise for supporting the need for this vital work.
"The future of the harbour is essential for the local economy and the county because it is the last working harbour in Carmarthenshire."
Councillor Scourfield said: "We've been working in consultation with the harbour users to find a solution and the overwhelming consensus was that replacing, heightening and extending the breakwater would produce results."
Reproduced by kind permission of the Evening Post
http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk