Cost effective coastal erosion prevention

In December 2018 Elite Precast Concrete were contacted by Richard Roseveare, owner of specialist groundwork and civil engineering company C-Shore Ltd to discuss what might be the quickest, easiest and most cost effective method of stopping further coastal erosion at a site in Cornwall. A 45m stretch of the coast line was gradually being eroded by the sea which was in turn threatening to wash away sections of three back gardens above the cliff line. The base of the cliff was only accessible from the beach at low tide so a solution that was both quick to install as well as being incredibly durable and able to withstand the harshest of stormy Cornish winter weather was needed. Richard chose Elite’s largest range of high strength interlocking blocks (which have a design life of over 100years) for the job and having settled on the design he and Elite set about planning the work. Such was the remote nature of the construction site the blocks had to be delivered to a nearby holding area from where Richard could take them one by one to the foot of the cliff. So having cast the steel reinforced foundation slab using ‘no-fines’ concrete Richard set about installing the blocks. Working quickly to avoid the incoming tides C-Shore were able to lay the blocks in a matter of days and of course without the need for shuttering, formwork, steel fixers and pumping large volumes of ready-mixed concrete. The result is three very relieved and happy home owners who are safe in the knowledge that their gardens have been protected for many years to come by Richard’s ingenuity and Elite’s high strength Legato blocks.