Road closures near Chesil Beach for sewer relining work
Wessex Water say it'll reduce automatic discharge of untreated stormwater
Last updated 26th Feb 2024
800 metres of sewers on Dorset's Jurassic Coast are being relined from today (Monday 26th February) to reduce the amount of untreated stormwater being discharged around Chesil Beach.
Wessex Water will be working on a £180,000 project in the West Bexington area through until Friday 15th March.
We're told 'no-dig' techniques will be used to be quicker and less intrusive than previous work.
But it does Swyre Road, to the junction with Beach Road will need to closed - with work also taking place near the beach public toilets from Monday 4th to Friday 8th March.
This all follows the completion of an £800,000 pipeline last year, which runs for nearly a mile between sewage pumping stations at West Bexington and Gorselands, near Swyre.
That's increased sewer capacity to help cope with sudden increases in water volume.
Further upgrades also now ensure foul water is pumped away from the public toilets on the beach at West Bexington, reducing the number of times a nearby storm overflow operates automatically by 50%.
Project manager Paul Delves said:
“Relining the sewers in West Bexington continues our commitment towards protecting this historically-important and popular area, with Chesil Beach and the South West Coast Path that is well used by walkers, as well as a coastal reed bed close by.
“Sealing them in this way further helps protect the network from being overwhelmed which can lead to flooding or the release of untreated wastewater and it backs up the results achieved by the major pipeline project we completed in the area last year.
“We’re now working closely with local customers to finalise details of a further project to separate rainwater from the foul sewer system in this area, which will also help to reduce these discharges.’’