01 August 2008
Today, Deputy Guy de Faye, Minister for Transport and Technical Services finished laying the last stone in the sea wall on Victoria Avenue which has just been rebuilt after it suffered storm damage earlier this year.
In early March, the Island was ravaged by severe storms which, together with the high tide, caused a 400 metre section of the sea wall along the second and third lay-bys on Victoria Avenue to partially collapse. The damage was limited to the parapet wall section, above the promenade, with the force of the waves throwing some of the larger stones across the promenade and car parks and into the road. Transport and Technical Services (TTS) dealt with the emergency on the two nights of the storm as well as various other flooding and storm damage incidents all over the Island. As well as clearing up the debris on Victoria Avenue, they also set about preventing further flooding and formed a temporary dam of industrial size sand bags to keep the waves at bay. As soon as possible, after the weather subsided, TTS set about repairing the wall.
The project, which has taken 4 months to complete, was undertaken by the TTS Coastal Defence Team with the assistance of other members of TTS staff and some private contractors. The project went well and the only hold up came at the very end when the Department was forced to wait for the delayed delivery of 40m of coping stones.
“It is great to see the wall back again” said Deputy de Faye, “I thanked all those responsible for dealing with the emergency work undertaken on the nights of the storm at the time, as did many other Islanders. They did a fantastic job in appalling conditions. I would now like to commend all those who contributed to the rebuild, it is clear they take great pride in their work and have done a really good job.”
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